YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

MRS, LUCY G, THURSTON,
'Pioneer Missionary to the Sandwich Islands.

LIFE AND TIMES

OF

Mrs. Lucy G, Thurston,

WIFE OF

Rev, Asa Thurston,
Pioneer Missionary to the Sandwich Islands,
GATHERED FROM LETTERS AND JOURNALS
EXTENDING OVER A PERIOD OF MORE THAN
Selected and Arranged by Herself.
3/H-8T

S. C. ANDREWS,
BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER,
Ann Akbok. Mich.

THIS EFFORT is
EESPBOTPTJIiLT T5B33IC^-TE33
TO THE
American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions,
WHO HAVE BEEN THE
GUIDE AND LIFE OF IY RIPER YEARS, AND THE NOUR-
ISHER OF IY OLD AGE.
LUCY G. THURSTON.

PREFACE,

It was more than thirty years ago that an editor applied to
me for an Essay to put into his Periodical Pamphlet. Subject :
"Sketches of Missionary Life at the Sandwich Islands," — "Sketch
es grave and gay, showing the lights and shadows, the ups and
downs, the trials, perplexities, joys and sorrows of missionary
life." He wished this subject handled from a point that came
within the special range of the observation and experience of the
ladies. Then, in the earnest strife of life, I failed to give a descrip
tion. Now, in the repose of age, I spread out the subject in mi
nute detail.
Of my writings during the first twenty-four years of my
life, not a vestige now remains. In the very commencement of
missionary life, my husband strongly advised me to preserve a,
copy of my letters, and gave me a blank book for the purpose.
Thus I commenced, and, under his influence, formed a habit of so
doing. I have, by the preserved copies of my letters, noted in
their circuit all the years of my pilgrimage.
Now, wrapped in the folds of age, of widowhood, of solitude
and infirmities, I feel the great importance of independent resour
ces of happiness. In the fear of God, I said, "What wilt Thou
have me to do? " My mind turned to the writings which had ac
cumulated beneath my hand. My physical and mental powers
are equal to extracting and arranging a volume from the mass. It
is the only legacy I can leave my children and grandchildren, the
only way I can warn, enlighten and cheer the future daughters
of our country who engage in the missionary enterprise. It is the
only remaining service I can do for the public by whose contri-

IV PREFACE.
butions I have been sustained all these years. It is an expression
af thanks to the great and good Father, to whom all is due. Of
ferings to Him, He accepts; but He waves them into channel*
which will convey blessings to His other chileren.
In the silence and solitude of night, with my study lamp, I
took the writings of 1819 ; I read and re-read them. Thus en
gaged, I was lost in reverie. I was young again, and I saw my
father's family surrounding me, so loving and so lovely. Many,
many noble friends had assembled with them. AH happy and
exuberant. I too. It appeared to me a grand jubilee. So real,
so near they all seemed, that when about to open these lips to
speak to them in an easy manner, a thrill went through me,
These friends have all outstripped me in the race. They have
become as the angels of light. I alone am left in the wilderness,.
but happy : so happy that it was long that night before I could
sleep. Thus the dim eyes of 1872 turned back and fastened upon the
vigor and bloom of 1819. First driven, then drawn, to the work of
life's supplement. It is my dying bequest to the living, when
I shall have passed beyond the reach of censure and applause"
Meantime, while alone, walking the shady vale, preparing its pa
ges, I shall admit , to my bosom the solace, that she hath done what
she could.
LUCY G. THURSTON.
Nuuanu Valiby, Nov. 8, 1872.

£e>ww^i

CONTENTS.

PART FIRST— 1819-1840.
Missionary and Family History. Educating Children ok
Heathen Ground in Pioneer Life.
/
1819.
article 1. Kamehameha and "Obookiah." 2. Great Loneliness.
. Desire to Learn the Will of the Supreme. 3. Invitation to join
a Missionary Band, and its Results. Remarkable Conversion,
4. A Dream. A Marriage. 5. Missionaries Met at Boston.
Organized into a Church. Received Public Instructions.
6. Parting Address. 7. Embarkation and Voyage. 8. Letter
from a Sister to Sisters. Sorrow for Separation from one so
Dearly Loved. 9, Voyage and Experiences^ Page 1 — 25.
1820.
articlii 10. Hawaii in Sight. 11. Destruction of Idolatry. 12.
Second Priest. 13. Missionary Movement in New England.
14. First Interview with Natives. 15. Arrival' of Principal
Chiefs. 16. Sewing Circle. 17. Kalanimoku. 18. Anchored
and Went Ashore. 19. King Dines on Board. 20. Several
Missionaries go ashore. 21. King's Position and; View*,
22. Permitted a Residence on Shore. 23. Two Hawaiian
Youth and Two American Missionaries. 24. Table. 25. De
velopment of our Associates. 26. Feast in Honor of Kame
hameha I. 27. Preaching and School. 28. Native Manners
and Customs, and Domestic Privations. 29. A Royal Feast.
30. Peculiar Exhibition that Marked the Times. 31. Life.
Alone, No. 1. 32. Life Alone, No. 2. 33. Life Alone, No. 3.
34. Removal from Kailua to Maui. 35. Stay at Maui. 36. Re
moval from Maui to Honolulu. 25 — 54.

vi CONTENTS. 1821.
article 37. The King, the Russsian Commodore, and the Mis
sionaries' Public Table. 38. Permission at length Obtained
for Erecting the First Wooden House on the Islands.
39. Opposition of White Men. 40. The Native Orphan Babe.
41. The King's Visit. 42. Birth of Daughter. Cough.
43. Sickness and Recovery. The Wooden House Finished
and Occupied. Visited by the Royal Family. Marriage in
High Life. 54—64.
1822.
article 45. First Introduction of a Written Language. 46. The
American Deacon. 47. Interview with a Sea Captain. 48.
First Christian Marriage. 49. Mr. Thurston — About to Sail
with the King. 50. One-eyed Scholar. 64—72
1823.
article 51. Welcome to Mrs. Bishop. 52. Merchant and Mis
sionary Lady. 53. Scenes on a Native Vessel. 54. Trials of
Taking a new Station. 72 — 78.
1824'.
article 55. Plan for Pioneer Missionary's House on Hawaii. 56.
Funeral of Hopu's Father. 57. Secluded Life of the Ladies.
The Sick Woman. 78—82.
1825.
article 58. Description of Kailua and our New Home. 59. First
Sabbath School at Kailua. 60. Kapulikoliko. 82 — 89.
1826.
article 61. Female Friday Meeting Commenced. 89 — 91.
1828.
Article 62. On the Death of My Early Associate, Mrs. Elizabeth
Edwards Bishop. 63. Death of a Sister. 91—95.
1829.
article 64. Progress of Work. Success of Female Friday Meet
ing. Pulukai. 65. Mr. Thurston's Work. Sending away, or
Retaining Children on Heathen Ground. 96 — 102.

CONTENTS. vir
1830. ,
article 66.. Mr. Thurston's Duties Public. Mine more Private.
Power of Word of God. Religious Experience of a Native
Neighbor. Need of Bibles etc. for Foreigners. 103 — 105.
1831.
Article 67. Voyage to Lahaina. Visit and Return. 106 — 111.
1832.
article 68. Letter to the Second Mrs. Parkhurst. Inability to
Labor in this Climate. Native Neatness. Care of the
Churches. 111—115.
1833.
article 69. Contrast between Life at Kailua and the New Eng
land States. Visit from Sea Captain. Missionaries at the
Marquesas. 115 — 117 .
1834.
article 70. Care of Children. Services with them at Home.
Family School. Wooden House. 117—124.
1835.
article 71. Return Home after Visiting Honolulu. 72. Domestics
in Mission Families. 73. Reference to a Twin Sister. 124 — 132.
1836.
article 74. A Peep at Home Life. 75. Sabbath School. No As
sociates. Maternal Association. ^Assistance from Children
in Missionary Work. Burning of Church. 132 — 135.
1837.
article 76. Epistle of the Thurstons to the Honoluluans Ask
ing Provision for a Dwelling Place during the Visit of the
Family at Honolulu during the General Meeting. 77. Take
Care of Your Health. 135—137.
1839.
article 78. Trip to the Next Station. Civilized Entertainment
by a Sandwich Islander. 79. To the General Meeting of
Sandwich Island Mission, Asking Permission to Visit the Uni
ted States. 80. After Return from Honolulu. Varieties of
Human Life. French Invasion. 137 — 144.

vin CONTENTS. 1840.
article 81. Preparation for Voyage etc. 82. Request that Dr.
and Mrs. Andrews Remain Mr. Thurston's Associates during
my Absence- 83. Our Children. f— 148.

PART SEC0.ND-1841-1869,
Death op Two Children and Two Grand Children. Last Days
op Father Thurston. » 1841.
article 1. Departure from the Sandwich Islands. Arrival in
New York. Sickness of Family. Death of Daughter 149 — 151.
1842.
article 2. Advice to a Daughter at Mt. Holyoke Female Semi
nary. 3. To Absent Children. Return Home. 4. To a Mis
sionary Sister. 5. To Mrs. M. M. Cummings. 151 — 158.,
1845.
article 6. A Meeting of Confession and Thanksgiving. 159.
1850-2.
article. 7 Poisoned by Strychnine. 8. A Farewell Note before
a Voyage to the United States. Written on the Voyage back
to the Sandwich Islands. 160 — 168.
1855-9.
article 10. A Surgical Operation. 11. Death of Asa G. Thurs
ton. 168—178.
1866-9.
article 12. Death of Two Grand Children. 13. Last Days of
Father Thurston. 14. A Cypress Bough. 15. Funeral Ad
dress by Rev. Mr.Corwin. 16. To Rev. Mr. Bissel, Pastor of
the Fort Street Church, Honolulu. 178—196.

CONTENTS.

PART THIRD-1870,
* Hawaiian Jubilee. Reminis.e ces for the Occasion.
article 1. Extracts from Letters Explaining Origin of these Ar
ticles, etc. 2. Notice of First Public Reading. 3. Preamble.
4. National' Mourning for Kamehameha, and the Distin
guished and Honored Foreign President. 5. Infanticide.
6. The Five Daughters. 7. The Wife of the Tahitian Mission
ary. 8. Missionary Children in Pioneer Life. 9. Kuakini or
Gov. Adams. 10. Naih'e. 11. Kaahumanu. 12. Kamehame
ha I. The Blacksmith and his Daughter. 13. A First Na
tive Prayer Meeting. 14. A First Case of Church Discip ine!
15. Thatched Houses. 16. My Horseback Ride. 17. Pulmo
nary Disease. Complete Deliverance from. 18. Hawaii.
19. Blind Bartimeus. 20. Items, Showing What Instrumen
talities Have Been Employed in Building up this Nation.
21. A Rave Entertainment. 22. Home. 23. The Voyage of
Voyages. 197 — 271.

PAST FOURTH— 1871— 1876.
Extracts from Letters. Conclusion.
1871-2.
article 1. Thanksgiving Dinner. 2. Grandmothers' Tea Party
3. Battle Fields of Life. Life Alone. 272—279.
1874.
article 4. Letter to Mrs. Persis G. Taylor. 5. Death of a Grand
son. 6. Marriage of a Granddaughter. 7. To Secretary of
"the Mission Children's Society. 8. Advice on Entering Mar
ried Life. 9. Blessed Path that Leads to a Blessed Death.
10. Death of a Grandchild Five, Months Old. 279—294.
1875-6.
article 11. Spring Succeeds Winter. 12. To the Readers of the
Preceding Pages, la. Memorial Discourse. 14. Mrs: Lucy
G. Thurston. 295-308.

1876.
MRS. LUCY G. THURSTON.
By Kev. 1). Dole.
To the spirit world departed,
Nobly has the race been run ;
Not in sorrow, heavy hearted.
Grieve we that the prize is won.
Not desponding, not in sadness
Bid we her a short .farewell ;
But we rest in grateful gladness
That her work is done so well.
'Mid the darkness of Kailua
Long she shone, a heavenly light ;
Guide — there was none kinder, truer,
Leading wanderers to the right.
Passed in cheerful self-denial,
Eighty years sried swiftly by,
Then commenced the grevious trial,
Gold from dross to purify.
Long in weariness she waited,
Suffering waited, longed and prayed,
prayed with fervor unabated.
Still the summons was delayed.
)'er the river frequent glances
Sought some heavenly glory there,
Glory, which the soul entrances.
„ Glory, which the ransomed share.
Came at length the welcme message —
"Cross the river, wiating one,"
'Twas indeed a joyous presage
Of a triumph nobly won ;
Won through grace, in Chi'ist believing,
All the praise to him belongs ;
From his fullness still receiving,
Ne'er shall cease her grateful songs.

PART FIRST.
1819-1840. MISSIONARY AND FAMILY HISTORY. EDUCA
TING CHILDREN ON HEATHEN GROUND IN PIONEER
LIFE.

1819.
ARTICLE I.
Kamehamebat and " Obookiah."t
HAWAII* was first discovered to the civilized world
in 1778. In the same year, Kamehameha fought,
a soldier, under his uncle, Kalaiopu, ** King of several
districts on one individual island.
In the year 1810, all the islands of this group became
one united kingdom, under Kamehameha. In the same
year, in America, "Obookiah" became theoretically the
first Hawaiian convert to Christianity.
They both lived after this, the one eight, and the
other nine years. Kamehameha in his last sickness, asked
about the white man's God. But in the language of
the narrator, " They no tell him."
" Obookiah " died young, with a hope full of immor
tality. His prayers, tears, and appeals for his poor
countrymen, as described in his memoir, did more for
t Kali-may'-hah-may'-hah.
X Properly spelled Opnkahaia.
*Hah-wi'-e.** Kah-li-o'-pu. 1

2 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
them than he could have done in the longest life of the
most devoted labors. The church was newly aroused to
send a mission to those who, for' long dismal ages, had
been enshrouded in all the darkness of nature.

ARTICLE II.
Great Loneliness and Desire to Learn the WiU or the SupTeme.
To Mrs. Persis G. Parkhurst, Plainfleld, N. H.
Marlboro, West Parish, Sept. 11, 1819.
How shall I address my own dear best beloved sister?
Our corresponding ages, pursuits, sentiments, and feel
ings, caused Persis to be more peculiarly mine. "We
commenced and traveled together the journey of life,
together tasted the delights, and culled the flowers of
spring ; and when, by reason of the way, our hearts have
sunk within us, we have set down together and mingled
our tears. Ever precious will be the recollections of those
days and years, spent beneath a father's roof, — never to
be forgotten the period, when by assuming a new rela
tion, you bade farewell to the parternal abode, thereby
causing our future pathways in life to diverge. Our
Mother — gone! Persis — gone! Wonder not when I say,
that the depths of my sorrows were revived, and that I
more than ever felt myself an orphan. The dear solitary
chamber that I occupy witnessed my grief, while I walk
ed it from side to side, or watered my pillow with my
tears. I applied to the fountain of all grace and consola
tion for support, sacredly devoting all my leisure hours
to the study of the Will of the Supreme. Here my
sorrows were assuaged, and my heart comforted. But I
emphatically feel that earth is not my rest.
Your loving Sister,
Lucy Goodale.

ARTICLE III.
Invitation to Join a Missionary Band, and its Results. Remarkable Conversion.
Marlboro, West Parish, Sept. 18, Saturday.
THREE weeks have elapsed since the departure of my
sister Persis. Yesterday, during my noontide inter
mission, I received, at my boarding house, an unexpected
call from cousin Wm. Goodell. He gave me information
that a Mission to the Sandwich Islands was to sail in four
or six weeks, dwelt upon it with interest and feeling, and
notwithstanding his efforts to assume his usual cLocif ill
ness, now and then I saw the tear start in his eye. His
conversation and appearance made me tremble. At
length, having prepared my mind, the proposition was
made. "Will Lucy, by becoming connected with a
missionary now an entire stranger, attach herself to this
little band of pilgrims, and visit the far distant land of
Obookiah?" Now I feel the need of guidance. Oh, that Persis
were here! Never did I so much long to see her.
The gentleman proposed as the companion of my
life is Mr. Thurston, member of the Senior Class, in An-
dover Theological Institution. He had recently become
an accepted missionary of the American Board of Com
missioners for Foreign Missions, soon to sail for the Sand
wich Islands. This has all come suddenly upon him.
Now that he knows the situation he is called to fill, he
has no personal knowledge of one who is both willing
and qualified to go with him to a foreign land. Some
of his classmates were admitted to his private confidence.
One of them, in passing back and forth, had been enter
tained at Dea. Goodale's. He spoke of his daughter
Lucy, as being fitted for such a position. It proved a
3

4 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
hinge to act upon. They knew that Goodell of the Mid
dle Class was a relative of the family. They admitted
him into their counsel to speak of the missionary qualifi
cations of Lucy Goodale.
Most closely and seriously, during the last year, he
has pressed the subject on my consideration, of person
ally engaging in the missionary enterprise. In his very
last letter, recently received, he wrote thus :
" When I say I hope cousin Lucy will be of the next
company that go to the heathen, instead of imputing it
to any desire of never seeing her again, she will rather
think, that I believe her to adopt from the heart the fa
vorite language of Spencer, — 'Where He appoints, I'll
go.'" The result of the whole matter was, that ¥m.
Goodell was appointed to obtain permission for a person
al interview. So here he was, delivering his message ;
adding, "Rebecca said, 'I will go.'"
What could I say? We thoroughly discussed the
subject, after which I gave permission for a visit. Next
week on Thursday is the anticipated, dreaded interview
of final decision. Cousin William walked with me, and,
as we approached the school house, bade me good-bye.
I immediately entered the school, but how I longed to
find my chamber, that I might give vent to the feelings
of an almost bursting heart. Last night I could neither
eat, nor close my eyes in sleep.
Sept. 21, Tuesday. — The subject has been to my
mind utterly overwhelming, and I all alone during this
season of conflict. Situated six miles from my father's,
I have no confidential friend near me to whom I can un
fold my feelings.
Wm. Goodell fully informed my family that the
waters were troubled. During the week, my two sisters

1819. L
from home, Eliza and Meliscent, called on and comforted
me with their sympathy and affection. I have received,
too, communications from my father. But they all leave
me to myself, to act agreeably to my own judgment and
inclination. Dear to my heart are my friends and country. Yet,
all this side the grave, how transient! The poor heathen
possess immortal natures, and are perishing. Who will
give them the Bible, and tell them of a Savior? Great
as must be the sacrifices, trials, hardships, and dangers
of such an undertaking, I said, " If God will grant his
grace, and afford an acceptable opportunity, Lucy and
all that is hers, shall be given to the noble enterprise of
carrying light to the poor benighted countrymen of
Obookiah." After this decision, I could contemplate the
subject with a tranquil mind and unmoved feelings.
Home, Sept. 22, Wednesday. — This afternoon I re
turned to the paternal abode. I have, with the most
perfect freedom, conversed with my family here on the
subject. They left me alone to breast the billow. But,
when I came among them with composure and serenity,
buoyed up by a noble purpose, they gave me their full
sympathy and approbation.
Sept. 23, Thursday. — The close of this day brought
our expected Andover friends, Wm. Goodell and Mr.
Thurston to our door, and established them in our parlor.
That was a strictly private family interview. I returned
home, and alone entered the house the night before. Our
dwelling was completely isolated from neighbors, and not
a word had been dropped of expected company.
We were alone in our little world. There were my
father and my two brothers and their wives, all belon j-
ing to the house. There, too, was uncle Wm. Goodell,
cousin William's own father, who had lived with my fa-

6 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
ther for several years, and who was in sympathy and
confidences as one of us. Wm. Goodell had now accom
plished his mission. Under the most favorable circum
stances, he had opened the way and brought Mr. Thurston
to Dea. Goodale's, brought Lucy to her father's house to
interview the stranger in the bosom of her own family,
amid a band of six close confidential friends, where no
prying eyes or ready tongues were admitted to give in
telligence to the outside world.
The early hours of the evening were devoted to
refreshments, to free family sociality, to singing, and to
evening worship. Then one by one the family dispersed,
leaving two of similar aspirations, introduced at sunset
as strangers, to separate at midnight as interested friends.
Sept. 24, Friday. — In the forenoon, the sun had risen
high in the heavens, when it looked down upon two of
the children of earth giving themselves wholly to their
heavenly Father, receiving each other from his hand as
his good gift, pledging themselves to each other as close
companions in the race of life, consecrating themselves
and their all to a life work among the heathen.
And it came to pass after that decision, that there
met together a committee of Ways and Means. The
first thing to be fixed upon was a programme. That was
Friday, Sept. 24th. Sept. 26th, Oct. 3d and 10th, would
furnish three Sabbaths for publication. Then the 11th
was Monday, not a convenient day, but the 12th, Tues
day, was fixed upon as the day of the wedding, and after
the ceremony, the party was to proceed directly to Bos
ton. According to this programme, letters to friends in
different places were written, and directions given to the
town clerk in Marlboro, and to the town clerk in Fitch-
burg, Mr. Thurston's native place. It was afternoon
before letters and messengers were dispatched.

1819. 7
Sept. 25, Saturday. — The very next morning after
the decision, Wm. Goodell and Mr. Thurston started for
the ordination at Goshen, Conn. I rode with them six
miles, as they passed my school, in order to dismiss it.
Sept. 28, Tuesday. — The candidates, Bingham and
Thurston, were examined at Goshen. Sept. 29, Wednes
day, they were ordained. During these exercises at
Goshen, Conn., brother Nathan and myself in Mass.,
hastened to Boston to obtain my outfit. Miss Frances
Irving assisted me to accomplish my business. Nathan
accompanied us, paid bills, and carried the parcels. Af
ter returning to Marlboro with all this abundance of
material, we made a long table across the middle of one
of the front rooms. Lucy Howe, Susan Witt and Sophia
Rice, three friends, came and cut garments by dozens
and by scores. When the gentlemen returned from the
ordination, Wm. Goodell was an untold blessing to me
in his activity and zeal in finding persons to make some
of the cut garments.
Just before giving the parting hand, when the
two gentlemen passed on to the ordination, Wm. Goodell
said to me : " Now, don't regard the barking of little
dogs." In one week, a cousin and his wife arrived to pass
the Sabbath with us. His father was a clergyman, but
he himself was an Attorney at Law, and an openly
avowed, active infidel. Had he set his artillery in motion
it would have been a lion's roar. Mr. Thurston, too,
spent the same Sabbath with us, and preached for Mr.
Bueklin, our minister. At intermission, as we were re
turning to the second service, Mrs. Bueklin remarked :
"After leaving your country, you will never again hear
the sound of the church-going bell." Our cousin highly
commended the services of the day, and conversed with

8 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
me of my prospects with tender encouragement. When
he retired Saturday night he took my album with him to
his room, and returned it Monday morning. Within he
had written the following lines, containing strange senti
ments indeed to come from his pen :
And art thou called to visit distant lands,
To teach the heathen God's divine commands?
Then go, sweet cousin, cross the foaming sea,
Thy God will bless thee wheresoe'er ye be.
Soon thou wilt see Hawaii's fertile shore,
And settle there to see thine own no more ;
There build thy cottage by the rising flood,
And tell the natives of their Savior, God.
His life, his suflerings be thy fruitful theme,
While faith and hope will in their faces gleam ;
Tny social hearth will flame with love divine,
And all will bless thy steps and all that's thine.
Oh, may He fill thy soul with sovereign grace,
And bless thy partner in his charge and place,
Bless all his labors, bless his little flock,
And bless thy children from our Goodall stock.
In mem'ry's fav'rite hour wilt thou remember me ;
Full oft our prayers shall ascend for thee ;
Long shall we dwell on this farewell to you,
And long shall mem'ry linger o'r this last adieu.
[Ten years after this I received a parcel of black
pepper, done up in a newspaper, from our Secular Agent.
The first thing I did was to pour the pepper into a bowl,
and search the paper wrapper for intelligence. It con
tained the following REMARKABLE CONVERSION.
" One instance of divine grace exhibited the winter
past in my immediate vicinity, and which fell under my
own observation, I will, with permission, relate. The
subject of this change was an Attorney at Law, the son

1819. 9
of a clergyman. He had been emphatically the son of
many prayers, and his childhood had been endowed with
all needful moral and religious instruction. But as he
grew up and went out from the government of his fa
ther's family, he apostatized from his early education, and
became a terror to those who would do well. At this
time, he entered into an agreement with a brother, by
which they were mutually bound, that the first called
from this world should return and inform the other of
the invisible state, if permitted. The brother, not long
after was drowned in the Connecticut, and as soon as this
survivor received the intelligence, he hastened to the
place where the deep and dark wave still rolled over the
lifeless body of his brother, and there in an hour of re
tirement, he called aloud, and the voice echoed from bank
to bank, for that departed brother to fulfil his engage
ment, but there was no voice, nor any that answered.
And he relates that he repeated the same over his broth
er's grave, after the body was found. He remained un
shaken in his infidelity. Being a popular advocate in his
profession, he, in a few years, accumulated a large estate,
but he had no bowels of compassion, no breathings of be
nevolence. About eighteen months ago, his father desir
ed him to carry his annual contribution to the Treasurer
of the Board of Foreign Missions, which he did, and said
to the Treasurer, "I bring you fifty dollars from my fath
er to aid the objects of this Board, but I would rather
throw it into the sea." It however pleased God the last
season to take from him a beloved child by death, and for
the first time in his life did he realize that this world is
shadowy and evanescent. The impression grew upon him,
and he soon felt that all would ere long be taken from
him, and nothing remain but the ghosts and penalties of
millions of sins, sins of the most aggravating kind. He

10 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
strove to conceal his distress, but strove in vain. He, at
length, confessed his condition, and sought the prayers of
those people, whom he had so lately despised. For some
weeks he bowed like the rush, and his mourning was like
the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
But the hour of release came, for he was a chosen vessel
unto God. He bowed to Prince Emmanuel. He became
as a child, and openly and fearlessly espoused the cause
of him whom he had persecuted. He gave public decla
ration, that if he had defrauded any man in the course
of his business, he would make them amends to the
amount of fourfold. At this time he recalled his saying
to the Treasurer of the Board of Foreign Missions. He
could not rest until he had made a written confession to
him. In that letter the Treasurer found a hundred dol
lar bank note. A reformation succeeded this conversion,
which spread through the town, and many have been
added to the cause of Christ."
The description of this individual so answered to
the cousin, whose lines I have just recorded, up to the
time of his religious convictions, that I immediately
wrote and asked him if he had become a Christian. In
due time we received the following reply :
January 24, 1830.
Dear and Respected Cousins :
Years, eventful years have rolled away, since first
we met, since last we parted. You have left all the dear
scenes of your childhood and youth, your father's land,
and gone to the sea-girt islands where all is comparative
ly dark and dreary. The Indian hut, the Indian man
ners, the savage life and accommodations surround you.
But what hath God wrought! Did I say all was savage'
about you ? I mistake. The Lamb of God is there, and

1819. 11
has taken away the savage heart, the heathen life, the
untutored Indian, and given you brothers and sisters dear
in the Lord. O, bless His great and excellent name, all
ye His people, all ye His lands, all ye His -islands of the
sea! I often recur to that hour when I bade you farewell.
Like Balaam, I wrote blessings on your head when I had
no heart to bless. . I looked on the tents of Israel. I
saw them spreading from sea to sea, and filling all the
plains and islands with a happy race, praising the Lord
our God. I saw you building your cottage on the shores
of Hawaii, and then I saw temples rise dedicated to the
living God. I saw the natives hang around you, and like
children receive the word of eternal life, and I could not
hut say, Then go, sweet cousin, cross the foaming sea,
And God go with you whereso'er you be.
Yet I was a very infidel at heart, and how, on recurring
to what I wrote in that album of yours, I could write so,
I know not. It was a wonder to myself. I, who scoffed
at the Bible, at its miracles, its revealed contradictions
and absurdities, as I then thought, how could I speak
of your teaching that Savior's love, whom I thought an
imposter? But so it was, and like Balaam, when I would
have cursed, I could only bless. Now, I ' thank God, I
trust I can bless Him too from my heart. I do believe I
do love, as I humbly trust, that dear Redeemer, who
died for sinners, who tasted death for us all. The white,
the red, and the black man, too, encircled in His arm
of love and mercy, all, may lie on His bosom, like the
beloved John, all may lean on His breast and live forev
er.' O, preach Him, proclaim Him to all lands, to all
people, blow the gospel trumpet over all the Islands, an
angel blast, and let the heathen hear and live.

12 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
But I wander. I meant to speak of the years we
have been separated. The same kind Providence that
has always blessed the ungrateful has ever continued to
bless me and mine in all these years. Two of our chil
dren sleep side by side under the green turf of our
graveyard. They were lovely boys, both born in March.
Both lived until August of their second year, and then
drooped their heads and died. We could not save them,
nor do I now repine their loss. I trust they are happy.
We had been insensible of all God's mercies, but when
He laid his hand on our little ones, it brought us to bless
His holy name. May praise be His forever.
Your father and my father have also gone to their
last home. I trust they are now perfect in Christ. It
was good to hear my dear father express his earnest hope
and belief that God, for Christ's sake, had forgiven all
his sins.]
ARTICLE IV.
A Dream— A Marriage.
Mrs. Persis G. Parkhurst to her sister, Mrs. Lucy G. Thurston.
On the night of the 23d of Sept., the very night of
your first introduction to Mr. Thurston, I was transport
ed in a dream to the home of my youth. You were not
there. I saw the house surrounded with carriages. With
in was a large collection of people, many of whom were
strangers. The doors seemed opened from room to room,
and whichever way I turned, I was surrounded by num
bers, some walking to and fro, and others standing in
solemn, fixed attention. I saw nothing transacted, heard
nothing said, but thought the occasion was your wed
ding. Though never in the habit of thinking much of
dreams, this took strong hold of my feelings. It cost

1819. 13
me many tears. Every succeeding day I wept, for I
could not divest myself of the idea that my dream re
ferred to your death.
A letter from home was put into my hands. It was
not superscribed by you. I was overwhelmed with an
undefinable dread that you had dropped the pen forever.
At first I could not open it. At length I summoned
resolution and broke the seal. I read the lines traced by
your pen. You were not dead, but destined to cross the
ocean, and spend your days in a foreign heathen land.
On the 12th of Oct. your marriage was solemnized
in our father's home. In one hour after the rite, you
gave your parting hand to all, entered the carriage at the
door, with your new-found husband, and, attended by
cousin Wm. Goodale, parted forever from the friends
and scenes of your youth: When the sound of the car
riage wheels ceased to be heard, I looked, and behold,
both in the house and in the yard, a most perfect repre
sentation of my dream.
Your loving Sister, Persis G. Parkhurst.

ARTICLE V.
The Missionaries met at Boston ; were Organized into a Church, and Received
Public Instructions.
A BRIG was about to sail from Boston to the Sand
wich Islands. Previous arrangements had been
made, and a voluntary company there assembled, whose
language to the Prudential Committee of the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was :
"Here we are, — send us." There were
Two Ordained Preachers and Translators, — Mr. Bing
ham and Mr. Thurston, and their wives.

14 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
A Physician, — Dr. Holman and wife.
Two Teachers,— Mr. Whitney and Mr. Ruggles,
and their wives.
A Printer, — Mr. Loomis and wife.
A Farmer, — Mr. Chamberlain, wife and five children.
Three Converted Native Youths, partially educated,
— Thomas Hopu, John Honolii and William Kanui.
Oct. IV, 1819, these seventeen individuals were or
ganized into a distinct Missionary Church, to be trans
planted to the Pagan Islands of the Pacific. It took
place in the vestry of Park Street Church, Boston, beneath
the auspices of the Prudential Committee of the Ameri
can Board, among whom, Dr. Worcester, first Secretary,
and Jeremiah Evarts, first Treasurer, were prominent.
On the same day there was a large gathering in the
body of the church, in the middle of which that com
pany of consecrated ones were placed to receive the pub
lic instructions of the Prudential Committee. That
revered father, Dr. Worcester, was their organ. From
fifteen printed pages, the following few detached para
graphs are a specimen of the whole.
"Dearly Beloved in the Lord:
"You are now on the point, the most of you, of
leaving your country, and your kindred, and your fath
ers' houses, and committing yourselves, under Providence,
to the winds and the waves, for conveyance to far distant
islands of the sea, there to spend the remainder of your
days. "You have given yourselves to Christ for the high
and holy service of missionary work. You have made
your vows and you cannot go back. If it be not so —
and if this point be not fixed with you immovably — stop
where you are, nor venture to set foot on that board,

1819. 15
which is to bear this holy mission to the scene of its la
bors and trials, and eventual triumphs.
" Whatever of earthly privations, or labors, or suf
ferings await you, they are comparatively as nothing.
You may glory in them all. You may count them all joy.
Other things, dearly beloved, are before you. Your
mission is to 'a land of darkness as darkness itself ; and
of the shadow of death without any order, and where
the light is as darkness.'
"You will find Jesus in Hawaii, as you have found
him in this land, a sun and shield. His gracious word, ' Lo
I am with you always,' was sufficient for the first mission
aries of the cross, and it will be sufficient for you, suffi
cient for all the purposes of safety, of support, of guid
ance, of consolation, of strength, of _ courage, of success,
of triumph, and of glory. Abide fixedly on this word,
and you will have nothing to want, nothing to fear.
"You are to aim at nothing short of covering those
Islands with fruitful fields, pleasant dwellings, schools,
and churches. •'Mr. Bingham and Mr. Thurston, *****
The world has not an office in its gift which is not
annihilated when compared with that of a christian mis
sionary ; not a crown that would not fade into utter
obscurity in presence of that of Paul. The seraph near
est the celestial throne might esteem it a distinguished
honor, to execute in a manner befitting its nature and
design, the trust committed to you. Be not high-minded,
but fear. You are but earthen vessels. All your suffi
ciency is of God, and the whole glory will be His.
"To you, jointly, is committed this consecrated mis
sion, proceeding from the bosom of christian and of
heavenly love.
"The beloved females of the mission are not to be

16 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
forgotten. There is no law of heaven for excluding the
sex from the participation for which the same sovereign
goodness has fitted them, in the toils and perils, the joys
and glories of recovering the common race.
"When the -Son of God was on his mission, woman,
— many women testified the deepest interest in it, minis
tered to him of their substance, attended him in his
journeyings and labors, and even followed him when his
disciples forsook him and fled, and earth and heaven were
in dismay — followed him out to the scene of crucifixion.
"These favored daughters of Zion then, who, with
so much tender cheerfulness, have given themselves to
their Savior and Lord for this arduous service, are not
without warrant for thus leaving the world to its own ,
opinion and pursuits.
" Beloved members of the mission, male and female,
this christian community is moved for you, and for your
enterprise. The offerings, and prayers, and tears, and
benedictions, and vows of the churches are before the
throne of everlasting mercy. They must not be viola
ted ; they must not, can not be lost. But how can you
sustain the responsibility ? A nation to be enlightened
and renovated, and added to the civilized world, and
to the kingdom of the world's Redeemer and rightful
sovereign ! In His name only, andby His power, can the
enterprise be achieved."

ARTICLE VI.
Parting Address.
The next day after these preparations, from various
parts of the New England States, a concourse of the
friends of missions assembled at a farewell meeting. Mr.

1819. 17
Thurston, one of the number about to embark, delivered
in Park Street ehurch A PARTING ADDRESS.
(An Extract.)
Permit me, my dear friends, to express the senti
ments and feelings of this missionary company on the
present occasion. We would express our gratitude to
the Great Head of the Church, for the provision he has
made for the souls of men, and for the evidence which
he graciously gives ' us, that we are severally interested
in this great salvation. We bless God that we live in
this interesting period of the world — that so much has
been done, and that so much is still doing to extend the
blessings of the Redeemer's kingdom to the ends of the
earth. The present is emphatically styled a day of action
The Church is opening her eyes on the miseries of a
world lying in wickedness. Her compassion is moved,
and her benevolence excited, to alleviate human suffer
ings, and to save the soul from death.
We have felt that the Savior was speaking to us,
and our bosoms have panted for the privilege of engag
ing in the blessed work of evangelizing the heathen.
We have voluntarily devoted ourselves to this great
object, and have been set apart to go forth and labor for
its accomplishment. In a few days we expect to leave
this loved land of our nativity, for the far distant isles
of the sea, there to plant this little vine, and nourish it,
till it shall extend through all the islands, till it shall
shoot its branches across to the American coast, and its
precious fruit shall be gathered at the foot of her
mountains.

ARTICLE VEL
Embarkation and Voyage.
OCTOBER 23, 1819, we embarked from Boston on
board the brig Thaddeus, Caj>t. Blanchard. We
cut loose from our native land for life, to find a dwelling
place, far, far away from civilized man, among barbaric
ans, there to cope with a cruel priesthood of blood-loving
deities, and to place ourselves under the iron law of kapus
requiring men and women to eat separately. To break
that law was death. It was death for woman to eat of
various kinds of food, such as pork, bananas, cocoa-nuts,
&c. It was death for her to enter the eating house of
her husband. The choicest of animal and vegetable pro
ducts were reserved for the male child ; for the female,
the poorest. From birth to death, a female child was
allowed no food that had touched her father's plate. It
was death for a woman to be caught looking at an idol's
temple. When she passed one, she was required to turn
her face another way.
Such were our prospects during our long voyage of
more than five months across the ocean; Our only hope
and trust was in God.
Although we set our faces to pass beyond the pale
of civilization, yet the animating prospect was held up
before us, that we might communicate with our Ameri
can friends once a year.
The whales of the Pacific Ocean, and the gold minea
of California were then unknown. Intelligence of the
arrival of our mission at the Islands, reached the United
States seventeen months after we left Boston.
18

ARTICLE Vm.
Letter from a Sister to Sisters. Sorrow for Separation from one so Dearly
Loved. Mrs. Persis G. Parkhurst to Mrs. filiza and Mrs. Meliscent Goodale.
Dear Sisters:
The season has again returned, which, in its last
revolution, brought with it such scenes of sorrow, con
nected with our mother's death. That time I seem to
live over again. Every event of every day is called up
afresh, as it were but of yesterday. Nor is this all. The
kindred tie has again been severed ; another, dear to me
as my own soul, I can no more find in the domestic
abode, no more behold on earth. Never perhaps were
sisters more tenderly attached. You know the similari
ty of taste, of sentiment, and of feeling which existed
between us ; of our habits of intimacy, and how much
we loved. It is needless then to say, that the separation is
inexpressibly painful. Often does the thought rush upon
my mind, "Lucy is gone, and I can see her face no
more." It requires all my philosophy, and all my piety,
to enable me, at some moments, cheerfully to acquiesce.
But when I can calmly reflect upon the subject, I do in
dulge better feelings. Yes, I can then rejoice, with all
my heart, I trust, that God has given her opportunity
and disposition to go and tell the perishing heathen that
Jesus died. 19

ARTICLE IX.
Voyage and Experiences.
To Dea. Abner Goodale and Family, Marlboro, Mass.
Brig Thaddeus, Dec. 20, 1819.
Dear Father, Brothers and Sisters :
Soon after we put forth to sea, ere we lost sight of
the American shores, sickness obliged me to repair to my
couch. To this I was confined two days and nights.
The rest of the family were in similar circumstances.
Chests, trunks, bundles, bags, &c., were piled into our
little room six feet square, until no place was left on the
floor for the sole of one's foot. Two-thirds of the way
they were built up considerably higher than the berth,
and for a space they extended to the height of the room.
With such narrow limits, and such confined air, it might
well be compared to a dungeon. This was with me a
gloomy season, in which I felt myself a pilgrim and a
stranger. The third day the whole family met on deck.
Could you have beheld the scene exhibted, while you
pitied, you must have smiled. Beside a boat, hogsheads,
barrels, tubs, cables, &c, with which the deck abounded,
there were to be seen a dog, cats, hens, ducks, pigs, and
men, women and children. Our whole family, with the
exception of the natives, were all under the horrors of sea
sickness, some thrown on their mattrasses, others seated
in clusters, hanging one upon another, while here and
there individuals leaned on the railing, or supported
themselves by hanging upon a rope. When the hour for
refreshment arrived, a container of soup was brought,
and placed on deck. A circle gathered around it, and
20

1819. 21
seated themselves like a group of children. Those at a
distance were not neglected. Look which way you
would, and all were sipping broth or picking bones. In
this rude manner we were obliged to eat several days.
We had entered a new school. It was among the very
first lessons taught us, that all ablutions, of whatever
kind, must invariably be performed with salt water.
Most of our number soon recovered, when we were in
troduced to a well regulated table.
We have family devotions in the cabin morning and
evening ; Sabbath forenoon, a religious service in the
cabin, and at noon, when the weather allows, public
worship on deck. The monthly concert of prayer is
observed. The interesting situation in which we are
placed, separated from the christian world, and engaged
in such a work, renders this a season doubly precious and
animating. In concert with our American friends, too, we ob
served Dec. 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving to God. At
no time have I thought so much and so tenderly of my
dear relatives. The idea that I could no more make one
in your associated circles, produced in my mind sensa
tions inexpressible. But though my place evermore
remain vacant, yet you will affectionately remember, you
will daily pray for your absent Lucy. If it will be any
gratification to you, I will tell you upon what we dined.
We had not that rich variety which crowds the boards
of our American friends on such occasions, hut we had
enough of that which was good, viz : roast pork, meat
pie, biscuit and cheese.
Our little room is vacated of everything not essen
tial to every day comfort. I have often thought, would
that I could, tell my dear friends that Lucy is contented
and happy. I can reflect with satisfaction on the rugged

22 Life of Lucy G. Tliurston.
pathway I have entered, viewing it as selected by my
Heavenly Father. No trial or privation which I have
experienced, or now anticipate, has ever caused me to
cast a lingering look back to my native shores. If I
may best contribute to the happiness and usefulness of
one of* Christ's own ministers, of assisting in giving
civilization, the Bible, and letters, to one of the tribes of
men in utter darkness, — it is enough that I bid farewell
to everything my heart so late held dear in life, and
subject myself to all the trials, privations and hardships
of a missionary life.' It is to me a source of no small
consolation, that my present undertaking met the ap
probation of my father and friends.
Jan. 25, 1820: — After having been out ninety-four
days, and witnessing nothing but floating barques like
our own, some monsters of the deep, the expansive
ocean and the wide-spread heavens, I can not describe to
you the joyful emotions which the sight of land has this
day produced. We have a fair view of Terra del Fuego
on the right, and Staten Land on the left. The Captain
has this evening heaved to, viewing it as dangerous pass
ing the strait in the night, from the liability of meeting
a gale in this tempestuous region.
Jan. 27. — Yesterday we entered the Strait of Le
Maire, fifteen miles wide. The scene before us was in
teresting and sublime. On either side was a long contin
ued range of mountains. The tops of some were covered
with snow, while others reached to the clouds. There
the naked eye could discover forests, trees, grass and
sandbanks. But what interested my feelings most of all
was the discovery of a smoke on the island of Terra del
Fuego. Through spy-glasses two men could be discov
ered near it. Whether they were natives or shipwrecked
mariners we knew not, nor could it be ascertainad with
out much labor and danger.

1820. 23
Jan. 29. — By a strong wind we have been driven
fifty or- sixty miles east. Sails were taken down and we
were carried before the wind. The incessant and violent
rocking of the vessel keeps me here laid prostrate upon
my couch. Oh, the luxury in feeble health of reclining on
a bed with tranquillity and ease! But I must not, I will
not repine. Even now, though tears bedew my cheeks,
I wish not for an alteration in my present situation or
future prospects. When I look forward to that land of
darkness, whither I am bound, and reflect on the degra
dation and misery of its inhabitants, follow them into the
eternal world, and forward to the great day of retribu
tion, all my petty sufferings dwindle to a point, and I
exclaim, what have I to say of trials, I, who can press to
my bosom the word of God, and feel interested in those
precious promises which it contains.
Feb. 21. — Several things respecting the mission ap
pear in a much less favorable light than when I contem
plated the subject in my native land. The circumstance
which appeared so auspicious of the king's returning
with his influence cast in the scale of civilization and
Christianity, now appears in the following light ; that
George Kaumualii is the illegitimate son of a chief. One
reason why he sent him abroad, was to save him from
falling a victim to the malice and jealously of his wife.
On his return, he has serious apprehensions that his life
will be sought. It was said that Kamehameha, the king,
was wishing that instructors might be sent there, promis
ing to be a father to them. Poor man ! Age has carried
him almost to his grave, and his decease presents the
prospect of a civil war, to decide which of the chiefs shall
be. his successor.
I inquired of the Captain a few days since, if he
thought there would be any danger of our lives beiug

24 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
taken at the Islands. He said, aside from intoxication,
to which they were addicted, and which sometimes led
them on to make bold assaults, he thought not in any
other way than by the use of poisons. When they con
ceive a dislike, no intimation is given, but by these means
they secretly seize on the first opportunity to accomplish
their fatal purpose. Theft among them is a most com
mon thing. I will mention one instance of this as a fair
specimen of many. The Captain once visited the Sand
wich Islands, having in his possession twenty-four shirts.
By the time he left the Islands, the number was dimin
ished to three. As we approach the field of our antici
pated labors, the officers, to prepare our minds for future
scenes and trials, kindly draw aside the vail which con
ceals their pollution and depravity. I will not yet draw
a picture of their degradation and impurity. Enough —
for the present, to give you some idea of the prospect
before me. The nearer I approach those savage shores,
the more I reflect on the subject, the great work magni
fies, and I exclaim, Who is sufficient for these things ?
March 11. — This afternoon, as the vessel lay be
calmed, one of the officers, Mr. Bingham, Mr. Thurston,
and two of the native youths went into the water to
bathe. Only one hour after they came out, a shark was
caught. When first observed it was approaching a sai
lor who was painting the outside of the vessel, his feet
hanging down in the water. He was ignorant of his
danger, until he received the alarm from one of our fam
ily. When caught, it seized hold of a hard stick of
wood so violently as to break out several of its teeth,
and continuing its grasp, by this means suffered itself
in part to be drawn up into the vessel. A large bone
was found in its stomach, thrown overboard at the time
our friends were in the water. Its extended jaws, suffi-

1820. 25
cient to embrace a man's head, are now hanging up in a
conspicuous place. How it makes the blood thrill through
my veins when I think of the danger to which our
friends were exposed! But as a matter of encouragement,
amid all the perils which may await us in a savage land,
may it strengthen my faith and confidence in Him who
has this day been their preserver.
March 20. — When I gave my hand to Mr. Thurston,
and came out from my father's house, to go far away to
a land unknown, I felt assured of the care and friend
ship of one precious friend. But my expectations have
been more than realized. To be connected with such a
husband, and engaged in such an object, in the present
state of the world, is, of all situations in life, what I
choose. Farewell, my dear friends. May the prospect of
meeting you all in a world where trials, separations and
sins shall be known no more, soothe the feelings, and an
imate the hopes of your affectionate and far distant
daughter and sister,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE X.
Hawaii In Sight.
AFTER sailing one hundred and fifty-seven days, we
beheld, looming up before us, March 30, 1820, the
long looked-for island of Hawaii. As we approached the
northern shore, joy sparkled in every eye, gratitude and
hope seemed to fill every heart. The native youths were
all animation, scarcely seeking the refreshment of either
sleep or food. Hopu, though he was up all night that

26 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
he might enjoy a glimmering view of Manna Kea,* after
eating half a meal at breakfast table, begged to be ex
cused, that he might go and see where his father lived.

ARTICLE XI.
Destruction of Idolatry.
TO LEARN the state of the Islands and the residence
of the king, the captain sent a boat on shore with
an officer, attended by Hopu and Honolii. Nearly three
anxious hours we waited their return. Every minute
seemed to whet our eagerness for news. Then, as Mr.
James Hunnewell hastily came over the side of the ves
sel, we gathered closely around him.~ Quickly, with
agitated lips he said :
'• Kamehameha is dead ; — his son Liholihof is King ;
— the hapus are abolished ; — the images are burned ; —
the temples are destroyed. There has been war. Now
there is peaqe."
After the death of Kamehameha, Liholiho, the
young king, and Hewahewa,|; the last idolatrous high
priest, cautiously approached a dangerous subject.
Priest. — "What do you think of the hapus P"
King. — "Do you think it well to break them?"
Priest. — "That lies with you."
King. — "It is as you say."
And in this way, endeavoring to penetrate each
others sentiments, they were led to the expression of
their own thoughts.
*Keopuolani, the king's mother, urged the king to
*Mow'-nah Kay' ah, the highest mountain on the Islands.
tLe'-ho-le'-ho. (Hay'-wah-hay'-wah.
*Kay-o-pu-o-lah'-ne,

1820. 27
violate the hapus, setting the example herself by eating
with his younger brother.
?Kaahumanu, in authority associated with the king.
decidedly told him that she would cast aside his gods
To this he made no objections. Between them matter
were arranged for the further development of their de
signs. He then smoked and drank with the female
chiefs. A feast was prepared after the custom of the coun
try with separate tables for the sexes. When all the
guests, including many foreigners, were in their places,
the king rose up and said to Mr. Young : "Cut up these
fowls and this pig ;" which being done, he suddenly
started off and went to the women's table, where, seating
himself by the queens, he began to eat with a fury of
appetite, requesting them to partake with him. The
whole native assembly was struck with horror and con
sternation at the sight, and looked to see him fall down
dead. But no harm to the king ensuing, they at length
cried out with one voice, "The kapu is broken, the
eating hapu is broken." When the feast, indulged in
indiscriminately, was ended, the king issued his com
mands, that all the idols should be overthrown, the
temples destroyed, and the priesthood abolished.
It was last October that the flames were lighted up
to consume the sacred relics of ages. The high priest,
Hewahewa, was the first to apply the torch.
He said : "I knew that the wooden images of deities,
carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants,
but worshipped them because it was a custom of our fath
ers. They made not the halo to grow, nor sent us rain.
Neither did they bestow life or health. My thought has
tKah-ah-hu-mah'-nu.

28 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
always been, there is one only great God, dwelling in
the heavens." He was cordial in his welcome to his brother priests,
as he styled the missionaries.

ARTICLE Xn.
Second Priest.
THERE was another pagan priest who tenaciously
adhered to the idols. In the presence of the king
he was brought to the test of renouncing the system of
idolatry by being required to eat some poi from the wo
men's calabash. He would not do it. As a consequence,
the king required him to drink a whole quart bottle of
whisky. The natives then placed him perpendicularly
by the body of a tree, and lashed him to it with a rope,
in such a snug manner, that in a short time it squeezed
the very life out of him. He was no farther care to
them that night.
In the morning they took down his lifeless body,
tied a rope to his heels and drew him about the village.
When weary with that sport, they put the body on
board a canoe, carried it out to sea, and threw it over
board.

ARTICLE XIII.
Missionary Movement in New England.
SIMULTANEOUSLY with these strange events on
Hawaii, last September and October, a new and
powerful impulse was given to missionary enterprise in
the New England States. There was a deep interest
and feeling, an extended moving and melting of heart.

1820. 29
Hasten, hasten, was the watchword that, went from
church to church.
Mr. Whitney, pursuing a course of study in Yale
College, being in his sophomore year, was impelled to go
to the heathen at once.
Captain and Mrs. Chamberlain, of independent
property, surrounded by every comfort of a New Eng
land home, with five children, were impelled to go at
once, taking their whole family with them.
Ladies were ready to go, leaving
— " Home, and ease, and all the cultured Joys,
Conveniences, and delicate delights
Of ripe society, in the great cause
Of man's salvation." 
Six marriages were solemnized ; two missionaries
were ordained ; a band was gathered from four different
States, and a dozen different churches, to go forth as
messengers of the churches, to the far 'distant land of
Obookiah, having hold of the strong cable, of leaving
the church on her knees. Obookiah from on high saw
that day. He saw the darkness fleeing away from
Hawaii, and that that mission family, so hastily fitted
out, was going forth to carry the Bible to a nation with
out a God.
But we return to brig Thaddeus, sailing along the
western coast of Hawaii.

ARTICLE XIV.
First Interview with Natives.
SOON the islanders of both sexes came paddling out
in their canoes, with their island fruit. The men
wore girdles, and the women a slight piece of cloth
wrapped round them, from the hips downward. To a

30 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
civiUzed eye their covering seemed to be revoltingly
scanty. But we learned that it was a full dress for daily
occupation. All was hapa, beaten out of the bark of a
certain tree, and could ill bear washing. Kamehameha I.
as well understood how to govern, as how to conquer,
and strictly forbade foreign cloth from being assumed
by his large plebeian family.
As I was looking out of a cabin window, to see a
canoe of chattering natives with animated countenances,
they approached and gave me a banana. In return I
gave them a biscuit. " Wahine maikai," (good woman)
was the reply. I then threw out several pieces, and
from my scanty vocabulary said, " Wahine" (woman.)
They with great avidity snatched them up and again
repeated, " Wahine maihai."
Thus, after sailing eighteen thousand miles, I met,
for the first time, those children of nature alone. Al
though our communications by look and speech were
limited, and simple, friendly pledges received and given,
yet that interview through the cabin window of the brig
Thaddeus gave me a strengthening touch in crossing the
threshold of the nation.

ARTICLE XV.
Arrival of Principal Chiefs.
APPROACHING Kawaihae Hopu went ashore to in
vite on board some of the highest chiefs of the nation.
Kindly regarding the feelings of the ladies, he suggested
that they put on garments. So they prepared for the
occasion. Kalanimoku* was the first, person of distinc
tion that came. In dress and manners he appeared with
the dignity of a man of culture. He was first intro-
*Kah-lah'-nee-mo'-koo.

1820. 31
duced to the gentlemen, with whom he shook hands in
the most cordial manner. He then turned to the ladies,
to whom, while yet at a distance, he respectfully bowed,
then came near, and being introduced, presented to each
his hand. The effects of that first warm appreciating
clasp, I feel even now. To be met by such a specimen
of heathen humanity on the borders of their land, was
to "stay us with flagons, and comfort us with apples."
Kalakua,* with a sister queen next welcomed us with
similar civilities. They were two out of five dowager
queens of Kamehameha. They had limbs of giant
mould. I was taught to estimate their weight at three
hundred lbs., and even more. Kalakua was the mother
of three of the wives of the young king. Two wives
of Kalanimoku followed. They were all attired in a
similar manner, a dress, then the pau,\ which consisted
of ten thicknesses of the bark cloth three or four yards
long, and one yard wide, wrapped several times round
the middle, and confined by tucking it in on one side.
The two queens had loose dresses over these.
Trammeled with clothes and seated on chairs, the
queens were out of their element. They divested them
selves of their outer dresses. Then the one stretched
herself full length upon a bench, and the other sat down
upon the deck. Mattresses were then brought for them
to recline in their own way.
After reaching the cabin, the common sitting room
for ladies and gentlemen, one of the queens divested
herself of her only remaining dress, simply retaining
her pau. While we were opening wide our eyes, she
looked as self-possessed and easy as though sitting in
the shades of Eden.
*Kah-lah-koo'-ah.tPah-oo'.

32 Life, of Lucy G. Thurston.
Kalanimoku dined with our family, eating as others
ate. The women declined sitting with us. After we rose
from table they had their own food brought on, raw fish.
and poi, eating with their fingers.
From Kawaihae the chiefs and their large retinue
all sailed with us to Kailua,* where the king resided.
They all slept on deck on their mats. While passing in
the grey of evening between two rows of native men in
Hawaiian costume, the climax of queer sensations was
reached. Kalakua brought a web of white cambric to have a
dress made for herself in the fashion of those of our
ladies, and was very particular in her wish to have it
finished while sailing along the western side of the is
land before reaching the king.
ARTICLE XVI.
Sewing Circle.
MONDAY morning, April 3d, the first sewing circle
was formed that the sun ever looked down upon in
this Hawaiian realm. Kalakua, queen dowager, was direc
tress. She requested all the seven white ladies to take
seats with them on mats, on the deck of the Thaddeus.
Mrs. Holman and Mrs. Ruggles were executive officers,
to ply the scissors and prepare the work. As the sisters
were very much in the habit of journalizing, every one
was a self-constituted recording secretary. The four
native women of distinction were furnished with calico
patchwork to sew, — a new employment to them.
Tbe dress was made in the fashion of 1819. The
length of the skirt accorded with Brigham Young's rule
to his Morman damsels, — have it come down to the tops
*KMoo'-ah.

1820. 33

of the shoes. But in the queen's case, where the shoes
were wanting, the bare feet cropped out very prom
inently. ARTICLE XVII.
Kalanimoku
WAS prime minister of the king, and the most pow
erful executive man in the nation. He was
sometimes called the "Iron cable of Hawaii."
Last January, while we were in the region of Cape
Horn, a rebel chief usurped kingly power, to sustain the
idols, and caused the blood of the last human sacrifice
to flow. His party in favor of the idols was opposed by '
the king's force, led on by Kalanimoku, who proved vic
torious. When about to join battle he thus addressed
his men : " Be calm — be voiceless — be valient — drink
of the bitter waters, my sons — turn not back — onward
unto death — no end for which to retreat."
Now the great warrior was among us, learning the
English alphabet with the docility of a child. He often
turned to it, and as often to his favorite teacher, Daniel
Chamberlain, a son five years of age. "And a little
child shall lead them."
[Six years after this Kalanimoku was called into the
spirit land. He lived to receive, and to love the " glad
tidings of great joy." ARTICLE XVIII.
Anchored and Went Ashore.
APRIL 4th, Tuesday, A. m., one hundred and sixty-
three days from Boston, the Thaddeus was anchored
before Kailua. The queen dowager, Kalakua, assumed a

34 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
new appearance. In addition to her newly-made white
dress, her person was decorated with a lace cap, having on
a wreath of roses, and a lace half neckerchief, in the
corner of which was a most elegant sprig of various
colors. They were presents we had brought her from
some American friends. When she went ashore, she was
received by hundreds with a shout.
Captain Blanchard, Messrs. Bingham and Thurston,
together with Hopu, went ashore and called on the king
in his grass-thatched house. They found him eating
dinner with his five wives, all of them in the free, cool
undress of native dishabille. Two of his wives were his
sisters, and one the former wife of his father.
After completing their meal, four of the wives, with
apparent sisterly affection and great pleasure, turned to
a game of cards. As was the custom, one wife was ever
the close attendant of her regal lord.
Hopu then introduced Messrs. Bingham and Thurs
ton as priests of the Most High God who made heaven
and earth. The letters were then read to the king from Dr.
Worcester of Boston, and from the Prudential Commit
tee, and the object for which they came to live among
them was explained. The visitors then retired, leaving
the subject for royal consideration.
ARTICLE XIX.
The King Dines on Board.
APRIL 6th, the king and family dined with us by
invitation. They came off in a double canoe with
waving kahilis* and twenty rowers, ten on each side,
and with a large retinue of attendants. The king was
*Kah-nee'-lee1

1820. 35
introduced to the first white women, and they to the first
king, that each had ever seen.
His dress on the occasion was a girdle, a green silk
scarf put on under the left arm, brought up and knotted
over the right shoulder, a chain of gold around his neck
and over his chest, and a wreath of yellow feathers upon
his head. We honored the king, but we loved the cultivated
manhood of Kalanimoku. He was the only individual
Hawaiian that appeared before us with a full civilized
dress. After dining with the royal family, all were gath
ered on the quarter-deck. There the Mission Family, the
captain and officers sung some hymns, aided by the bass-
viol, played by Kaumualii, a young native chief return
ing with us.
The king appeared with complacency, and retired
with that friendly aloha that left behind him the quiet
hope that he would be gracious.

ARTICLE XX.
Several of the Missionaries Go Ashore.
THE next day several of the brothers and sisters of
the Mission went ashore, hoping that social inter
course might give weight to the scale that was then
poising. They visited the palace. Ten or fifteen armed
soldiers stood without, and although it was ten or eleven
o'clock in the forenoon, we found him on whom devolved
the government of a nation, three or four of his chiefs,
and five or six of his attendants, prostrate on their mats,
wrapped in deep slumbers.

ARTICLE XXI.
The King's Position and Views.
THE king had just put down one religion. In doing
it his throne had tottered. It was a grave question
for him to accept a new one. Hopu, who was apt to
teach, had told them that our religion allowed neither
polygamy nor incest. So when Kamamalu*, the sister
and marked favorite out of five queens, urged the king
to receive the Mission, he replied : "If I do they will
allow me but one wife, and that will not be you." His
royal father had twenty-one wives.
Nor did the King seem to understand about learning
what kind of a thing it was, and whether it would be
good for his people. He asked a missionary to write his
name on a piece of paper. He wrote it Liholiho. The
king looked at it and said : "It looks neither like my
self nor any other man."
ARTICLE XXII.
Permitted a Residence on Shore.
AFTER various consultations, fourteen days after
reaching the Islands, March 12 th, permission, sim
ply for one year, was obtained from the king for all the
missionaries to land upon his shores. Two gentlemen
with their wives, and two native youth were to stop at
Kailua. The rest of the Mission were to pass on forth
with to Honoluluf .
Such an early separation was unexpected and pain-
*Kah-mah-mah'-loo. tHo-no-loo'-loo.
36

1820. 37
ful. But broad views of usefulness were to be taken,
and private feelings sacrificed.
At evening twilight we sundered ourselves from
close family ties, from the dear old brig, and from civi
lization. We went ashore and entered, as our home, an
abode of the most uncouth and humble character. It
was a thatched hut, with one room, having two windows
made simply by cutting away the thatch leaving the
bare poles. On the ground for the feet was first a lay
er of grass, then of mats. Here we found our effects
from the Thaddeus; but no arrangement of them could
be made till the house was thoroughly cleansed.
On the boxes and trunks, as they were scattered
about the room, we formed a circle. We listened to a
portion of scripture, sang a hymn, and knelt in prayer.
The simple natural fact speaks for itself. It was the
first family altar ever reared on this group of islands to
the worship of Jehovah.
Flat-topped trunks and chests served admirably in
accommodating us to horizontal positions for the night.
Honest Dick, a native who had been with us while lying
in port, sat within, and the king sent soldiers to keep sen
tinel without. Notwithstanding all, the night proved to
be nearly a sleepless one. There was a secret enemy
whose name was legion lying in ambush ; or rather we
had usurped their rights and taken possession of their
own citadel. It was the flea. Thus the night passed.
But bright day visited us with its soft climate and gentle
sea-breeze.

ARTICLE XXIII.
The Two Hawaiian Youth, and the Two American Missionaries;
IN the morning the two Hawaiian youth walked away
to see the gentry ; and having an eye to influence,
they put on their best broadcloth suits and ruffled shirts,
their conspicuous watch chains of course dangling from
the fobs of their pants. Their hair was cut short on the
sides and back. of the head, but left long on top, to stand
gracefully erect. Their style was just the same as if
again about to enter the capacious drawing rooms of
Boston where they had been received with so much eclat.
The two American missionaries rolled up their shirt
sleeves above their elbows, and went to work in good
earnest, removing from the house all their effects brought
from the Thaddeus, conveying away all old mats and
grass, giving a thorough sweeping to the thatch above,
and the ground below, spreading down new grass and
new mats, putting up two high post bedsteads of Chi
nese manufacture, lent them by Kamamalu, the queen,
and bringing in such articles as would be a substitute
for furniture. A large chest in the middle of the room
served for a dining table, small boxes and buckets for
dining chairs, and trunks for settees. We had block-tin
tumblers, which answered well in receiving hot tea, and
likewise served to impress the mind with the philosophi
cal fact, through the lips and tips of the fingers, that
metal is a good conductor of heat.
We trimmed the high post bedsteads with curtains ;
then added one from the foot corner to the side of the
house, thereby forming at the back of each bed a spot
perfectly retired. The two native youth were added to
38

1820. 39
the king's retinue. In twenty-four hours we found our
selves in circumstances comparatively neat and comforta
ble. For three days the king's steward kept three pewter
platters liberally supplied with fish, taro and sweet pota
to, cooked in the native manner.
For several days we received calls from the queens
and their whole train of attendants, three or four times
in a day, and at each time were solicited to hear them
read. When the queens were at our house, we sisters
were Marys ; when they were away, we were Marthas,

ARTICLE XXIV.

THREE days after landing, king Liholiho gave us a
large circular table of Chinese workmanship, hav
ing six drawers, which became a very eligible dining
table. In that manner it was generally used for twenty
years, until a family of children had risen and been dis
persed. Since which time it has thirty years graced a
parlor, every year becoming more and more valuable for
its antiquity, and as having been a royal present at one
of the most interesting periods of our lives.
ARTICLE XXV.
Development of Our Associates.
THREE days had not elapsed after landing when the
wife of our associate invited me to a private con
ference. It was secured by going to a mud- walled store
house near by. Having entered, we closed the door to
exclude the scores of natives hovering about. But in

40 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
so doing we shut out the light of day. On two of our
number "Tekel" has been written. They had been
weighed in the balances and found wanting. The wife
said she never would be willing to exercise that degree
of self-denial which was called for by a situation among
this people. In three months they left the station as
signed them by the Mission, and branched out into inde
pendent plans, to terminate in returning to their native
land. Mr. Thurston, in writing for more aid, thus describes
the character of persons wanted :
"We want men and women who have souls; who
are crucified to the world, and the world to them ; who
have their eyes and their hearts fixed on the glory of
God in the salvation of the heathen ; who will be willing
to sacrifice every interest but Christ's ; who will cheer
fully and constantly labor to promote His cause ; in a
word, those who are pilgrims and strangers, such as the
apostle mentions in Hebrews, 11th chapter."
ARTICLE XXVI.
A Feast in Honor of Kamehameha I.
APRIL 29. — For two days we heard one continued
yell of dogs. I visited their prison. Between one
and two hundred were 'thrown in groups on the ground,
utterly unable to move, having their fore-legs brought
over their backs and bound together. Some had burst
the bands that confined their mouths, and some had ex
pired. Their piteous moans would excite the compassion
of any feeling heart. Natives consider baked dog a
great delicacy, too much so in the days of their idolatry
ever to allow it to pass the lips of women. They never
offer it to foreigners, who hold it in great abhorrence.

1820. 41
Once they mischievously attached a pig's head to a dog's
body, and thus inveigled a foreigner to partake of it to
his great acceptance.
The above mentioned dogs were collected for the
grand feast which is this day made to commemorate the
death of Kamehameha I. The king departed from his
usual custom and spread a table for his family and ours.
There were many thousand people present. The king
appeared in a military dress with quite an exhibition of
royalty. Kamamalu, his favorite queen, applied to me
for one of my dresses to wear on the occasion ; but as it
was among the impossibles for her to assume it, the re
quest happily called for neither consent nor denial. She,
however, according to court ceremony, so arranged a
native-cloth pau, a yard wide, with ten folds, as to be
enveloped round the middle with seventy thicknesses.
To array herself in this unwieldy attire, the long cloth
was spread out on the ground, when, beginning at one
end, she laid her body across it, and rolled herself over
and over till she had rolled the whole around her. Two
attendants followed her, one bearing up the end of this
cumbrous robe of state, and the other waving over her
head an elegant nodding flybrush of beautiful plumes,
its long handle completely covered with little tortoise-
shell rings of various colors.
Her head was ornamented with a graceful yellow
wreath of elegant feathers, of great value, from the fact
that after a mountain bird had been caught in a snare,
but just two small feathers of rare beauty, one under
each wing, could be obtained from it. A mountain vine,
with green leaves, small and lustrous, was the only
drapery which went to deck and cover her neck and the
upper part of her person. Thus this noble daughter of
nature, at least six feet tall and of comely bulk in propor-

42 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
tion, presented herself before the king and the nation,
greatly to their admiration. After this presentation was
over, her majesty lay down again upon the ground and
unrolled the cloth by reversing the process of clothing.

ARTICLE XXVn.
Preaching and School.
THE first time that Mr. Thurston preached before the
king through an interpreter, was from these words :
"I have a message from God unto thee." The king, his
family, and suite listened with attention. When prayer
was offered, they all knelt before the white man's God.
The king's orders were that none should be taught
to read but those of rank, those to whom he gave special
permission, and the wives and children of white men.
For several months his majesty kept foremost in learning,
then the pleasures of the cup caused his books to be quite
neglected. Some of the queens were ambitious, and
made good progress, but they met with serious interrup
tions, going from place to place with their intoxicated
husband. The young prince, seven years of age, the
successor to the throne, attended to his lessons regularly.
Although the king neglected to learn himself, yet he was
solicitous to have his little brother apply himself, and
threatened chastisement if he neglected his lessons. He
told him that he must have learning for his father and
mother both, — that it would fit him for governing the na
tion, and make him a wise and good king when old.
The king brought two young men to Mr. Thurston,
and said : "Teach these, my favorites, Ii* and Kahuhuf.
It will be the same as teaching me. Through them I
*E-e! tKah-hooMioo.

1820. 43
shall find out what learning is." To do his part to dis
tinguish and make them respectable scholars, he dressed
them in a civilized manner. They daily came forth
from the king, and entered the presence of their teacher,
clad in white, while his majesty and court continued to sit
m their girdles. Although thus distinguished from their
fellows, in all the beauty and strength of ripening man
hood, with what humility they drank in instruction from
the lips of their teacher, even as the dry earth drinks in
water !
[After an absence of some months, the king return
ed, and called at our dwelling to hear the two young
men, his favorites, read. He was delighted with their
improvement, and shook Mr. Thurston most cordially by
the hand — pressed it between both his own — then kissed
it] ARTICLE XXVIII.
Native Manners and Customs, and Domestic Privations.
FOR three weeks after going ashore, our house was
constantly surrounded, and our doors and windows
filled with natives. From sunrise to dark there would
be thirty or forty at least, sometimes eighty or a hun
dred. For the sake of solitude, I one day retired from
the house, and seated myself beneath a shade. In five
minutes I counted seventy companions. In their curios
ity they followed the ladies in crowds fron> place to
place, with simplicity peering under bonnets, and feeling
articles of dress. It was amusing to see their efforts
in running and taking a stand, that so they might have
a full view of our faces. As objects of curiosity, the
ladies were by far the most prominent. White men had
lived and moved among them for a score of years. In

44 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
our company were the first white women that ever step
ped on these shores. It was thus the natives described
the ladies : " They are white and have hats with a
spout. Their faces are round and far in. Their necks
are long. They look well." They were called " Long
Necks." The company of long necks included the whole
fraternity. It was the custom of a chief to have a personal
attendant to carry a spittoon, a flybrush, (to protect the
extensive surface of bare skin,) and a square cloth for a
covering, folded and borne upon the shoulder. The
highest point of etiquette among illustrious Hawaiians
was, not to move. So, court form, in receiving the most
distinguished foreigner, was, to keep the seat.
An American lady, the active wife of a missionary,
could not be measured by such a yard-stick. And thus
it was, that in superintending at the cooking stove, in
order to place civilized dishes on her husband's table,
that she early became classed, by the people, in the cate
gory of cooks, whose special realm was the ship's caboose.
Those were the only foreign cooks they had ever seen.
The idea was natural enough, — the Captain's cook —
the Missionary's cook.
Our stove was necessarily placed outside at a little
distance from our front door. There was no back or
end doors to native houses. The principal point of at
traction in our village lay in full view, but a few rods
from us. There were hundreds of natives, all ages, of
both sexes, and of every rank, bathing, swimming, float
ing on surf boards, &c, nearly or quite in a state of
nudity. We could command only green brush wood, brought
two miles on the backs of men, for cooking and heating
our one iron, for smoothing all our light, thin, tropical

1820. 45
dresses, which had been so abundantly prepared for us.
But to such dresses we were limited. Every quart of
water was brought to us from two to five miles in large
gourd shells, on the shoulders of men. The natives were
too ignorant to wash without superintendence. A new
article was sent to be washed at the fountain, but five
holes were made in it by being rubbed on sharp lava.
We had entered a pathway that made it wisdom to take
things as they came, — and to take them by the smooth
handle.

ARTICLE XXIX.
A Royal Feast.
KING Liholiho, the royal family, and a large retinue
called upon us. The last urchin of the party en
tered the house, and crouched upon his heels within the
royal presence. Seventy heads were counted whose feet
crossed that threshhold. Soon the king's steward enter
ed with a bearing that shewed how well he understood
his responsibilities. He bore in his hands a large tray,
the contents of which sent forth an aroma, which, to the
initiated, was as if the pleasures of a full cup were
poured out to them. It Avas a baked dog. He placed it
on the table, tore it in pieces with his hands and teeth,
then passed it around, each of the grandees taking a piece.
For reasons not necessary to mention, the representatives "
of America, did not, as usual, partake of the regal
repast.

ARTICLE XXX.
A Peculiar Exhibition that Marked the Times.
IT was evening twilight. I was behind the screen in
a side room. From the outer door into the sitting
room, proceeded these words : " Good evening, Mr.
Thurston." It was a voice never to be forgotten. We
were newly transplanted exotics. We had not then ta
ken root. We were in the heart of the nation, shut up
to a strange dialect, without associates, and without for
eigners for neighbors. English words, in cultivated
tones, fell with strange power upon the ear, and upon
the heart. So it was when an American vessel visited
our port. We heard words, and experienced deeds of
kindness. God bless mariners. They are the links that
connect us to the father-land. The white sails of the
ship were again unfurled to the breeze, and the only
vestige around us of civilization had passed away.
Then a whole sisterhood, embracing fifteen or twen
ty, assembled and took seats in a conspicuous part of the
village to display themselves. Before the arrival of that
ship, they were simply attired in native cloth. After
her sailing, each one was arrayed in a foreign article,
obtained from that very ship. Their own relatives and
friends, perhaps fathers or brothers, or husbands, had
paddled off that whole company of women and girls,
to spend the night on board that ship, specially for the
gratification of its inmates. When they returned, each
one flaunted her base reward of foreign cloth.
Thus it was that when these children of nature first
came in contact with a superior race, they were quickly
led to follow a course, which in their view, won distinc
tion and honor.
46

ARTICLE XXXI.
Life Alone No. I.
IT was a rule of the Mission, in the first years of
sojourn among the heathen, not to expect it of a man
and a wife to live alone at a station without the pro
tection of a second family. The rest of the Mission at
Honolulu, learning that by the withdrawal of our as
sociate, we were thus situated, in the very heart of the
nation, immediately dispatched a deputation of one, Mr.
Whitney, to make a trip of more than a hundred miles
to bring the isolated ones to share in each other's pro
tection. That visit was to us like the visit of an angel.
After long conference, he asked for a decisive answer to
the invitation he had brought. Mr. Thurston said : " I
wish, for the present, to remain at this post." Turning
to me the deputy asked : " And what do you say ?" I
replied: "My feelings are expressed in the wishes of
my husband." After a long pause, the response came,
"I believe you were made to be missionaries." Under
such a despotic government, it was all important that
those in authority be taught and christianized. It was
forging a key that would unlock privileges to a nation.
The house which we then occupied was, at the time
of our landing, the best in the land, and was appropri
ately called the king's palace. It was distinguished from
all others by having two doors. On the front side, close
by the corner, was one, two feet and a half high. But
the state entrance was in the middle of one side, where
was a rudely constructed frame of a door, three and a
half feet high. It was duly poised on hinges on one
side, and connected by a hasp and staple on the other. 47

48 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
Two very narrow boards would have reached from hasp
to hinges. But the board next the hasp was left off,
that the door might be unhooked with the same ease on
each side. So there was no means of fastening the door,
either day or night, when at home or abroad. Thus sit
uated, we could not both leave the house, and suffer our
effects to be carried off, neither could I go out without
an escort. Thus the lack of a lock kept me as with a
lock for four months from passing beyond our own door-
yard ; and the lack of eyes in the back of my head, gave
opportunity of having property taken in my very pres
ence. Thus situated, so often alone, having no protection
whatever against the admission of evil, I stood in my
lot, strengthening myself to the inglorious work of look
ing after the stuff, while my husband looked after the
people ; and the angels looked after me, for in my peril
ous position, not a hair of my head was singed.
ARTICLE XXXII.
Life Alone No. II.
ONE day Mr. Thurston attended a religious meeting.
He had no sooner gone from the house when a
company of natives, perhaps a dozen, excited by strong
drink, advanced and stationed themselves outside the
fence of the door yard. The gesticulations of their
naked arms were frantic, and the house was made the
target for the fiery glances of their wild eyes. Within
that slight pole fence, stood our slight grass-thatched
hut, where, from the door, everything met the eye at a
glance. I cautiously closed the doors, and justly feeling
the perils of being alone, stood for an hour, peeping out
at a crevice, to note whether the house was to be invaded

1820. 49
or simply besieged. An hour contains sixty minutes,
and a mmute sixty seconds. But at that lone fearful
post of observation, a second seemed to become a min
ute, and a minute an hour. Mr. Thurston's return was a
signal for that inflamed party of natives to go their way.
Anxiety and apprehension were washed away by the
soothing waters of safety and peace, that swept through
our humble dwelling.

ARTICLE XXXIII.
- Life Alone No. III.
I WAS at my dwelling teaching the young prince
who had half a dozen attendants with him. A pagan
priest of the old religion, somewhat intoxicated, entered,
and with insolent manners, divested himself of his gir
dle. Before I was aware every individual had left the
house and yard. The priest and I stood face to face,
alone. As he advanced, I receded. Thus we performed
many evolutions around the room. In a retired corner
stood a high post bedstead. He threw himself upon the
bed and seemed to enjoy the luxury of rolling from side
to side upon its white covering. On leaving it he again
approached and pursued me with increased eagerness.
My tactics were then changed. I went out at one
front door, and he after me. I entered the other front
door, and he after me. Thus out and in, out and in, we
continued to make many circuits. The scene of action
was next in the door yard. There, being nearly entrap
ped in a corner, having a substantial stick in my hand, I
gave the fellow a severe blow across the arm. As he
drew back under the smart, I slipped by and escaped.
Loss and pain together so enraged him that he picked up

50 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
clubs and threw at me. There we parted, without his
ever touching me with a finger. In my flight I swiftly
ran through the crowd, just as I was, straight toward
the palace where Mr. Thurston was teaching, quarter
of a mile distant. Under ordinary circumstances it
was an imprudent pathway, the beach being lined with
hundreds of the king's soldiers, retainers, and other
idlers. I had not proceeded far, however, before I met
my husband. The prince and his attendants, being
frightened at the appearance of the priest, ran to tell
Hopu. He quickly communicated it to Mr. Thurston,
and so it was that he hastened to the rescue. As long as
action was required, my strength, courage and self-pos
session were equal to the emergency. But when I sat
down in my own dwelling, safe beneath the protection
of my husband, there was a mighty reaction. Then
came prostration, trembling and tears. In fifteen min
utes the house was filled with scholars and their numer
ous trains of attendants. The queens were very sympa
thizing. With tears they often tenderly embraced me,
joined noses and said : "Very great is our love to you."
The priest soon returned. His standing among the
people was formerly very high, so that at his presence
they all fell prostrate. Now he was commanded to re
tire from the door-yard. Refusing, he was walked out
off the premises with a muscular strength that no com
mon man could resist. Then, from an apprehension of
his resentment, by applying a torch to our combustible
house, two of our devoted pupils, John Ii and James
Kahuhu, for a fortnight slept beneath our roof, with
deadly weapons by their pillows. According to advice
from foreigners, the king would have put the priest to
death ; but Mr. Thurston restrained him. We had been
made to feel that it was imprudent for a lady to go

1820. 51
abroad unattended, but now it was found that a protec
tor was necessary to make even home a safe asylum.
[A few years after, this same pagan priest visited a
missionary. He penitently acknowledged his sins in
general, and this in particular, and professed to have
embraced the christian faith.]
[As far as is known, this is the only instance where
a missionary lady ever received insult from a Hawaiian.]
ARTICLE XXXIV.
Removal from Kailua to Maui*.
AFTER spending the first seven months of mission
ary life in Kailua, the government removed from
that place to Honolulu, in the latter part of the year
1820, and we were directed by the king to go too. We
were to have accompanied him, but the vessel was sO
completely filled with natives as scarcely to leave room
to recline in any position. So we remained, with the
prospect of following them in five or six days. Howev
er, after having everything packed ready to put on board
immediately, we were obliged in that state to remain
three weeks, every few days being on the point of going.
At length, for the first time, we embarked on a na
tive vessel for Maui. When on board, I was, at first,
conducted through the crowd down into the cabin, not
expecting again to set foot on deck till called to land.
Mr. Thurston assured me that he did not think he could
find a vacant place sufficiently large for me either to sit
or stand, excepting in the cabin. But sickness and op
pressive heat obliged me to make the trial, when I was
kindly furnished with an eligible situation on the top of
the companion way. Mr. Thurston stood at a little dis-
*Maui, an island lying half way between Kailua and Honolulu.

52 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
tance upon a ladder. Men, women and children, from
grey hairs to the infant that had just seen light, were
disposed of in almost every position that the mind could
conceive. Four hundred and seventy-five souls were on
that brig, and with the exception of a f ew individuals,
all were then above deck. Several hundred calabashes,
containing poi, fish, water, &c, provisions for the pas
sage, occupied not a little room, while a large number of
dogs, with here and there a nest of puppies, served to fill
up the crevices. The officers were obliged to keep watch
most of the time, and to proceed from place to place on
the sides of the vessel. We were treated with a great
deal of kindness, being presented with fruit, vegetables,
fresh meat, &c. My hands, fingers, nails, and every part
of dress, were examined and felt of with the utmost mi
nuteness. They were all good, very good. Then they
asked about my dear father, brothers and sisters in
America, and contrasted the skill *>f the people in that
land with their own ignorance.

ARTICLE XXXV.
Stay at Maui.
ON reaching Maui, we went ashore, and at the dis
tance of half a mile from the beach, were received
into a retired new thatched house built by Kalanimoku.
It was under the care and occupied by an English sailor,
who had been cast upon these shores, and who had pre
viously been in our family at Kailua a fortnight. An
own brother could not have given us a more welcome
reception, or done more to render our situation comfort
able and pleasant. The very next morning after our
arrival, in a fit of intoxication, the king was off at the

1820. 53
other side of the island, followed by all the scholars and
the whole tribe which came from Kailua. Here we were
again in a posture of waiting for more than four weeks.
For two months before leaving Kailua, I had not the
means of washing garments at all. Now when the finest
streams of water were running at our feet, our dirty
clothes were in the vessel's hold, at the other side of the
island. When I ultimately obtained them at Honolulu,
more than two months after I put them on board at
Kailua, most of them were soaking wet, and had so long
been in that state, as to be nearly or quite ruined.
ARTICLE XXXVI.
Removal from Maui to Honolulu.
HAVING obtained permission from the king, who
was still on the other side of the island, to proceed
to Honolulu, we went, one evening, on board the fa
mous barge Cleopatra, by invitation from the captain.
It had a spacious cabin elegantly ornamented. As we
approached the shore at Honolulu, our hearts were glad-
ened by seeing Mr. Bingham on the beach waiting to
receive us.
Then rose to our view a village of thatched huts.
It was bare of trees save groves of cocoa-nuts on the
margin of the shore. Beyond stretched out an extensive
plain, open on one side to the sea, otherwise hemmed in
with an amphitheatre of mountains, some of the nearest
as naked of trees as the village. But the more remote
were dressed with nature's richest, most verdant robes.
After walking half a mile, followed by a crowd of
natives, we reached the wicket gate of the large kapued
inclosure of the missionary establishment, which was
dotted with new thatched cottages. We were conduc-

54 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
ted into a large room, with seats of plank around its
sides. There the whole family immediately assembled,
and gave us a cordial welcome. A circle was at once
formed, who united in singing. Then all knelt in
thanksgiving and prayer to Him, who, during our sepa
ration, had been our preserver, granted some degree of
success to our, efforts, and was opening up before us
prospects of increased usefulness. A little cottage of
one room was given up to our accommodation, and we
were again reinstated in the bosom of the mission fam
ily, December 21st, 1820.
ARTICLE XXXVII.
The King, the Russian Commodore, and the Missionaries Public Table.
AFTER spending several months in passing from
place to place, the king, Kaahumanu, and the re>:
of the royal family, came to reside at Honolulu. The
very next morning after their arrival, the king called on
the Mission family. He, with his queens, visited every
family cottage, the schoolroom, the cookhouse, and ex
amined the well. An improvement of window frames
and wooden shutters had been introduced into our own
personal cottage of one room. Into the window shutter
on the east side of the cottage, one pane of g]ass had
been admitted. It was probably the first pane of glass
through which the sun ever pierced its rays into a dark
Hawaiian hut. The walls of our dwelling were lined
with fine mats. To a common dining chair, the only one
we possessed, Mr. Thurston had attached rockers, arms,
and a high back. He had, likewise, with a saw, broad-
axe and jack-knife, made a settee, which had been trim
med with 'furniture calico. Trunks and chests, liberally
placed around the walls of the room, answered the dou-

1821. 55
ble purpose of receptacles and seats. There was a tier
of shelves, containing a library, and a table with two
writing desks upon it. A good sized traveling looking-
glass, opened and firmly suspended at a due distance
above a toilette, which, with a high post bedstead, was
trimmed with white throughout, curtains, valances, and
spread. Then, to the severe simplicity of the room, was
given a touch of decoration, by vines of mountain
evergreen. Our royal visitors examined every part of the room,
and every piece of furniture in a most critical manner.
All was pronounced to be very good, and the hands that
prepared them very skillful. The king felt the bed. Find
ing it a mattrass, he sought farther and entered another
cottage. There the feather bed had just been stripped.
Unceremoniously he threw himself upon it and rolled
from side to side in a jovial manner, that he might the
more fully experience its soft delights. In passing out
they met with our hand cart. The king took a seat in
the bottom of it, and thus backwards was drawn by his
servants with speed to the village. A large retinue of
attendants, his wives, and an armed guard, all scampered
across the plain to keep up with his majesty, their loose
garments flying in the trade wind.
We had little more than time to adjust our things
after this company left us, before another of fifteen dis
tinguished characters approached our establishment.
They came in solitary grandeur, destitute of a retinue
to carry shawls, spittoons, fly-brushes, and guns. They
were the commodore of the Imperial Russian Navy, his
aged venerable chaplain of the Greek church, and thir
teen of the officers, all in their appropriate uniforms.
The chaplain wore his long sacerdotal garment, his white
beard reaching down and nearly covering his bosom.

56 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
Again our little hut was completely filled. Only two of
the gentlemen could speak English; but they were none
the less social for being unacquainted with our language.
They belonged to an Exploring Expedition, and they
seemed well pleased to explore our premises, pur cotta
ges, school-room, the meat of our table, the sitting of
our mission family, the attendance of our native board
ing scholars, and our manner of ministering to those who
sat at table. In the school-room, lessons first recited in
Hawaiian, were translated into English, then into Rus
sian. In their splendid uniforms, these officers again
came on shore, and sat with us at the frugal board of
our united band.
Our dining table was sufficiently long to seat twen
ty-five, and was encircled by benches without backs. It
stood in a long open piazza which connected three cot
tages, by the gable ends. Bushes were spread for the
feet. A colored cloth was the table's accustomed cover
ing, while salt beef, sea-bread, halo, coffee, tea, a small
portion of goat's milk, and two molasses bottles well
replenished, were seldom known to fail. On gala days,
the sombre covermg of the table was exchanged for
white damask. Molasses bottles, too, might give place
to the more refined sweets of brown sugar.
Our steward was unwearied in his chance efforts to
obtain what was so very scarce, a pig for roasting.
What was more, it was the second year in the history of
Hawaii, that woman might either partake of baked pork
or sit at table with her noble lord. Two priests headed
our table. The one saw to it that all piously turned
their thoughts to the living bread; the other, that each
received a portion of the bread that perisheth.

ARTICLE XXXVIII.
Permission at Length Obtained for Erecting the First Wooden House on the
Islands.
A HOUSE had been sent out by the American Board
to their missionaries who asked permission to put
it up. The king decidedly said: "No, in that respect
I wish to follow the policy of my father. He never al
lowed foreigners to build a house but for the king." It
was in vain to tell him that one of our young mothers
had suffered a severe illness, the result of living on the
ground, saturated with flooding rains.
Some time elapsed, when two of the missionaries,
accompanied by their wives, called on the king and again
made application for erecting their house. But the re-.
ply was a decided negative. While the missionaries
were retiring and saying aloha to the numerous members
of the royal household, one of the ladies stepped to the
elbow of the king. She would have said, " If we have
found grace in thy sight, allow the foreign ladies who
have come to serve thee, to save their health and their
lives, by living in such a house as they have been used
to." But the grace of idiomatic language in that new
dialect was wanting, She spoke necessarily in feeble,
broken language. Yet the king was quick to discover
and ajipreciate her want, and immediately replied, "Yes,
build." Then she joined her friends. But her request
and the king's answer were not mentioned. She thought,
let the king be a king, and in again referring to this
subject let him speak thoughts that spontaneously arise.
in his mind without being reminded of previous utter
ances. And beside, she had too much sympathy and 57

58 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
reverence for the leading missionaries to drop a word to
show that her prayer before the throne had been more
availing than theirs. A few days after, the king and
several of his chiefs called and sat with the mission fam
ily at table. There, in presence of them all, he expres
sed his full approbation of their erecting their house.
He likewise renewed his former permission to allow our
company to remain in his kingdom to labor as mission
aries.

ARTICLE XXXIX.
Opposition of White Men.
THERE was a clique of foreigners whose interest and
influence it was to have the reign of darkness con
tinue, and who opposed the missionaries with all their
power. They would have induced the king to give a
very different turn to affairs. They had a withering in
fluence on his downward habits. But respecting the
missionaries, the king thought with manly independence.
He said : " Those men will talk, and talk, and talk; but
they know nothing of what they are talking about."
They spread wide the report of the missionaries be
ing spies ; that their concealed aim was to take the Is
lands ; and that the house and cellar was for storing
firearms and ammunition. Multiplied were the stories
put in circulation of seeing articles to that effect in the
publications of the day ; of vessels of war being on the
way, when they would arrive, &c. As one story failed,
two more would be fabricated. Some discerning natives
saw through the fallacy of it and inquired : " If that
is their object, why did they bring their wives and chil
dren?" The missionaries leaving it to Hopu to disabuse

1821. 59
the native mind, attented to their own business like as
soldiers in the day of battle, whose part it is to load and
fire, load and fire, without attending to the rattling of
musketry on the side of their opponents. When com
pany after company came to see the house, having much
to say about guns and powder, Hopu facetiously warned
them, "Don't approach so near as to be injured should
the magazine explode !"
ARTICLE XL.
The Native Orphan Babe.
MR. and Mrs. Loomis called to see an orphan babe.
Its little body clothed as it were with disease, was
reduced to a very skeleton. Its mother only lived to
give it birth. Another woman after having charge of it
four months, died also. Four weeks had since worn
away. The child's only food from the first had been
fish and poi. The father, a white man, without exercis
ing the least care for the child, had taken a new wife
and gone to the opposite side of the Island. The wo
man with whom it lodged, said it would die. Mrs.
Loomis offered to take it if she would give it up to her
to keep as her own. She, with tears, immediately laid
the afflicted, forsaken one in her arms. By the faithful
care of Mrs. Loomis by night and by day, it recovered
from its diseased state, and was beginning to thrive.
But a more fatal disease fixed upon it, — dropsy in the
head. To hear the groans and cries of the little suffer
er, to see it waving its little hands, no larger than those
of a new-born infant, was very touching. In seven
weeks from the time of its admission into the mission
family, it followed its mother to the "land of silence."

ARTICLE XLL
The King's Visit.
AGAIN the king made us a call, dressed for once
like a gentleman, with ruffled shirt, silk vest, pan
taloons and coat. How he moved among his subjects
with all the nobility of a king ! He was in one of his
very best moods. Everything we did was good in the
superlative degree. He examined the house and cellar
and was delighted. He wished the good people of
America to send him a house, three stories high ; one
story in which to worship Jehovah, as by and by, in five
years, he was going to pray.
He wished to have the missionaries learn all the Ha
waiian sounds, — he would assist them, and then books
and prayers in the native language could be printed. He
criticised the pronunciation of some dozen words. He
wished to know how far his favorite young men under
Mr. Thurston had proceeded in their spelling books and
Testaments. When he was shown, and had looked at
their writing books, he three times expressed how very
sorry he was that he had left off learning ; felt vexed
with himself for so doing. He was ashamed to begin a
second time, and many people had told him that they
should think he would be. In giving his aloha, his part
ing address was : "Don't pray for rain to-day, because
we are going to have a grand dance."

60

ARTICLE XLII.
Mr. Thurston to Mrs. Thurston's Father.
Honolulu, Oct. 7, 1821.
Sire — When I take up my pen to address a far distant
and honored friend, a thousand thoughts and feelings
rise to give utterance. I think I hear you ask, with all
the tenderness and affection of a father, " Where now
is Lucy ; — what new and trying scenes has she passed
since I gave her the parting hand and the last look ?
Has the presence of Jesus sustained and comforted her
in times of affliction and distress ? Has she enjoyed the
smiles of the covenant God ? Yes, often have we had
occasion to speak of divine goodness. Often have we
bent the knee in united thanksgiving to that gracious
Savior, to whose service we have sacredly devoted our
lives, our all. But on the morning of the 28th of Sep
tember, we had occasion to sing of special mercies.
Through the interposition of the supporting delivering
hand of our heavenly Father, Lucy was made the joyful
mother of a fine little daughter. We wept, and prayed,
and rejoiced together over this new accession to our
comfort and care, and in view of that new relation which
we now sustain as parents.
Lucy is feeble. A slight cough has newly set in,
which prevents her gaining strength. We hope it may
be better in a few days. If it should not, our fears for
her health will be. aroused. We have no physician, for
the Dr. and his wife left this place three days after her
confinement, for America. Everything is done for her
which we know how to do. She is now taking those
medicines which she used when in America under her 61

62 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
father's roof. Our only hope is in the great Physician,
who is ever with his servants and will preserve their
lives so long as he has anything for them to do, or dur
ing all the days of their appointed time. The Lord will
do right. I beg you not to be distressed on her account.

ARTICLE XLIII.
Sickness and Recovery.
AGAIN I am permitted to hold my pen, which I
sometimes thought had been dropped forever.
When in a very weak state, a very slight cough com
menced and increased. I knew its features. It seemed
to look me mockingly in the face and say : " I have
tracked you from your father's house, have waited and
watched my opportunity, when I could best seize upon,
and become your victor." My state became critical.
There was no physician in the kingdom. But I was ten
derly nursed. The ladies at the station were kind, but
such were their circumstances that the prmcipal care in
the sick room devolved on Mr. Thurston. He was equal
to it, even as a mother would have been. It is an impor
tant qualification in a missionary who goes to an unen
lightened land, well to understand the beautiful lesson of
girding himself with a towel, and being able with skill
and tenderness to wash' the disciples' feet. When I be
came convalescent, it was said to me : " We thought we
should lose you by a quick consumption." Yet I have
again the promise of life, having a double being to con
secrate to the Giver and Preserver.

ARTICLE XLIV.
The Wooden House Finished and Occupied. Visited by the Royal Family.
Kaahumanu's and Kaumualu's Marriage.
THE wooden structure had been reared and finished,
having board floors, glass windows, and two flights
of stairs, leading the one up chamber, and the other
down cellar. The front door opened into the hall, which
extended through the house. At the right, on entering,
was the large common receiving room. On the left, my
own private apartment. The two back rooms on either
side the hall, were for the accommodation of two other
families. The table was spread in the basement, and
the cook-house was separated a little distance from the
house. Our families had entered and made it our home.
The royal party with a large retinue came to view a
thing so unique. I was still in retirement, but they must
see all that was to be seen. Of course, for a time, my
room was pretty well packed with the grandees of the
nation. It had its attractions, there was their white
teacher under new circumstances. And there was her
white infant, neatly dressed in white. A child dressed !
Wonderful, most wonderful ! ! To witness home scenes
and the manner in which we cherished our children,
seemed, in a child-like way, to draw forth their warmest
affections. Then the room ! It was lighted up with two glass
windows. The floor and trimraings were painted. A
friend gave us some paper to cover its walls, just such as
he happened to have, delicate and gay, — its color pink,
its vines tinsel. How eloquent the natives were in re
ferring to their own naked neglected children, and their
dark, dingy, thatched huts!
The royal party, closely followed by their large 63

64 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
retinue, left our house and premises. It was a satisfac
tory interview. What happy influences from it we
hoped would light down upon our opening prospects !
But behind the scenes lay a sequel. Motherhood had
not reached the point of endurance ; for before midnight
Mr. Thurston and Mrs. Chamberlain were called to my
bedside, to stay the tide of fever and delirium.
It was also a memorable night to two personages of
the royal party. It is a custom in the nation that wo
men, and girls even, become leading parties in proposing
marriage. Kaahumanu and Kaumualii, while walking
to the mission house, touched, for the first time on a ten
der subject. Again they alluded to it while reclining
beneath the shades of that wooden structure. While
returning home over the plain, they conferred upon it
still more freely. That night Kaahumanu, associated
with the king in the government of Hawaii, Maui, Oahu,
&c, and Kaumualii, tributary king of Kauai, reclined
side by side on a low platform, eight feet square, consist
ing of between twenty and thirty beautiful mats of the
finest texture. Then a black kapa (native cloth) was
spread over them. The significance of it was, it ' pro
nounced the royal pair to be husband and wife. An
important political union was likewise peaceably effected,
connecting the windward and leeward islands under
one crown. Hopu was present" and witnessed the simple
ceremony so full of meaning.
ARTICLE XLV.
First Introduction of a Written Language.
AN alphabet of twelve letters was fixed upon which
would give every sound in the pure Hawaiian dia
lect. In one year and nine months after the missionaries

1822. 65
left the brig Thaddeus, a Hawaiian spelling book was
issued from the press. The chiefs received it with deep
interest; the scholars with enthusiasm. Writing letters
in the native language was soon introduced. A door
was now opened which allowed learning to become
general. Gov. Cox, of Maui, brother of Kaahumanu, dream
ed that he saw the whole island on fire, and all the water
in the surrounding sea could not quench the flames. He
sought for safety, but in vain — he could find no shelter.
Awaking in horror, his heart turned to the teachings of
the missionaries ; how they told of escaping destruction
by a Savior. In the evening he sent a messenger for
two missionaries to come to him. A goodly number of
chiefs were there, many of whom were lying on the mat
learning to spell or read, and some to write. Gov. Cox
communicated to the missionaries the cause of his inquie
tude, and sought instruction. They preached to him of
Jesus, and fervently prayed for his salvation and that of
his people. They were requested to come again in the
morning at daylight, to conduct family worship.
In the morning more than sixty natives of rank
were there assembled, and all behaved with an effecting
decorum, rarely seen at public services. Thus, evening
and morning the missionaries continued to repair to his
house, to teach and to assist him in establishing family
worship, which he said he was determined should daily
be performed under his roof. He said, "others might
do as they pleased, but he should have all people taught
to read and write, and to understand the good Word."
So he not only opened his own house for the worship of
God, but for school instruction for himself and others.
Gov. Cox's example produced happy effects. A
multitude flocked to attend public worship, headed by

66 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
kings and chiefs, on whose movements under God hung
suspended the interests of the nation. The principal
characters, almost without exception, together with a
throng of common people, united in the cry, "Give us
books. Give us teachers." This new impulse called in
to exercise all the energies of the mission. Scholars
from the school already established at our house, affor
ded important aid in instructing the people. Three
chiefs of magnificent stature and lofty bearing came to
the mission house for a teacher. All were already em
ployed, down to George, six years old, a native child that
had been given to me. He possessed a good mind, was
an English scholar, had been thoroughly instructed, and
was perfect in his Hawaiian lessons. One of the chiefs
placed the little fellow on his shoulder, and bore him
away in triumph, saying, "This is my teacher." He
proved to be efficient, and manfully, with much pleasure,
continued to repair twice to their place daily.
The king sent for one hundred spelling books, to
give to his friends and attendants who were destitute,
and gave commandment to have his five wives learn
both to read and write. In consequence of which, some
of his servants came to us to borrow tables and chairs
for the accommodation of those high ladies at their les
sons in this new and wonderful art.

ARTICLE XLVI.
The American Deacon.
WE were on terms of social intercourse with our for
eign neighbors. One afternoon, three of the
most intelligent and influential were invited to sit with
us at tea. One was an officer of the American govern-

1822. 67
ment, two were captains of merchant ships. They were
all, with each other, congenial spirits. Hand joined in
hand. After they were seated in the midst of our circle,
conversation flowed readily. Captain D., who was the
very life of society, never at a loss for a theme, even
though it involved a boon companion, thus ventilated
his ideas. " I never acknowledge the claims of a Supe
rior Power. I am my own, and have my liberty to do
just as I please, and to seek my own happiness in my own
way. It is proper for me to do so. But when I see a
man at home, on sacramental occasions, carrying around
a silver platter, then, in coming round here, I say, he has
no right to live like us, poor sinners." He knew where
the remark fitted, and so did captain E.. (at home called
Deacon E.,) who sat at his left hand. He had the grace
to blush, and left the room to recover in the open air
from his confusion.
[Sometime after captain E., alias Deacon E., receiv
ed a private letter of admonition from the body of
missionaries. The purport of some part of it was this:
"If a standard bearer of a church plunge with his own
hand the banner of his great Captian in the slimy mire
of the streets, and thus trail it along, a dishonored and
contemptible thing, his own church ought to know it."
He felt something now beside blushes. The whole
man was moved. He repaired to the mission house, with
a comrade, entered unbidden, and forced his way through
different apartments, to the private bedroom of a mis
sionary. There, in the presence of his wife, he brandish
ed his heavy cane like a mad man, and with fury gave
utterance to his own expressive language. " Apologize
for that letter, or I'll kill you. I have a family at home
that I respect, and I am not a going to have imf ormation
conveyed to the ears of my church."

68 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
No apology was made, and no murder committed.
It was simply a threatening, boisterous interview of two
hours' continuance. The feeble wife of the missionary,
who was just rising from a critical illness, in which she
had been three months confined to her couch, was com
pletely prostrated. The little daughter of five summers,
who saw it all, asked why it was that natives were so
kind to her father, and white men so cruel.
No obstruction was placed in the way of the cap
tain, alias Deacon, from brushing up his professional
coat in rounding Cape Horn, and returning to exercise
his spiritual functions in his own church. He would be
sustained by his adult son, his companion in travels and
sojourn. For the son well knew that the father could
turn upon him and say : " Keep close, for I can make
disclosures respecting you."
ARTICLE XLVII.
Interview with a Sea Captain.
AN intelligent sea captain called on us, an old famil
iar acquaintance of ours. He spoke most deci
dedly on the subject that no permanent good could be
effected among these islanders. I directed his attention
to the change which had taken place in the South Sea
Islands through missionary effort. He seemed to under
stand the nature of many of our severest trials, and said
"that the debasing influence of the many foreigners that
touched here, was an insuperable obstacle to the conver
sion of this people." I freely acknowledged how keenly
trials were felt from that quarter, but told him that they
had no tendency to cause the missionaries to give up.
" Oh, he had no objections to instructing the natives ;
thought, indeed, that it was very well; but men ought to

1822.
do it, without subjecting ladies to the trials of this hea
then land." Although he belonged to the same class as
those to whom I alluded, I could not forbear saying that
if the ladies had accomplished no other good, they had
been the means of securing a footing for their husbands,
as some of our American friends had agreed that they
would drive every missionary from the Islands, were it
not that they so much respected the feelings of the la
dies. We both smiled, and were both willing to change
the subject. ARTICLE XLVIII.
The First Christian Marriage.
HOPU, in visiting the back part of Maui with the
king, was particularly attracted by one of the
daughters of the land. When he returned to Honolulu,
he brought to our cottage the girl of eighteen, wishing
to commit her to me for special training. He said : "As
the Almighty has excited in my heart such strong yearn
ings for her, I think it is his will that I marry her." I
therefore received her as the betrothed wife of our
beloved Hopu. A little cottage for her accommodation
was erected near our own, and for more than a year she
became my pupil and close companion. As she develop
ed, she exhibited a rare character among her fellows.
Private domestic life was congenial to her native taste,
in opposition to free and open publicity. Amiable,
piously disposed, with a warm heart, ever open to receive
instruction, she daily did much, very much, to promote
my happiness. At length, Hopu felt that she had been
sufficiently instructed to warrant his leading her to the
hymeneal altar. Their marriage was publicly solemnized
in the church. The king and principal chiefs were there.

70 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
Hopu appeared as usual in his gentlemanly black suit.
By his side stood Delia, dressed in a style that raised
her to his standard To her complete and fashionable
dress in white, was added a trimmed straw bonnet. It
was the first native woman's head that had been thus
crowned. All seemed pleased, and after the services
were over, shook the new-made pair most cordially by
the hand, giving their aloha.
ARTICLE XLIX.
Mr. Thurston. About to Sail with the King.
Honolulu, Oct. 20, 1822.
v.
My dear, dear Husband:
Your tender farewell note I have just received. My
feelings prompt me to reply. Yes, the same Providence
which, in a mysterious manner, connected and placed us
in the missionary field, has now called us, for the first
time, to separate. I truly rejoice in the prospect of your
contemplated short excursion, viewing it as placing you
in a situation to facilitate your gathering up, and be
coming master of this unwritten language. Still this
heart will keenly feel the absence of such a friend ; of
such a husband. I shall find an unspeakable happiness
in often commending you to Him, who has promised to be
with His devoted servants. The little concert at nine, I
shall regard with peculiar interest. You assure me of
your prayers. How comforting the reflection! I hope
you will be unwearied in your daily efforts to become
thoroughly acquainted with the language, and that you
will not too long delay addressing the people, independ
ently of an interpreter, though with a stammering
tongue.

1822. 71
I shall make my little room as pleasant as I can,
and devote my attention to the needle, the pen, the lan
guage, the school, and our dear little one. She will be
a great comfort to me, and help to cheer many a pen
sive hour. Oh, for wisdom to govern her aright ! I
shall think much of you, and the privations you are
called to suffer in the cause of Him who had not where
to lay His head. May He comfort you by His presence,
and make you instrumental of bringing many to a
knowledge of that salvation which He died to purchase.
Adieu. Your loving Wife.

ARTICLE L.
The One Eyed Scholar.
I HAD a scholar about eight years of age. Her erect
figure, clear smooth skin, regular features, slightly
curling hair, and full black eye, with the long black
fringes of its covering, made her a good specimen of the
loveliness of childhood.
But the beauty of that fine production of nature
was marred by violence. The ball of her right eye had
been scooped out entirely, so that the full orbed eye of
death in its gentle sleep, was far less revolting than that
concave appearance.
" My child, how did you lose your eye ?"
"I ate a banana."
She could not have been more than five years old
when the idols were destroyed. Had she been of ma
ture years, her life would have been taken. The priests
taught the people that breaking hapu would be visited4*
by the gods with death. Yet they were very assiduous
in keeping spies abroad in the land, to obtain a knowl-

72 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
edge of facts, that they themselves might bring ven
geance on the unwary. ARTICLE LI.
Welcome to Mrs. Bishop.
Honolulu, April 27th, 1823.
IS it possible that in the long expected Mrs. Bishop, I
am to find my much loved friend Elizabeth Ed
wards.* I was overcome by the first intelligence. Wel
come, doubly welcome to the warmest affections and
sympathies of this heart, to the comfort and privileges
of this establishment, to the pleasures, toils, and work of
missionary life. How I long to embrace you — to receive
precious intelligence from my dear friends and native
country— and to tell you how gracious the Lord has
been in two days ago bringing me to this bed of con
finement and comfort, laying in my fond arms another
precious treasure, another daughter. Much love to each
individual of your dear female band. I shall anticipate
an early interview with feelings more easily felt than
expressed. Very affectionately,
LUCY G. THURSTON.
ARTICLE LII.
Merchant and Missionary Lady.
MRS. Loomis was one day walking on the wide path
of the plain near the mission house at Honolulu.
A village merchant, who had in a social manner been
*She belonged to my native town, and with sister Persis and myself
went forty miles and attended Bradford Academy. Wo boarded in the
same family, and occupied the same chamber. Mr. Bishop said that Mrs.
Bishop and myself were so much alike in our ideas and plans, he thought
we were both born under one planet.

1823. 73
admitted to our social board, approached on horseback.
That was his season of relaxation, and there was an op
portunity of exciting healthy, pleasurable emotions. So
he guided his high mettled steed toward the lady, to go
just as near as possible without collision. He wanted to
give her a start. Her bonnet and shawl, and high trade
winds, and the merchant, and the merchant's horse,
were too much for her. The first she knew she was
prostrate on the ground, and her whole person was ex
posed to the tramp of heavy hoofs.
There was no police, no courts of justice, no stand
ard of public opinion. Every one did what was right in
his own eyes.
Well, the lady had a start as was intended. She
was, in fact, thoroughly frightened. Yet, in mercy to
us all, her life was spared. She was confined for a sea
son to her bed, to woo nature to the slow process of ob
literating injuries, which violence was so quick to give.
Her suffering husband and two infant children, long
continued to see day open and close upon them, without
the cheering activities of the wife and mother.
As the merchant's recklessness proved to be some
thing more than a joke, he expressed his sorrow and
sympathy by presenting to the lady a shawl. A shawl !
How many of the down-trodden women of the land
were lured into sin for a like reward ! And the wife of
a man of holy calling was trifled with, and received a
similar gift.

ARTICLE Lni.
Scenes on a Native Vessel.
IN the latter part of the year 1823, we again embark
ed on board a native vessel, as we were designated
by the mission to re-occupy the station at Kailua. Nai~
he and Kapiolani, principal chiefs, were on board and
extended over us a paternal care. We were always in
vited, and usually partook with them at their meals. To
be sure the style and manner, in their present circum
stances, was not altogether such as would meet the most
fastidious taste and appetite. When the faithful, half
clad servant so kindly cleansed a bowl on the flap of his
only garment, in which to prepare some tea, lading in
the sugar with unsparing hand, and crumbing in the sea
bread with his teeth, I could not do else than receive
and drink it, saying nothing for conscience' sake !
We were accommodated in the cabin. It is impos"
sible to tell how often the pipe came along, passed from
hand to hand, from lip to lip, and the room became per
fumed with all that is odorous in tobacco smoke, rising
and issuing from their mouths as from a cliimney. Then
the containers for food were introduced, and the most
nauseating messes of fish laid open. But when the
group, sitting upon their heels, encircling the dish,
sucked then- besmeared fingers, and smacked their lips
with so much apparent gusto, the result might perhaps
prove that my senses of sight and smell were at fault.
This I can state for certainty, the annoying cockroaches,
which gathered in such swarms around every comer of
my berth, now and then took such liberties as to make
me start. During the night the natives kept dropping
74

1823. 75
in till the cabin was crowded. With dead-lights closed
so much heat and such confined air, it seemed almost suf
focating. Disregarding quietude, even during the hours
when nature calls for rest, their united songs and chit
chat, went to form a prolonged clamor. Such were the
circumstances in which we were called to resign our
selves to sea-sickness ; such the state in which two little
ones were demanding the care and sympathy by night
and by day ; yet had circumstances permitted, I should
myself have been laid prostrate. I survived the voyage :
nor with all my sufferings did I once dream it otherwise,
save when in all the gloom of midnight, a tumult on
deck would arouse us from short "disturbed repose,"
with apprehensions that the vessel was foundering.
What the captain's knowledge and skill were, I knew
not ; but judging by external appearance, he was on a
level with the lowest sailor before the mast. He was
the only white man on board beside Mr. Thurston ; but
there was a deck completely covered with men, women
children, dogs and puppies, of whose aid in case of any
emergency or real danger, I suppose there would not be
much choice.
After being out four dreadful nights from Honolulu,
we reached Lahaina. It was as the haven of rest, for I
was almost exhausted. Mrs. Richards pronounced me
as looking more ill than when on a bed of sickness. By
the kind attentions of our friends I revived, and in the
united families of Messrs. Stewart and Richards, we
spent a week long to be remembered But the sweets
of friendship and christian intercourse were again to be
exchanged for the trials of the vessel. To reach it we
were necessarily accommodated in a single canoe. Mr.
Thurston took charge of the elder child, and the younger
fell to me. On my first entering the canoe, my feet be-

76 Life of Lucy G. Thurston,
came completely drenched with water. A piece of wood
that crossed the top I accepted as a seat, and thankful I
was that my strength held out, thus to poise myself, and
retain my grasp of the struggling babe, until reaching
the far off vessel. There after a few hours spent in ad
justing our things and getting out to sea, everything
seemed as perfectly natural as though we had not seen
Lahaina. The next afternoon we were safely anchored
off Kailua. An English vessel had arrived a little be
fore us, bringing the king. The captain kindly offered
a boat for our accommodation, and we reached the shore
a few minutes after his majesty. He had advanced a
short distance, and stood fixed a little way from his
circled multitude of subjects, long reciprocating their
loud and affectionate wailings.
The governor's attention being directed to the king,
we were thrown on the kindness of Mr. Young, who in
troduced us to a house belonging to the governor, and
ordered coffee, fresh fish and potatoes to be set before
us. Mr. Thurston's writing desk and dressing case were
placed together upon the mat, making a neat little table.
It was completely covered with dishes, and not a vacant
plate or utensil, save Mr. Thurston's ever present helper,
which he drew from his side pocket. We sat in the en
joyment of this most comforting repast, on the mat,
holding conversation with Mr. Young, who sat at a little
distance, ever watchful to give commands to the waiting
attendants. The king made us a call, and mentioned his early
intention of visiting in person England and America.
The evening closed upon us in peace. We spread
our bed upon the mat, gave our aloha to the last linger
ing native, and once more enjoyed undisturbed solitude
and repose. Early the next morning Mr. Thurston went

1823. 77
on board the vessel, and spent most of the day in land
ing our effects, and placing them in a building assigned
us by the governor, With my two babes and two boysj
I remained a spectacle for the rude throng which pressed
around the door. That evening we were enabled to
spread our own table beneath what we might transiently
be allowed to call our own roof.

ARTICLE LIV.
Trials of Taking a New Station.
IN consequence of my distressing voyage to Kailua,
and the subsequent trials of getting settled, pulmo
nary symptoms were again induced. Our dwelling was
not privileged with a yard. Of course our doors and
• premises were thronged with natives from morning till
night. Had I been thus situated without domestic du
ties to perform, I could have mingled with the multitude
and acquired a knowledge of their language and charac
ter. But I was reduced in health, with two babes, the
elder fast picking up language, and receiving permanent
impressions. Every one experienced in the nursery
knows how little it comports with the feelings and ac
tive spirit of the child to be abridged the pleasure of
walking abroad, to be imprisoned within walls where no
prospect is enjoyed, no cheering ray of light admitted,
except from two doors at one end, almost continually
half darkened by natives, with whom it is not allowed
to have intercourse. Many days were almost exclusively
spent in directing our child's attention so as to shield it
from danger. It was this, which, in feelings, caused the
cottage to become the dungeon, and home the heathen
world. At Honolulu, the key note had already been struck ;

78 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
"children in childhood must be sent to America or be
ruined." My response was, " Make better provision for
them, or such will probably be the result." And deep
in my heart was engraved the motto,
"God helps those who help themselves."
In this season of great distress came the news of a
death, which sank into my heart. I had no longer a
father on earth to pray for me in my struggles.
ARTICLE LV.
Plan for Pioneer Missionary's House on Hawaii.
AT noon-day, a person at the bottom of a deep well,
by looking up, will see stars. I felt as if at the
bottom of a deep well, and in dark, sleepless, suffering
midnight hours, I could obtain distinct and far-reaching
views of .what a pioneer missionary's home ought to be.
It should consist of three distinct departments, so closely
connected, that one lady could superintend them all.
One department should be for children, one for house
hold natives, and one for native company. Let each
class know its own place, and the whole move on with
out collision. To a lady, such an arrangement would
invite to efficient activities in health, and to repose in
sickness. It would inspire and enable her to attempt
great things, and to expect great things.
»
ARTICLE LVI.
Funeral of Hopu's Father.
SELDOM do I see a native whose hair is silvered with
age. How conspicuous then that mercy that pre
served the life of Hopu's father four-score years, till a

1824. 79
son long absent should return from a foreign country,
bringing the news of a Savior ! The son, in teaching
his aged father, was instant in season and out of season,
faithful and persevering. The father, docile and hum
ble as a little child, lovingly received Jesus into his
heart, and longed for future blessedness.
Hopu exhibited a bright example of filial piety.
He caused a brother to bring his father from a distant
part of the island, so as to reside near him. As a spe
cimen of that care which he continually exercised in
supplying both his temporal and spiritual wants during
the period he was called to conduct family prayers at the
governor's, together with maintaining them with his own
household, he would still regularly go back to the little
hut, to pray with, comfort and instruct his "poor old
father." Nor did he cease till after kneeling in prayer
by his sick and lowly couch, he looked, and beheld the
spirit had fled. For four years he had been permitted to
teach him in the school of Christ. All was now at an
end. He wrapped the body in a white kapa and enclosed it
in a decent black coffin made with his own hands. The
bell tolled. As Mr. Thurston and myself reached Ho
pu's cottage, two natives advanced bearing the coffin.
Hopu and his wife appeard, habited in black. We all
entered the church. With that curiosity which novelty
inspires, a large concourse of people assembled. They
appeared wild and fidgety as I never before saw them.
Mr. Thurston addressed them from the words, " Prepare
to meet thy God." We then proceeded to the place of
interment, in the yard back of the church. It was the
first grave ever opened on the island of Hawaii to re
ceive the remains of a fellow mortal, over whom chris
tian rites were performed. Never did a similar scene

80 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
inspire me with sensations so awfully solemn. The sun
was fast sinking beneath the horizon. The eager multi
tude of untaught natives closed in, and so encircled the
spot as to leave no way of retreat. As we looked down
into the grave, a human skull was seen, as if to remind
us of the generations which had been swept away all in
the darkness of nature. After a short address to the
people by Hopu, and a short prayer by Mr. Thurston,
those two sons, Hopu and his brother, with their own
hands, let down the coffin containing all that was left of
their aged father, and covered it deep in the bosom of
Mother Earth. No one turned to retire till the mouth of
the grave was closed.
Hitherto it had been the practice of burying their
dead in the night, to escape the ridicule of being hooted
at, and asked whether they had a pig for sale, and such
like raillery.
ARTICLE LVn.
Secluded Life of the Ladies. The Sick Woman.
DURING the first few years of missionary life, the
ladies were limited to the free use of their own
houses and yards. To go beyond domestic premises,
like prisoners or like queens, they must have an escort
and proceed with limited freedom. >
When a nation of drunkards became, as it were, one
great temperance society, and a holy influence was dis
tilled from on high, a king in his power and woman in
her weakness, recognized a body-guard lining all our
streets, and wherever man was found.
It was after a residence of four and a half years,
that for the first time I walked alone through the village
and thus soliloquized: Whence this freedom? Where

1824. 81
am I ? I can identify the scenery. The trees and the
mountains are the same, but the people, — how different!
Soon my attention was arrested by a loud wail
which burst forth from a hut on a little eminence. Like
as a bird, loosed from its cage, goes flitting from brough
to bough, so with all the freedom of thought and action
I directed my steps thither. On reaching the house, I
was told that a woman had just died within. Revolting
as seemed to be that dark abode of death, without a
window, with a solitary low door, requiring a half dou
ble stoop, I entered. A passage was at once made
through the crowd, inviting me to proceed to the farther
end of the hut. There lay a woman apparently lifeless,
stretched across the laps of six women, three on each
side. On examination, I found she still had a pulse.
Assuming the tone of direction, so accceptable to com
mon natives, I said : " Hush, retire, admit the air — she
will revive." The crowd immediately withdrew, and
nothing more was heard but now and then a half stifled
sob." In a few minutes the supposed dead one opened
her eyes. On me, standing over her, swinging a fan,
she fixed a placid look ; joined noses with those in whose
arms she lay, and remained silent, the tears trickling
down her cheeks. I asked for something to give, to re
vive her ; the house afforded nothing but a calabash of
poi and a tobacco pipe. Her husband, seeing her in a
fainting fit, and knowing that some comforts were wan
ted, had taken the calabash and hastened back to the
mountain, a distance of two miles, for a draught of fresh
water. I obtained a cordial from my own home. The
sick woman received it with gratitude, and was soon
able to sit up and converse. She had long been ill, but
that morning had been suddenly laid prostrate. She had
several times been to the church, built by the governor,

32 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
where the new religion was taught ; but she never got
near enough to hear anything, the doors and windows
were so crowded.
I returned home joyful and with a glad heart. Af
ter a long night of privation and darkness, light and
freedom had dawned upon my pathway.
ARTICLE LVIIL
Description of Kaihia and Our New Home.
HAW An is the largest island of the group, and
Kailua, on its western coast was the most import
ant spot for a missionary station. This village contain
ed three thousand inhabitants, and along the coast
within twenty miles were twenty thousand It had been
the favorite abode of the kings of Hawaii, and the gov
ernor of the island still lived here.
On the mountain Hualalai, just back of Kailua, is a
large crater. It is now extinct. But our old people
tell us of the time in their childhood, when they were
aroused from their midnight slumbers, to see red hot
balls hurled into the air from out of the crater on this
mountain. Torrents of molten lava flowed from crater
to coast, extended the shore farther out into the sea, and
encrusted the surface of the earth, besides leaving an
abundance of large loose scoriae, tossed about in every
direction. Along the coast for two miles back, it is sterile ; but
there is a belt that is very rich, about a mile wide at the
foot of the mountain, which is dotted here and there
with the kukui, breadfruit and orange, all splendid
trees ; of smaller growth, pine apple, sugar cane, arrow
root, taro and potatoes. Above this fertile belt is quite
a width of forest, after which the bare sides of the

1825. 8a
mountain rise to a peak. It stands towards the rising
sun. These distant scenes of the mountam, and perpet
ual verdure of forest and vegetation, are ever to be
enjoyed. On the west we have a most extensive and delight
ful prospect of the ocean, also a view of the whole
village, in which is the church lately erected by a heathen
ruler, encircled by a wall from a fallen temple, where so
lately were offered human victims. All along the shore
are a few kou and many cocoa-nut trees.
Kailua is distinguished for clear sunny days, brill
iant nights, and magnificent sunsets. The mountain
most thoroughly shields it from trade-winds, but the daily
sea breeze, and that in the evening from the mountain,
are very refreshing. The mercury seldom stands higher
than 84°, or lower than 60°. The climate is soft and
delicious. Where it is sterile there is no humidity at
night in the air. We always have to go two miles back
to find a sparse supply of fresh water, and sometimes
five miles. Such beauties and desolations are the attractions
and repulsions of Kailua.
Back of the village on that arid slope, a third of a
mile from the shore, was an unoccupied, eligible site for
a house and grounds. There we set about making such
a home as circumstances would allow, and as the double
responsibilities required, of molding heathen society, and
of forming the characters of our children.
Five acres were enclosed with a stone wall three
feet wide and six feet high, with simply the front
gate for entrance. A large thatched house was erected.
Space was allowed for a yard twenty-five feet in breadth.
Two close partition walls were built six feet high, run
ning from the outer wall each side of the front gate,

84 Life of Lucy 67. Thurstom
close up against the side of the house, each side of the
front door. That first apartment, twenty-five feet
square, is the reception room for the natives. They know
precisely where to enter the yard and 'the house, and
they have learned where to stop. No one is permitted
to go beyond that room without permission or invitation,
There is Mr. Thurston's study table and his study chair.
Another room of equal size is our dining room. In that,
and in a small thatched cook-house beyond, are our fa
cilities for living. There is the sphere of action for our
household natives. I teach my schools in that dining
room, and Mr. Thurston his in his study. Another par
tition wall from the rear comes up close against the back
of the house, forming a back yard, where our household
natives have a thatched house and a home. Thus the
large house and yards have distinct accommodations, for
household natives, the work of the family, for native
company, and schools.
At the back side of the house is a hall which leads
both from the dining room and study to a door, the only
entrance into a retired yard of three acres. There
stands another thatched house, built after the custom of
the country. The frame is tied together with the very
strong bark of a certain tree. Then from the ridge-pole
to the ground, the frame is entirely covered with long
slender poles, tied within a few inches of each other,
over which the long lauhala leaves are laid, leaving the
two ends to hang down on the outside. That house is
the home of our children. There is our family sitting
room, eighteen feet square, and there are our sleeping
apartments. And inasmuch as I often wish to invite my
native friends to that sitting room, we enclosed the fur
ther bed room in a yard sixty feet square, with a wall
six feet high, coming up close to the house on both sides.

1825. 85
There is no entrance to the yard through the wall, but a
door into it from our bed room. Then if I am enter
taining company in the sitting room, the children can
pass from thence into the bed room, and so out into
then- own yard and place of recreation, having without
interference, the enjoyment of freedom and action. I,
left in the sitting room, devoted to the natives, am still
porter to the only door that leads into the children's
special enclosure, and have the satisfied feeling of their
being safe, beyond the reach of native influence*.
In our kitchen yard, directly opposite and within a
few feet of each other, are the two mouths of a large
cave of volcanic formation. The larger opening gives
us the novelty of a subterraneous walk one-fourth of a
mile toward the sea, where we reach a pond of brackish
water. Some of the rooms of this cave are quite spa
cious. The natives made it a place of concealment in
times of war. The smaller mouth of the cave leads in
to a low cave which extends three miles up the moun
tain, where there is an opening, and when obliged to
hide in the lower cave, the natives stole through the
upper one to procure their food. The name of the cave
is Laniakeaf, signifying the broad heavens. As it is
enclosed in our premises, the natives were quick to give
the name to onr establishment, so that it has become
universally known as Laniakea.
*Thatched houses are not durable, therefore, in the course of years,
we had a succession of dwellings, but this was the general arrangement
In the 12th year of the Mission, a two-storied wooden house was erec
ted in the children's yard, and the wall for their special enclosure re
moved, as the times no longer required such an accommodation.
tLah-ne-ah-kay -ah.

ARTICLE LIX.
First Sabbath School at Kailua.
\ \7~HEN public worship was there first established, in
V V a new native church, conducted by a missionary in
their own language, the natives naturally showed a great
lack of training. For instance, after the sermon, when
the minister closed his eyes to commence the last prayer,
the people would commence retiring from the house, so
that when he opened his eyes at the end of that exercise,
he would find it nearly empty. But they had gradually
learned orderly habits, and had attended public Sabbath
exercises for about a year. Then it was that we receiv
ed, simply in manuscript, a translation of Watt's Easy
Catechism for Children. It was a talent not to be buried
in a napkin. Our associates were absent. I was in ac
tive life, but my health seriously suffered, exhibiting
incipient symptoms of pulmonary disease. In my cir
cumstances, I could only conceive the plan of a class
coming to be taught after Sabbath service in our prom
ised piazza. Until that is built, stay and meet them at
the church. Mr. Thurston engaged to take charge of
the children, and Honolii promised to secure a class of
scholars. When- the time arrived, Mr. Thurston descended
from the pulpit, gave a hand to each of the little girls,
two and four years of age, and retired. Thus released
from maternal cares, I looked around, and to my utter
amazement, the whole congregation had resumed their
seats. Every chief (there were five of the first class
present) every man, woman and child, all as one, wished
to be taught the catechism.
I saw at a glance that I had unintentionally stepped
86

1825. 87
into the harness. But I resolved to go forward and
begin at the beginning. Honolii was to me what Aaron
was to Moses. With all the docility of children, they
.suffered themselves to be seated according to their
rank, sex, and age. Honolii then took one side of the
house, and I the other, and they all attended to this one
question :
"Who made you?"
"The great God who made heaven and earth."
This question was answered separately by every in
dividual. Then, not to tax their patience, Honolii closed
the school with a very short address, and a very short
prayer. Such was the extreme weakness and simplicity with
which that first Sabbath school sprung into being. But
they dispersed, every one of them carrying away a
grand idea, of which the great Kamehameha had no
knowledge. This first movement necessarily led to duties which
were laborious and exhausting. I selected eighteen of
the best scholars, furnished each with a manuscript copy
of the lesson for the next Sabbath, taught them sepa
rately, and taught them together, what they were to
teach their future scholars.
The institution of the Sabbath had been establish
ed in the land by government. The day of rest and of
privileges again dawned upon that simple people, just
waking into life. The public services of the Sabbath
had been conducted by the missionary. The people were
dismissed. The entire congregation remained as before,
and filed off to their several places. Then came forward
a band of teachers prepared to teach orally their assign- ^
ed classes what they had been taught. They engaged
in their new employment with interest and success.

£0 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
The school prospered and multiplied to be between four
and five hundred scholars. A mighty impulse was given
to the native mind, which so exceeded all the means used,
as to render it apparent that there was in operation a
renovating influence, secret and divine.

ARTICLE LX.
Kapulikoliko.
SHE was the daughter of Kamehameha I. In her
father's court she sustained the honor of princess.
When the common people passed her, they prostrated
themselves on the ground. But when her father's reign
ceased, of the children of twenty-one wives, those only
were grouped in the royal family whose mothers descen
ded from kings. Of course, Kapulikoliko, born on her
mother's side of plebeian blood, lost position ; yet she
still had influence, and by the people was held in great
reverence. She was married to a substantial man of
common birth, and with great ease adapted herself to
her thorough change of circumstances. She was about
making a permanent removal, by leaving Kailua for a
distant part of the island. Before going, she with her
husband and attendants, came and made a farewell call,
by spending the day with us. Before taking leave, as
her parting request, with great simplicity and assurance,
she asked me to give her — yes, looked me full in the
face, and on opening her mouth said : " Give us your
elder child" (four years old,) "and let us take her
with us to our new abode." Without offending her la
dyship, I refused her the precious boon, in a manner too
decisive to leave her any encouragement of renewing
her request. What was such a shock to my feelings is

1822. 89
a common custom here. They dispose of their children
without one idea of building up a family of brothers
and sisters. Indeed, parents are tacked together very
loosely. They come together and separate as conveni
ence and inclination dictate. One man will have several
wives, or one woman will have several husbands. Here
is a mass of humanity in a chaotic state. Take half a
dozen of them, and put them into some school in the
United States, and something can be done with them.
But it requires a great influence to lift a nation.

ARTICLE LXI.
A Female Friday Meeting Commenced.
MRS. Bishop and myself acted in concert. We
conceived the idea of endeavoring to lift our fe
male population,- by meeting with them every Friday,
p. M. We were each to sustain the responsibility of
the thing, by alternately presiding at the meetings. For
many months they have been attended. At first, I think,
there was not an individual who had learned to say
" Our Father." Now they can lead in prayer with great
propriety, and think it a great privilege. In acquiring
this gift, they exhibit the greatest simplicity and free
dom, never neglecting to exercise one talent, because
they nave not ten. With great freedom, and serious
ness too, they express their religious convictions.
We read to them a portion of scripture. But Bible
leaves in the Hawaiian language have been very scarce.
Once I was driven to extremity, being obliged to take
the first chapter of Mathew, the only portion remaining.
That was the way they rehearsed the names of their
own kings, and preserved them by simply retaining them

90 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
in memory. Two women of cultivated tenacious memo
ries, came up to our house after meeting, and wished me
to read that chapter again. After I did so, they assis
ted each other, and began by repeating the line of
names from Abram to David, to the captivity, to Jesus.
They went through successfully, only asking aid in re
calling two names.
One more subject was brought up in these meetings.
This people were in a state of nature. There was only
one point where I ever saw them exhibit shame. Both
men and women were disposed and allowed to move
around in public in a state of perfect nudity. But if
they ' appeared so without having one hand become a
substitute for an apron of fig leaves, it would among
themselves be severely condemned. Childhood was ever
taught to press in and be present at the birth of chil
dren. In all social acts, they too were taught to be
alike skilled with those of adult years. They divided
and subdivided this knowledge, laid it up on their
tongues, and then scattered it right and left to vaunt
their own knowledge or promote their pastimes. Impu
rity of speech with both parents and children had be
come a giant in the land, stalking everywhere. We
could not defy it in its native element. But we were
moved to drive it from our retired sitting rooms, the
homes of our children. Whoever wished ' the privilege
of crossing the threshholds to those apartments, conse
crated to purity, must be subject to criticism. Whatev
er was there uttered which we disapproved, we penned,
and read in the Friday meeting.
Thus we tried to give them a standard of what was
right, and began by endeavoring to form a healthy mor
al atmosphere in two rooms, eighteen feet square, where
natives were allowed to tread.

1826. 91
I carried my little manuscript book and pencil in my
pocket, and used them on the spur of the occasion, and
thus prepared notes for a future meeting.
I had a severe struggle with my own feelings in es
tablishing these things, and passed painful, sleepless
hours, lest I had offended. But it proved the reverse.
For heavenly dews had prepared the soil to receive seed
as into good and honest hearts.
ARTICLE LXn.
On the Death of my Early Associate, Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards Bishop.
MRS. BISHOP lived and moved among us, exhibit
ing by her activity, by the rosy hue and radience
of her countenance, a high state of health. She exerted
herself in the day school, in the Sabbath school, and in
the Female Friday Meeting.
But the scene was changed. Her bloom and strength
gave place to debility and internal sufferings. There
was no physician in the kingdom to detect the disease.
For more than half a year she quietly remained in her
home, with great humility and patience struggling
through just what was meted out to her. Then, in ship
ping season, she, with her husband and children, sailed
for Honolulu, with the hope of meeting with a traveling
physician. In this they were successful. The doctor
pronounced her disease dyspepsia. But no professional
skill diminished her great sufferings. After the lapse of
several months, she returned to Kailua. As she entered
the harbor, several women went off on board to meet
her. She said to them : "I shall soon die, and my un
faithfulness to you makes me afraid to meet God in
judgment." Her expressing herself in that manner,
proved very impressive to the natives. For they said :

92 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
" If after doing so much for us, she is afraid to mee.
God, how will it be with us ?"
On coming ashore, they passed their own establish
ment, and entered our family. Mrs. Bishop was again
with us. But she was a wreck of her former self. Dur
ing her absence, disease had made great ravages. She
had become very feeble, very much emaciated, and dis
tressingly nervous. Her internal sufferings were excru
ciating. She sometimes compared them to fire. There
was a singular and incessent palpitation at her stomach,
and according to her own account, the reception of even
a spoonful of chicken soup caused it to be too intense
and agonizing to admit of sleep. Consequently her or
dinary practice was, at early dawn to take one, two, or
three spoonsfuls of soup, and as she happened to feel,
sometimes once or twice a similar pittance during the
forenoon. The afternoon was spent in fasting, to have
an empty stomach to go to bed upon at dark. Several
times there were intervals of twenty-four hours without
her swallowing the least thing. This course seemed to us
a great error. But anything by way of persuasion was
not only altogether unavailing, but an occasion of grief.
She would weep and say, "You don't know anything
about the state of my stomach." By the time she left us,
she became one of the most emaciated forms my eyes
ever beheld.
From evening twilight till early dawn, her state re
quired the most profound stillness through the thatched
building, as the rooms, above the partitions, were all
thrown together. So I transferred the nursery to the
other cottage, packed three little girls into a wide chil
dren's crib, and had the disjointed accommodation of a
sailor's hammock and the dining table for myself and
babe five months old. Mr. Thurston, with his considera-

1828. 93
tion and self control, entered the house at the opposite end
from the invalid, — in the dark, with the stealth of a
thief, and lay softly down on his bed. During the day
we were all admitted into the common sitting room,
where she reclined on the settee.
At the expiration of one week, the native men of
our village had completed their work of love. On an
eligible site in our yard, beneath our care, but beyond
the reach of household sounds, they had erected a com
modious thatched building, twenty by twenty-four feet,
more or less. It was for their suffering teacher, Mrs.
Bishop. From the very first, and so long as the house
stood, it received the name of "Bishop Retreat." Mr.
and Mrs. Bishop immediately entered it. Her commodi
ous couch was placed in the middle of the room, imme
diately before an ample door where she could have the
full play of a delicious sea breeze. From that period to
the end, two intelligent native women came successively
and sat by her couch through the night. She spoke
with much satisfaction of their improvement and the re
lief they afforded her.
Mrs.. Bishop's sufferings increased. Weeks of an
guish, paroxysms of agony, and the frenzy of delirium
were measured out to her. We traveled with and watch
ed over her, by night and by day, to sustain her in the
darkness, and in the storm. It was midnight ; the tem
pest was high, the billows rolled near her. Suddenly
there was a lull. " Let me depart in peace," she said
calmly, and fell to sleep as peacefully as the infant in
its mother's arms. Mrs. Bishop had left us, — had left
with us her two infant children under three years of age,
and gone to her rest.
Then with deep love and respect we neatly dressed
and enclosed our precious dead in a coffin. The natives

-94 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
in their transition state, were delighted with this new
order of things.* A large concourse of chiefs and peo
ple .assembled at our house, all habited in black. With
as much order and decency as I ever witnessed in my
own country, the procession moved to the church, and
from thence to the grave, where we committed the sacred
deposit to the silent bosom of mother Earth. And we
taught them to restrain their boisterous expressions of
natural affection under the bereavement,! and to bow
with submission and thanksgiving to Him who is the
Resurrection and the Life.
Mrs. Bishop's deep religious feelings, her christian
faithfulness, her severe sufferings, and her early death,
powerfully enlisted the tender and close sympathies of
the natives. It was at our expense that the soil was
thus prepared for early planting a church at Kailua.
[Eleven years after Mrs. Bishop's death, it was
found necessary to remove her body. Our whole fami
ly and Dr. Andrews were witnesses. When the box
and the coffin were unearthed, they were found to be in
a very decayed state. When the coffin was thrown open>
the garments, flesh and small bones were seen all re
duced to fine, dry dust. The long spinal column re
mained entire, and in the lower half of it was a very
prominent curve. The first words spoken were by the
doctor. " Of what disease did she die ?" I replied :
"A doctor pronounced it dyspepsia." He answered:
" The spinal column could not be thus distorted without
great suffering.''
*I shall ever remember well the first christian burial that was ever
attended on these shores. The people ran together by hundreds, and
seemed half frantic. With their honored dead, the flesh was stripped
from the bones, and consumed with fire, while the bones were preserved.
fUnder their most common bereavements, wailtngs would strike
upon the ear to be heard a mile.

1828. 95
Two years after this, I was in America and saw
Mrs. Spaulding who formerly belonged to our Hawaiian
missionary band. Here she lost her health, and it was
not until she was bedridden that her disease was found
to be an affection of the spine. She is now in health.
She very particularly inquired in regard to Mrs. Bish
op's last illness. After learning the facts she remarked:
"As you describe her symptoms, I have not a doubt but
her disease was a spinal affection. I have been taught
by experience to have a deep sympathy in many of her
feelings."]
ARTICLE LXHI.
Death of a Sister.
SIX weeks after Mrs. Bishop's death, a letter arrived
announcing the heavy tidings that my own sister,
Mrs. Persis G. Parkhurst, was gone. Thus, the two sis
ters on whom I most relied, the one at the Islands, and
the other in America, were removed from me as with a
stroke. The fact that I drooped for years with fatal
tendencies, while they bloomed with vigor, then that
they both were removed, while I was sustained in active
life, appeared marvelous. "Even so, Father, for so it
seemed good in thy sight."
In the last precious letter which my sister Persis
wrote me, she mentioned hearing Dr. Payson preach
from these words : " What I do, thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafter." "I felt," she said, "as
if I could hang forever on his lips." Then, after giving
an account, with all a mother's feelings, of being called
to resign a little prattling son to the grave, she added :
"But God has done it, and I will not complain, for I
know that he does all things well."

ARTICLE LXIV.
Extracts from Letters. Situation and Progress of Work. Success of
Female Friday Meeting. Pulukai.*
MY heart often turns toward the pen and toward
you. Did you know my situation, and the active
and responsible duties devolving upon me, there would
be no need of an apology for neglect. Think of a hotel
in the middle of your town : of a house thus public I
am mistress. Think of children, cut off from the bene
fits of the sanctuary, of schools, of associates : of chil
dren thus exiled, I am the mother. Think of a heathen
people who have just begun to ruminate upon the won
ders of Revelation ; their eyes and their hearts are
turned towards the teachers who brought these new
doctrines and duties to their shores, and in the language
of implicit confidence and affection they say : " You
are our father, you are our mother : tell us what to do."
Among such a people I stand connected. Pray for me
that I may serve my generation faithfully, and that as
my day is, so my strength may be.
November 4th. — We have been at this station six
years. During the greater part of the first year I felt
what it was to live among heathen. I had acquired such
knowledge of the language and character of the people,
as to realize with what revolting characters I was sur
rounded. A few months previous to the decease of my
ever to be lamented friend, Mrs. Bishop, a new impulse
was given to their feelings. During the last year, refor
mation has been a silent and progressive work. Such
was the propensity to flock to our house for religious
•Poo loo- ky
96

1829. 97
instruction, that we found it necessary in order to the
performance of other duties, to have restrictions. Dur
ing the forenoon our house was under a hapu; that is,
the people were not allowed to visit it. Yet to this gen
eral rule, the chiefs and principal teachers must be made
an exception. In the afternoon, our doors were open to
any and to all, and our house has been thronged. The
principal people take chairs, but the common people en
ter, and as their habit is, seat themselves on the mat at
our feet, saying : " We come to declare to you our
thoughts : we are sinners ; we are thieves, and liars, and
adulterers, and murderers : we are afraid of sin ; we are
afraid of eternal death ; we are afraid of the Son of
God ; we are in darkness ;, we are in the shades of death;
teach us." Others again thus express themselves : "We
are great sinners ; we repent of our sins ; we forsake
them ; we rest our souls in Jesus Christ ; He is our sal
vation ; He is our sacrifice ; we love Him ; we rejoice in
Him ; we desire his righteousness ; we wish to sit at his
feet and learn of Him, and serve Him ; we wish to be in
His hand." Forty-three have been baptized and receiv
ed into the church at this place. Probably, fifty more
give evidence of piety. The good people are active.
What they have freely received, they freely give. Their
little missionary excursions have been very interesting ;
they have been out to distant villages ; searched out the
aged, the blind, the sick, the infirm, and told them of
Jesus and" of Heaven ; they have taught the ignorant,
and excited all to an attendance on public worship.
About three weeks ago, a new and general excite
ment commenced. At the dawn of day they tapped at
our doors with the anxious inquiry, "What shall I do."
All regulations were prostrated, and from day-break till
ten o'clock at night, one company succeeded another

9© Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
5n rapid succession. Mr. Thurston has only been able
to command time for his meals. From morning till
night he has been in his study chair, with an individual
or a cluster at his feet ; sometimes a company of fifty
or sixty, which entirely filled the room. Some days we
have received calls from several hundreds. I devote as
much time to the instruction of the women as I can re
deem from my family. My labors are more particularly
directed to the members of the Friday Female Meeting.
Two years ago their names were enrolled and a disci
pline introduced. A moral standard was raised. Who
ever wished to join the Society must forsake all their
former vile practices, and pay an external regard to the
Word and Worship of God. They must uniformly
have a full covering for their persons, both at home and
abroad, and follow whatever is lovely and of good
report. Such has since been the change in public opin
ion, that scenes which were then familiar to the eye,
would now be scouted out of the village as shameful in
decencies. This Society has prospered ; for in two years,
from seventy it has increased to fifteen hundred. The
names of five hundred have been enrolled within the last
three weeks. "These are all divided, into classes, and
each class has a particular teacher to whom to look for
instruction. The number of female teachers has risen to
twenty, all hopefully pious. This is my class. I teach
them what I wish them to teach others. The men's so
ciety is conducted on the same plan. Two large thatched
houses have been erected for the accommodation of these
societies. I will introduce you to one of the many in whom I
feel most interested, named Pulukai. Not that he is
the most important character among us, yet in works of
love none surpass him. I know not where he acquired

1829. 99
his politeness, but probably abroad, as he has visited
foreign ports. He is here nearly every day, yet he nev
er comes into our1 presence but he bows, presents his
hand to his face, and all so heartily, and with so much
reverence (as if some great personage stood before him
for the first time) that it always makes me smile. His
presence never fails to give me pleasure. The other
day he spoke with tears of his former state and feelings.
He said : "I returned home from the north-west coast,
and found my former friends were all dead. One day I
went back into a solitary place, and there I remained,
and walked/and wept. It was not for my soul, — I nei
ther knew nor thought about that, — but I wept for my
body ; for if I should die, I had no friend that would
bury it ; it would lie and decay on the face of the earth,
and when any person passed along and asked, ' Who is
that?' — the reply would be : 'It is Pulukai.' But now
I have many friends. They give me food and clothes.
They are kind to me while I am living, and they will
take care of my body when I am dead. It is because
the love of God is in their hearts." During the sick
ness of Mrs. Bishop, his anxieties were employed about
that part which is of more importance than his poor
body. I shall ever remember, that one day as I went to
the door to smooth the couch for her emaciated form,
and stood seeing her borne away, reflecting that the
manele* must soon be exchanged for the bier, that Pu
lukai, who had been watching his opportunity for a
word of instruction, came up to me, saying, he had
passed three sleepless nights thinking about his sins,
and his exposure to eternal death It was a short time
after, that the love of Jesus became his theme and his
*Mah-nay-lay. A couch for conveyance, having men placed at the
head aud foot, who carry it by means of poles resting on their shoulders.

100 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
life and conversation have since given abundant evi
dence that he was taught of God Humility and love
were the characteristics of Pulukai, and they shed a
luster over the tawny features of our humble friend.

ARTICLE LXV.
To Eev. William Goodell, Missionary of the A. B. O. F. M., at Malta.
Kailua, October, 16, 1829.
My Dear Cousin and Brother:
Your going to western Asia seems to have made
you our neighbor, and caused me to think of you with
peculiar nearness. Notwithstanding the convulsive-nature
of things, that region has appeared to me one of the most
interesting fields into which the American Board is
casting imperishable seed Your conflicts there have
caused you all to become tried characters, and I rejoice
that grace has been given you to be found faithful.
I am now going to introduce to you Mr. Thurston)
for never since I knew him have I witnessed in him such
application to his studies, such devotedness to the na
tives. He speaks the Hawaiian language with greater
ease and fluency than the English, preaches without
notes, ever devoting the last hour or two before entering
the pulpit to his sermon, and with as much solemnity
as if the veil was withdrawn which conceals futurity
from his view.
When translating the Scriptures from their original
language, he sits at the study table overspread with
books. From that same chair he does more by way of
preaching repentance toward God and faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ, than from the consecrated desk. The af-

1829. 101
ternoon is almost wholly thus devoted, talking individ
ually with the natives. The shades of night change his
employment, for then the people who come to converse
give way for the "fa, so, la" company, as it is here
called. What is to become of our children has been a
question agitated throughout our mission families, and
a subject which has pressed heavily upon parental
feelings. The general sentiment has been, " Send them
to America for education." A joint letter was written
to the American Board, expressive of such desires. An
answer has been received ; but they can grant no facili
ties, and advise that they remain with their parents in
this land. However, of the few families from the brig
Thaddeus who still remain in the field, ours is the only
one but what has already, by gratuitous passages, sent
home the precious gift of a child to personal friends.
To send away children at an age so early, while I am
sustained in active life, is what every feeling of my
heart revolts against. But when the period arrives that
they must pass from under the ever watchful eye of a
parent, when an employment, trade or profession for
future life is chosen, the Sandwich Islands is no longer
a place for them. I have not felt like some of our
mothers, that children must be sent away or be ruined.
I harp upon another string, and say, make better provi
sion for them, or that will likely be the result. And in
the first place, houses and door yards must be laid out
to meet the character of the people, and the exigencies
of the times. Ours is planned for comfort and useful
ness on heathen ground. Missionaries are public char
acters, and their houses must be public houses. I am
sure ours is, at present, from morning till bed-time and
often so thronged, that we cannot, without difficulty,

102 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
pass from room to room. But if children are suitable
appendages to a mission family, they must be taken care
of, and I know not on whom this duty more appropri
ately devolves than on a mother. And in order to take
care of them, there must be a child's department. Sooner
ask me to furnish a dinner without a table, to sit down
without a chair, or spread my couch without a bedstead,
than to rear such a stately edifice as the moral and in
tellectual character of a child without some facilities.
The first rule to be attended to with regard to chil
dren is that they must not speak the native languaye. It
is an easy thing to make such a law, but it is a mother's
duty to guard it from being violated, and to form in her
children fixed habits of doing as they are required. It
of course, follows, that they are never left to the care of
natives after reaching the age of prattling. No inter
course whatever should exist between children and hea
then. On this point I am very particular. Establish a
loose system here, and I would say with every one else,
" Send children to America, no matter how soon."
Of all the trials incident to missionary life, the re
sponsibility of training up children, and of making
provision for their virtue and usefulness when they pass
from under the watchful eye of parents, is, comparative
ly speaking, the only one worthy of being named. When
my thoughts turn to their future prospects in life, a
darkness visible seems to brood over their path. But
hush, my anxious heart. It is mine to perform present
duties, and cast my cares on Him who is Almighty.
Affectionately your Cousin,
LUCY G. TPIURSTOK

ARTICLE LXVI.
Extracts from Letter. Mr. Thurston's Duties Public. Mine more Pri
vate. Power of Word of God, iteligious Experience of a Native
Neighbor. Need of Bibles, &c, for Foreigners.
OCTOBER 30, 1830.— Mr. Thurston is entirely de
voted to works of a public nature. My duties are
of a more private character. I am the housekeeper, the
mother, and the domestic teacher. What time I can
redeem from family cares, I give to our native females.
Twenty-six hundred have been gathered into our Friday
meetings. This society is in a very flourishing State.
As I cannot see them all at our house, I teach them by
proxy, selecting from the most intelligent ones a class
of teachers to come under my instructions. When night
closes upon me, and there is a suspension of maternal
and domestic duties, I take my chosen season to meet
the natives. I pass from a hushed nursery to the long
dining room, where a table is extended for the accom
modation of twenty-five. It is lighted up and the wo
men are in their seats. Our governor's wife attends. It
is on the whole a social interview. But one theme is be
fore us in every one's hand. We turn over together
the pages of Holy Writ, as it is issued from the press.
The Word of God is powerful. I have lived to see
both sides of the picture. I saw this neglected portion
of our race, groping along in all the darkness of nature,
listening to messages from heaven with indifference and
contempt, and for a long time hearing as though they
heard not. Man can speak only to the ear. I looked
again, and a secret energy was transforming their moral
characters. Those very beings who were once bowing 103

104 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
down to stocks of wood and stone, worshiping sharks
and volcanoes, and slaves to all the sins which degrade
human nature, are now sitting at the feet of Jesus,
learning and doing his will. Two years ago last Febru
ary, when our dear Mrs. Bishop bade them farewell, till
she should meet them at the bar of God, no native at
Kailua had been baptized. Since that time sixty-five
have been admitted to the Holy Communion, and a much
larger number give evidence of having experienced the
renovating influence of the Spirit.
Yesterday one of our native neighbors called on us
for the first time, a man perhaps forty years old, one
who had been notoriously wicked. His wife by her fre
quent calls was quite familiar with us. She accompanied,
and introduced him to us a stranger. "I came," he
said, "to tell you my thoughts. I have been very wick
ed." In addition to other crimes, he mentioned some
particulars of a crime he had committed. "But," he
said, " I have now got my works straight on the outside.
But I look into my heart, and the law of God is there
broken. It is so this day, and that day, and every day.
In my heart it is sin, sin. I do not love it, but I can not
get rid of it. I break God's law and repent, and break
God's law and re,pent. My heart is made sore on ac
count of it, and my thought is from day to day, that the
end of it will be eternal death." Here he paused to
wipe away his tears. His wife then remarked : " Thus it
is when he asks a blessing before eating ; his tears often
flow." He then said : " Great love to God is the cause.
When I retire for prayer, I often weep, so that for a
time I cannot utter a word. My mind does not turn
upon anthing that is made, but rises and fixes upon God,
and feels so much love, that I weep and pray together.
I have stayed at home and kept my feelings to myself —

1830. 105
have not conversed with my neighbors ; but my wife has
urged me out, to come and converse with the teachers.
I have come. You know my thoughts. Tell me what
they mean? I am greatly afraid of the sins of my
heart." Such are the feelings which a knowledge of
God's Word produces in the minds of those heathen
around us in very many instances.
The box of books you sent were safely received in
six months from the date of your letter, and were very
acceptable. All that is printed at these Islands is in the
Hawaiian language, for the exclusive benefit of the na
tives. But many ships touch at these Islands in need of
instruction, in need of Bibles, in need of tracts. Our
own countrymen, too, who have left a sailor's life for a
residence on these Islands, are in perishing need of some
friendly messengers to turn their feet from their down
ward course. I have distributed some of those you sent
among them, and I was not a little astonished, a few
weeks ago, to find they had united in one little body,
about a dozen of them in all, and purchased a suita
ble house for their own use, to be dedicated to the worship
of God, and are now fitting it up in a very neat and
suitable manner. Time only will show in what this be
ginning will end ; but it is beyond a question that they
have many serious thoughts. Eternity is a dreadful
word to them, as they feel that without holiness no man
can see God.

ARTICLE LXVII.
To Mrs. M. Goodale, Marlboro, Mass.
Kailua, September, 1831.
Dear Sister :
Last June the General Meeting of the Mission was
held at Honolulu. It became an interesting question,
shall I mate one of the party, or, in such Solitary cir
cumstances, remain behind? Friends at Honolulu had
interested themselves in my prospects, by sending a ves
sel for our accommodation, with invitations for us to
come down. The way was opened, and duty seemed to
require that I place myself within the reach of medical
skill. We sailed on board the brig Waverly with our
whole family. Messrs. Bishop and Ruggles likewise
accompanied us. We were accommodated on deck at
first, both night and day. I congratulated myself in
being placed in circumstances of safety. But during
the darkness of the third night, we entered the channel
between Hawaii and Maui. The wind was high, the
sea boisterous, the vessel rolled, sea-sickness increased,
the water dashed over the deck, and to escape being
drenched, we were obliged, for the first time, to retire to
the cabin. After reaching my couch below, I alluded to
the Black Hole of Calcutta, as ever standing associated
in my mind with the cabin of a native vessel.
At length we passed the tumultuous channel. Our
sea-sickness subsided. We slept. My sleep was some
how interrupted. It is because my couch is so in heaps.
I arose and smoothed it, again slumbered, again arose
106

1831. 107
and smoothed my couch. This I several times repeated.
At length truth at once flashed upon my mind. What
does all this mean ? My first thought was, there is no
chance for safety, but by being restored to pure air, the
bilge water was so very offensive. I hastened to the
deck, clambered over the companion-way, the door being
kept closed and fastened, and availed myself of the best
accommodations of the place, the body of a tree, on
and around which a multitude of natives were reclining.
I begged Mr. Thurston to return to the sea-sick children,
while I remained alone. I looked off upon the dark
black water, and thought of the precious names of
home, physician, sister. The tears rushed into my eyes,
but thinking them unseasonable when everything depen
ded on my own exertions, I checked the impulse, and
returned them to their sockets. Yet in bringing my
mind to my circumstances there was a struggle. I call
ed to mind the duty and the privilege of laying myself
with childlike simplicity and submission, into the hands
of my heavenly Father, and awaiting his will. Tried
to do so, and there was peace. I spent a short time only
on deck, before I awoke one of our natives, to signify
to Mr. Thurston that I wished to return, and bid him
awake Mr. Bishop. After we had all reached the cabin,
I said to them, "I am called upon in this place to ask
the aid of you all." Mr. Bishop proposed taking opium
until reaching Lahaina. I answered, "No, it is too late;
and if my apprehensions are just, no time is to be lost."
The first embarrassment that we felt, was that we were
in utter darkness ; for during the forepart of the night,
we had trimmed, replenished and lighted the only lamp
we could find on board. Being so often called to repeat
this care, we left off in despair. Now one more effort
was made, and our flickering lamp appeared as if invig-

108 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
orated by sleep. Again, the hand-basket which contain
ed the keys of trunks had been misplaced. A whole
half hour had been spent the day before in unavailing
search. Means were soon found to burst the lock of a
single trunk, which would supply all the wants of the
emergency. In the meantime Mr. Ruggles repaired with
the children to the deck. Mr. Thurston and Mr. Bishop
alone remained. Everything was in due order. In one
half hour from the time a general movement was made,
infant cries from the cabin apprised those on deck of
what was passing below. Scarce was I informed of the
danger that the child's breath might be stopped on the
very threshhold of life, when the light expired, and its
cries ceased altogther. "Silence and Darkness, solemn
sisters !" The lamp was passed upon deck, through an
avenue overhead. "A light, a light." It was renewed,
returned, and a spark still more precious again lighted
up. The child was safe. But the mother's life was, ere
long, felt to be in danger. Never before had I so much
reason to feel that I had reached the isthmus which lies
between this and the invisible world. My medical vol
ume I had put into the trunk. It was taken therefrom,
and the two divines sat on the stairs of the companion-
way, to study out their medical lesson. After the lapse
of eight hours, the feelings of danger were exchanged
for those of unmixed gratitude. All was safe. In the
fullness of my heart I repeated the beautiful words of
the poet :
" There is mercy in ev'ry place ;
And mercy, encouraging thought,
Gives even affliction new grace,
And reconciles man to his lot."
We were now near Lahaina. Messrs. Bishop and
Ruggles wrote notes to Mr. Richards, stating our situa
tion, and requesting a double canoe. When intelligence

1831. 109
reached the shore, Miss Ogden wept, and Mrs. Richards
sobbed aloud. Messrs. Andrews and Whitney came off
in a double canoe. Meantime husband and I were busy
in the cabin. Before leaving my berth, I erected my
arm from the elbow to the tip of the fingers, thinking
in length it equaled the height of the opening to my
couch. But it fell short by several inches. The other
side, head and foot, top and bottom were all alike closely
boarded. According to my early educated eye, it seem
ed like a cupboard. Mr. Thurston first smoothed down
Mrs. Thurston, and laid her aside on the top of a row of
barrels, standing on their ends, near the companion-way.
There she lay in her traveling dress, ready for onward
travel, looking just as she did when she left her home.
Above and below we were all in readiness to depart.
Mr. Thurston took me in his arms like a child and car
ried me on deck. Mr. Bishop then assisted him in
swinging me over the side of the vessel, where was a
mattress supported by Messrs. Andrews and Whitney,
and by them let down onto the elevated arms which con
nected the double canoe. On reaching the shore, we
were met by Mr. Richards, Mrs. Andrews and Miss Og
den. I was borne on the mattress by natives to Mr.
Richard's house. On entering the gate, the mattress
was necessarily brought up together, and in so doing, I
became as completely enclosed as if lying in a coffin. No
farther consciousness remained, but that of pressing
through doors, turning corners, and ascending stairs.
At length, I was let down, and beheld myself lying on
a board floor, in the middle of a room, with plastered
walls and glass windows. To me, who had spent eight
years in cottages thatched with leaves, with mats for
floors, and doors for windows, it seemed a novel scene,
and powerfully reminded me of the days of other years.

110 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
Here I found Mrs. Richards. Both she and her husband
received us with a freedom and hospitality that made
me feel like reaching a father's house. As I lay there,
with all my friends gathered round me in a circle, Mrs.
Richards said to me, " Now you may have your choice
whom to have to dress you for bed." I replied, "I choose
Mr. Thurston." At the expiration of a week after reaching Lahaina,
Mr. Thurston went on to Honolulu, to the "General
Meeting " of the Mission. He was accompanied by ev
ery brother on the Island. I was still confined to my
bed, but I had a medical book laid beneath my pillow,
dishes brought into the chamber for the use of the
three children, and our native man, under the general
direction of Mrs. Richards, prepared and brought up
refreshments. Thus I guided my family and took care
of my babe, having for neighbors Mrs. Richards below,
and Mrs. Andrews in the next house. Mrs. Andrews
came in every morning, and washed and dressed the
babe. Had the strength of the station been called out at
this time, there would have been found three feeble fe
males, and ten children all under eleven years of age.
After a three weeks' absence, our company returned, and
I was able to go below, and join them in surrounding
the social board, and the domestic altar. The next day
we went on board the vessel. Three more days and
nights of oppressive heat and sea-sickness, with three
children and the infant, all involved in the common ca
lamity, all prostrate on the floor, by the side of their
mother, when we reached Kailua, and our own home.
There we reared an altar to the God of all comfort, who
had been mindful of us in our low estate, who had gra-

1832. Ill
ciously prospered our way, and brought us in peace to
our own habitation. Your loving Sister,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXVIII.
To the Second Mrs. Parkhurst.
Kailua, November 14th, 1832.
My Dear Sister :
There is no distant friend on earth toward whom
my heart turns more frequently, and more affectionately,
than to the successor of my departed sister Persis. Of
her orphan children I can say: "Like Reuben and
Simeon, they are mine ;" and all that care and love which
they are made to experience, excites in my heart the
same gratitude as if done for my own children. For
twelve years past I have been in the heart of a nation,
who have just washed their hands from the guilt of in
fanticide ; yet their standard falls infinitely short of
those who have been rocked in the cradle of piety and
intelligence ; so that an enlightened, pious, devoted moth
er, seems to me one of the finest specimens of female
piety which this world exhibits. And when that link
that nature gives is wanting, to bind one to those self-
denying duties, it must be a service lovely in the eyes of
angels, well pleasing to God.
As you express a wish to know what articles I sel
dom get, and most want, I will tell you what one of my
missionary sisters said to me. " Mrs. Thurston, I think
you had better get some new bonnets for your daugh
ters." My reply was : " These are very good, they are

112 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
in no wise shabby." She continued : " It would be an
expense, but bonnets with more plainness and less luster
would be a better example. We must look at example."
I replied: "It is a good example to give durability to
articles." " It is, and I approve of it in you ; still I think
your daughters had better have some new bonnets." I
replied : " I have neither time nor means. If other
people think so, they must furnish them." The fact is,
seven years ago a kind missionary sister of Honolulu
made and sent my two oldest daughters some light silk
hats, decorated with artificial flowers. For dress these
have ever since been used up to the present time.
A northern constitution can not labor here as in
America. One of our missionaries of much observation
and wisdom remarked : " Had the ladies shrank from
those active labors which are performed in the New
England States, before trial had been made, I should
have imputed it to indolence. But now, by experience,
we hnow the consequences, and it makes me angry to see
any one attempt it." We all employ female cooks ; yet
we have to make them out of raw materials, and withal
submit to lesser evils in order to avoid greater. It affor
ded me some amusement to hear one of the newly ar
rived ladies expatiate on native neatness. While at
Honolulu, happening to step into the cook house, she
saw a negligent fellow peeling potatoes for the table
with his fingers! She said : "I would tell them to make
use of a knife and fork." Yes, and as soon as the white
person turns her back, finding himself in the predica
ment of David with his armor, he throws down the
awkward irons ; for without any lessons, and without
knowing that such unwieldy utensils had been invented,
he could ever from his childhood, with those facilities

1832. 113
which nature furnishes, peel potatoes with great dex
terity. Your husband, in his letter, remarked that he did
not see why our children should not learn the native
language, and be taught in connection with the natives,
etc. Just so we felt, just so we conducted our opera
tions for more than two years. Mr. Chamberlain's chil
dren were taught in the same school, and ranged in the
same classes with our interesting scholars gathered from
among the heathen. Mr. Ellis, on a visit from the Soci
ety Islands, was the first one to open our eyes to the
evils of such a course. Now, natives themselves are our
monitors. No one is more particular than Kapiolani ;
and if in her intercourse among the families of the
Mission, she observes native language on the lips of the
children, or even if their eyes speak looks of interest
and familiarity with the natives, she notes it with feel
ings of the deepest pity. Even Kaahumanu sighed for
the privilege of having her little adopted son David, of
royal birth, her future heir, taken into one of our fami
lies, and prohibited the use of his own native language.
I had the offer of a trust so responsible. Yet who would
dare undertake thus to educate a prince, cutting him off
from all intercouse with his noble relatives and interested
countrymen, and still in their very midst ? He is a little
boy of noble mien, intelligent and interesting ; and it
fills our souls with sadness to listen to the impurities
which are intermixed with his infantile prattle. He
obtains language, not from the printed works of mis
sionaries, where the precious is separated from the evil,
but as it floats in society around him; and aside from the
pollution of heathenism, native converts to Christianity
fail of being suitable models for a child's imitation.
They may be clothed, they may be christianized, yet from

114 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
want of early culture, from being children of nature,
there is an utter destitution of those feelings of delicacy
which in refined society seem inseparable from virtuous
tastes and principles. Now, in estimating the character
of Sandwich Islanders, we pass over what can not be
corrected ; it is a tarnish which reminds us of the pit
from whence they were digged. Not so with the chil
dren of American extract. Our patrons expect, the
world expect, the heathen themselves expect, that they
will rise up and reflect honor upon an enlightened origin.
Well might St. Paul add, in enumerating his trials
and labors, the care of the churches. We looked at the
vine planted in this heathen soil, that it should bring
forth grapes, and behold wild grapes ! Well might we
expect defection, for here the flames of persecution have
never been lighted, and to become a member of a church
gave to a common person the influence of an inferior
chief. They acquire the language of Canaan, too, with
so much dexterity, that the defect cannot be detected in
pronouncing the word Shibboleth. Of one hundred and
eight who have been received to the church at this place
eleven have been suspended from its privileges ; and
what is an aggravating circumstance, they were all, with
one exception, leading characters in schools and in meet
ings. The crime is adultery. All profess repentance.
One of the number, who lay smarting under the salutary
castigatioiis of her infidel husband's wrath for nearly a
year, has exhibited a spirit which has called back, not
only the affections and confidences of the church, but of
her husband also, who now treats her with every possi
ble kindness. In the midst of these troubles I have had
in my hand a complete copy of the New Testament,
printed in the Hawaiian language. It has been as an
anchor to my soul. For here a door is open, to commu-

1833. 115
nicate blessings to unborn multitudes, which no man can
shut. Your affectionate Sister,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXIX.
Extracts from Letters.
Kailua, September 3, 1833.
OF all the scenes of my life, none seem so precious
and vivid at this distant period, as those of our
paternal home. I often think of you, and frequently do
it by way of contrast. On Sabbath mornings, while we
are at breakfast, you are in church. In the winter, when
you are sitting by a warm fire, we open the doors to ad
mit the refreshing breeze. You ride in a carriage or on
horseback; we sail in vessels and canoes. You see nature
stripped of its foliage, and covered with snow ; we have
perpetually before our eyes a verdant landscape. In
your intercourse with your neighbors, you speak En
glish ; we Hawaiian. You send your children to school ;
we keep ours at home. Yours can ramble unattended,
from field to field, and from house to house ; ours are
cooped up in their own enclosure, and beyond the limits
of that they never are permitted to go unattended by a
parent. Every week or day yours are conversant with
society ; with the exception of Mr. Bishop's family, all
the friends with whom ours exchange thoughts, are scat
tered over the Islands at different distances, from sixteen
to two hundred miles. Yours go to the sanctuary for
instruction ; ours, when they repair thither, listen to lan
guage which we do not wish them to learn, and which
is to them unintelligible. It is as much my regular work

116 Life of Lucy 67. Tliurston.
to select suitable and interesting pieces for them to read
while there, as it is for their father to prepare a sermon
for the people.
I often think of the delight which my own daugh
ters would experience could they associate in labors of
love with kindred helpers. But their situation is isola
ted. Last week they took leave of the only remaining
daughter of the mission of corresponding age, who re
moves with her parents to their native land. They felt
the separation very deeply. So did their mother. Yet
they are happy in. remaining in this land. They know
not a better. They love their homes, their books, their
friends, the climate, and they love to have their parents
teach the natives.
We lately received a visit from a very intelligent
sea-captain. He remarked : "I am a great friend to
missionaries, and their cause, but I do not think it right
to have families here. I told my mate that I would as
sist men in coming out, but I never would give ladies a
passage on my ship. I would do everything in my pow
er to assist them back again ; and to remove children, I
would give up my own berth and sleep on deck. It
seems to me, Mr. Thurston, that you should be relieved,
after having been here so many years, and your children
so large, by going home and staying a few years. It
would be of great importance to them." I smiled at
his freedom, and loved him for his sympathy. MfT
Thurston answered him by saying, that in such circum
stances, a missionary needed a family in order to support
his own character, and that women were as willing to
come as men were. "I know," he said, "they are will
ing to come, but children are the sufferers." After he
retired one remarked : " If he thinks the way is for
men only to come out, he had better go himself and

1834. ,117
commence a new station, and then he will know what it
is to live alone in such circumstances." He felt for the
children of missionaries, and well he might, for there is
not a class of children upon the face of our earth, who
are the offspring of christian parents; for whom my
sympathies have been so much moved. When all the
host of God's elect comes up as one man to the great
work of evangelizing the natives, and they become en
lightened and ready to sustain measures, which the
American Board, from their superior knowledge, would
probably even now approve, then will a greater latitude
be allowed to those who go forth to fight the Lord's bat
tles in the camp of the enemies than was ever thought
of in former years.
We received letters from our missionaries at the
Marquesas the other day. Their situation there is quite
unlike what ours is now at the Sandwich Islands. But
it reminds me of other years. Mrs. Armstrong writes
that she would as soon trust herself in the mouth of a
lion, as out of the house alone. We who have seen so
ciety in its heathen state, can better form an idea of the
import of that expression, and better realize the dan
gers with which she is surrounded. Let all remember
those thus situated in the dark places of the earth.
ARTICLE LXX.
To Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Goodell, Constantinople, Turkey.
Kailua, October 24, 1834.
Dear Cousins, William and Abigail:
Last June when we went down to Oahu to the Gen
eral Meeting of the Missionaries, we repaired immediate
ly to Mr. Bingham's. His family was soon collected in

118 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
the parlor, and it was at once suggested to our minds
that the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Whitney was alone
wanting to make out all that remained of the pioneers
of our mission. Being in a neighboring house, they
were soon called in. There were no children by their
side. They, four in number, were far separated from
their parents and from each other. Mr. and Mrs. Bing
ham appeared with two little children. Two had been
sent home, and two they had laid in their graves. Our
selves, with our four children, alone appeared an unbro
ken family. Mr. Whitney remarked that his heart
never came so near breaking as when he sent away his
last child. But he said : " If I had not sent away my
children, 1835 would not find me at the Sandwich
Islands." It was after learning distressing intelligence from
abroad, that Mr. Thurston said to me : "You must take
our children and go home with them." I answered : "It
is recorded in the minutes of the General Meeting, that
twenty years is as long a service in this climate as can
be expected of any one missionary. Such a term would
carry our two oldest daughters up to the age of sixteen
and eighteen, and our son to twelve. In our situation,
with our regulations, I am willing to sustain maternal
responsibilities in this land so long, but no longer. Let
us perform our measure of service within that period,
and then all go home together." This was entering up
on a new subject never before alluded to during the
struggles of fourteen years. But, thought I, how will
such sounds fall on the ears of our associates, destitute
as we are of any such passports as the dyspepsia, liver
complaint, etc. However, I suggested the plan to Mr.
Bishop, our associate, and was a little surprised, a few
days after, to hear him say it was a measure which he

1834. 119
cordially approved. As opportunity occured I convers
ed with Mrs. Richards on the subject. She thought that
retaining a child in this land for a period of eighteen
years was incurring too great a risk. Yet, she said,
" Our young missionaries are not prepared to listen to
your suggestion ; you had better not name it to them."
Several months after, coming in contact with one of our
young members, I was interrogated respecting the fu
ture prospects of our children, with an interest and
sympathy, which will ever endear her to my heart. To
the inquiry,. "Can you see your way through?" Ire-
plied, "I have dared to say, that if the God of nature
upholds me during a period of six more years, I shall
then hold myself in readiness to quit the country ; yet
it does not depend on us, but upon our associates and
patrons." The answer was : " No one on either side of
the ocean can object to such a measure." There the
subject rests, and my heart is at rest. For the present,
I only wish to stand in my lot, and do my appointed
work. At our last General Meeting, no less than forty-
seven children of our mission were brought together.
The missionaries daily assembled in a retired school-
house, near the mission houses, so that the children were
allowed at any hour to repair thither. I often attended,
and was sometimes amused to see the scene which was
spread out before us. One father with a child on his
knee, another with .one slumbering at his feet, a third!
walking to and fro at the vacant end of the house, lead
ing a little one by the hand. Here a boy by his father's
side, making dogs and horses not to be distinguished ;
there a group formed, trying their skill in drawing geo
metrical diagrams, or perhaps braiding rushes ; while at
a little distance others would be engaged with a book,

120 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
or plying their needles. In this way I have seen twenty
children dispersed through the house, while their fathers
were engaged in their sage discussions.
Mrs. Judson assigns as a reason why a missionary
should have a wife, because she "presumes Mrs. Marsh-
man does more good in her school, than one half the
ministers in America." I do not know as to that; but
in our situation, I approve the motto, that "The mis
sionary best serves his generation who serves the public,
and his wife best serves her generation who serves her
family." Until about two years ago, I uniformly attended
church every Sabbath when my health permitted, al
ways taking all the children with me, even down to
babyhood. But as they were in the same predicament
as the poor unlettered hearers of Jesuits, whose devo
tions were performed in Latin, they took their English
books with them. So, while the minister preached, they
read. However, as our oldest daughter increased in
years, the practice of walking half a mile beneath a
tropical sun, and then being seated in a crowded assem
bly, for the sake of being within sounds, which she
could neither understand, nor was allowed to utter, be
came exceedingly irksome, and many a time has she
returned home in tears, saying, "Mama, what do I go
to church for ?" To require her statedly to thus attend,
when likely to imprint on her mind indelible impressions
of pain, connected with the day of God, and the house
of prayer, appeared to me the greatest trial attending a
continued residence in this land of exile. I proposed an
alternative, that of staying at home, and having the
hour dedicated to religious instruction in our own lan
guage. The children acquiesced readily in this. So
did their father. I explained the matter to the natives

1834. 121
at a Friday Female Meeting. The purport of my re
marks was as follows : "You see how it is at Kiauhou
and at Kekaha. They have no teacher. Every Sabbath
Mr. Thurston or Mr. Bishop goes and teaches them. We
think it right for them to leave their places in the church
so that they may go and instruct the destitute. There
are others in Kailua who are destitute ; who shall in
struct them ? They are the children of your teacher.
Their young friends and relatives in America write and
tell them of their meetings and of their schools. On
the Sabbath they are blessed with privileges. Mr. Bing
ham's oldest daughter, and Mr. Ruggles' oldest daughter,
and Mr. Whitney's three oldest children have all been
sent away to enjoy the advantages of that good land.
Our children remain in an isolated state. They go to
the church, but there is no instruction for them in that
place. They return home and weep ; for though they
see their own father in the sanctuary, he speaks not to
them : his voice never reaches their hearts. For your
sakes it is, that he labors ; for your sakes it is, that his
children are alone, cut off from kindred and country.
Yet they love to have it so. They love to dwell among
you, and to have their parents teach you. One thing
only they ask, and they ask it with tears. Let the return
of the Sabbath bring privileges to us, — let us attend on
instruction in our own language. In consideration of
these feelings, and of their destitute and exiled state, I
have thought fit, while their father is devoted to you,
to be myself devoted to them. The same bell which
calls you to the church, assembles them at their own
home, to be taught the worship and will of their Maker.
And you, mothers, when you see me feel the importance
¦ of making such provisions for my children, if you fol
low my example, you will every Sabbath lead yours to

122 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
your place of worship and instruction. In this respect,
as you know what I do, 'go and do likewise.'" When
I thus presented the subject to their minds, they wept,
and with much good sense and good feeling said : "Yes,
it is right. You take care of your children, but we do
not take care of ours." Now, I do not believe that the
people of Kailua any more feel that they may stay at
home because I stay to teach the children, than that they
may stay at home because Mr. Thurston's place is empty
when he goes to teach the people at Kiauhou. Nor do
I believe, in my situation, that to go and sit in the
church, as the people of God sit, is a service any more
acceptable to the good Shepherd, than to stay away and
"feed his lambs."
I however have my appointed season for meeting a
Bible class, and an arithmetical school, at which times
Mr. Thurston not only stands sentinel, but improves the
opportunity by teaching the children sacred music. He
walked in one day after dinner, with his singing book
under his arm, and from that time to this, has been both
persevering and successful in his instructions. We style
him, too, our " Professor in the Latin Language," and
have it regularly served up at the conclusion of every
meal. This forms one of our most pleasant exercises, as
with the exception of the baby, our whole family circle
is included. I joined in for the sake of relieving their
father as much as possible ; and besides that, I could be
companionable, and in this manner attach the children
to their home, to their studies, to their parents, — turning
it all to' the formation of their characters. Their other
studies are under my direction, such as grammar, geog
raphy, history, arithmetic, philosophy, etc. I have
adopted many methods of management by way of con
ducting our family school, but in nothing have I succeed-

1834. 123
ed so well as with the clock and bell. At eight in the
morning the bell rings, which brings us all to our as
signed seats. The first half hour in silence and ap
plication, when the bell gives a signal for release. We
then all engage in active employments, performing the
various duties which go to promote the comfort and
happiness of the family. The bell rings at nine. All
learn punctuality by repairing at once to their seats, and
to their studies. Half past nine, the tinkling of the bell
is heard, and whoever wishes may be released. Thus
we pass most of the day by regular half hour diversions.
It saves from indolence and yawning beneath a tropic
sun ; gives an impulse in circumstances where there is
nothing to stimulate, and to system adds interest and
industry. In this way, too, they are so under the di
rection of the clock, that in case of my absence, lessons
are not interrupted.
Were our oldest children sons, I would by no means
retain them here till they were far advanced in their
teens ; no longer, indeed, than would be suitable to place
them under the same regulations as daughters, within a
mother's province. Our associates tell me : " It is be
cause your children are girls that you can keep them
within prescribed limits. You will never be able to do so
with a boy." My reply is : " On no other conditions
will I retain one in this land." Our son, as yet, though
possessed of all the feelings of the boy, and a share of
his grandfather's energy, is happy within his mother's
realm. I do not, however, with uplifted hands exclaim:
" What ! a devoted missionary furnish amusements for
his children !" Our home affords no recreation at once
so happy and so healthful as that of bathing in the
waters of the ocean, with a high sea, and a spring tide.
In order to the enjoyment of this, the children and I

124 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
form a party, and repair half a mile to the sea shore,
having a couple of natives in the rear to carry accom
modations, such as a tent, changes of raiment, etc. Mr.
Thurston compares us to a caravan on the plains of
Shinar. A wooden house, sent out to Mr. Stewart by his
friends, which reached hero after he had returned to the
United States, was by the mission sent to Mr. Thurston.
It is placed in our large retired yard of three acres, and
is especially devoted to the accommodation of our chil
dren. It has been to me like a "great rock in a weary
land." Your affectionate Cousin,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXL
To Mrs. Coan, Hilo, Hawaii. *
Kailua, August 6, 1835.
Dear Mrs. Coan:
We remained at Honolulu just one fortnight after
your departure, and then bade them an affectionate
adieu. We passed by Lahaina, where we spent two
days ; visited the grave of that dear child, Mary Clarke;
bade a last farewell to Dr. and Mrs. Chapin ; received
into our arms the new born babe of Mrs. Hitchcock,
ushered into life a few hours after our arrival. Such is
life, and such its passing scenes. Six days from Oahu
brought us in peace to our own habitation. O, home,
sweet home !
I .¦ None of the children were propounded to become
members of the Mission Church before leaving Honolu
lu. It seemed not to meet the feelings of Mr. Richards,

1835. 125
so far as his were concerned, nor of Mr. Thurston, so far
as his were concerned. They thought that should they
prove promising candidates for church membership,
they could be both propounded and received at the next
General Meeting.
When my heart is too cold to feel the emotions of
gratitude for common mercies, I can thank my heavenly
Father for giving us friends, who with so much interest
and condescension take our children by the hand, and
help to give such an impress to their characters, as will
fit them for both worlds. The Savior reward every such
effort a thousand fold.
Yours affectionately,
LUCY G. THURSTON.
ARTICLE LXXII.
To Mrs. Isabella Homes, Boston, Mass.
Kailua, October 28, 1835.
Dear Mrs. Homes :
Sixteen eventful years have run their round since
that interesting period, in which we threw a die, which
can be equaled only by that which is thrown for eterni
ty. Oft as the mind reverts to those scenes, your home
and its hospitalities ever come up with vivid interest be
fore the mind. Since that period new relations have
arisen in our family ; father and mother, son and daugh
ter, brother and sister. We behold ourselves multiplied
to six, a number still unbroken, either by death or
separation. A gentleman who visited us from Boston, told me
that a lady from that place wished him to ascertain
whether the missionaries kept servants in their families.

126 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
She had heard so by way of a young lady who had vis
ited the Islands, but "could hardly believe it." In our
own house we have the various classes of master and
mistress, of children, and of household natives. There
is a native family attached to our establishment, whose
home is a distinct house in our common yard. They
give us their services. One man simply cultivates taro,
two miles up the country, and weekly brings down a
supply of the staff of life for ourselves and our depend
ants. Another man every week goes up the mountain
to do our washing. Frequently he finds water within
two miles. Often he is obliged to go five, sometimes ten
miles. He likewise brings fresh water for the daily use
of our family, from like distances, : — brings it (over the
rugged way, overspread with lava,) in large gourd shells
suspended at the two ends of a strong stick, the heavy
weight resting upon his shoulder. In like manner a third
man brings brackish water from a distance of half a
mile, to be used in household purposes. He, too, is mas
ter of the cookhouse, a thatched roof, with the bare
ground for the feet, with simply stones laid up in the
middle for a fire place. No chimney, no oven, no cook
ing stove. But there are the facilities of a baking ket
tle, a frying pan, a pot, and a sauce-pan. He, who under
the old dispensation, officiated as priest to one of their
gods, now, under a new dispensation with commendable
humility, officiates as cook to a priest and his family.
Then, aid in the care of the house, of sewing, and of
baby-hood, devolves on female hands.
We commenced mission life with other ideas. Na
tive youth resided in our families, and so far as was
consistent, we granted them all the privileges of com
panions and of children. Not many years rolled on,
and our eyes were opened to behold the moral pollution

1835. 127
which, unchecked, had here been accumulated for ages.
I saw, but it was parental responsibilities which made
me so emphatically feel the horrors of a heathen land.
I had it ever in my heart, the shafts of sin flying from
every direction are liable to pierce the vitals of my chil
dren. It was in these circumstances that I met with an
account of the celebrated Mrs. Fry's first visiting the
wretched inhabitants of a prison. The jailer, after vain
ly endeavoring to dissuade her from a step so perilous,
said: "At least leave your watch behind." Mrs. Fry
left for a few hours her well ordered home. But had
she taken her children with her, and there patiently set
down to the formation of their characters, beneath the
influence of prison inmates, she might have found in
her path some such trials as fall to a mother's lot in
the early years of a mission.
In looking at my own situation, no comparison
seemed to my mind as just and vivid, as the necessity of
walking unhurt, in the midst of red-hot plough-shares.
Here it was, that I found myself soiled with the filth of
the slough of despond. I reviewed the ground on which
I stood. The heathen world were to be converted. But
by what means? Are missionaries with their eyes open
to the dangers of their situation, to sit conscientiously
down to the labor of bringing back a revolted race to
the service of Jehovah, and in so doing practically give
over their own children to Satan? If children must be
sacrificed, better a thousand times leave ignorant. mor
tals to do it, than for us who know our Lord's will. In
investigating this subject in the heart of a heathen land,
I could see no alternative but that a mother go to work,
and here form a moral atmosphere in which her children
can live and move without inhaling the infection of
moral death. As Jews can educate children to be Jews

128 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
among Gentiles, and Roman Catholics can educate chil
dren to be Roman Catholics among Protestants, so let
Christian Parents educate children to be Christians
among the Heathen. Some decisive steps must be taken
or the appalling vices of the heathen will become in
wrought in the very texture of our children's characters.
The first important measure was to prohibit them alto
gether the use of the Hawaiian language, thus cutting
off all intercourse between them and the heathen. This,
of course, led to the family regulation, that no child
might speak to a native, and no native might speak to a
child, babyhood excepted. This led to another arrange
ment, that of having separate rooms and yards for
children, and separate rooms and yards for natives.
The reason of this separation, and this non-intercourse
was distinctly stated to household natives, and to native
visitors. We are willing to come and live among you,
that you may be taught the good way ; but it would
break our hearts to see our children rise up and be like
the children of Hawaii, and they will be no better if
exposed to the same influences. The heathen could see
that it was such evidence of parental faithfulness and
love, as was not known among them, and looked on with
interest and amazement to see how it was that children
could be trained to habits of obedience, a thing they
never heard of. But if I wished to make trial, they
would not be in the way. Indeed, they would like to
see the experiment tried. I have often seen them shed
tears while contrasting our children with their own de
generate offspring. When in the dining room and
kitchen, attended by my children, nothing was uttered
in the Hawaiian language but by way of giving or re
ceiving directions in the most concise terms. When the
hour for instruction came, and I left my children behind

1835. 129
me, I could sit down with the same circle, and the re
straint was removed. Thus they learned that in the
presence of my children I was the mother, and that when
alone in their own presence, I was the companion and
the teacher. Thus they were situated, attached to our
household, but excluded the privileges of children. To
me, it appeared no more in the light of affecting ease
and style, than does the conduct of Elijah, fleeing from
the anger of Ahab, .to be fed twice a day by unclean
birds. I had experienced the debilitating effects of this
long summer, commenced in 1820 ; I had felt disease so
invade my frame as for years to render domestic aid es
sential to my very existence. During this season of
adversity, far away from the comforts and aid of civi
lized man, far from that medical skill which visits the
couch of suffering humanity to alleviate distress, and
to raise from debility, my reliance was my husband.
The responsible office of the physician, the tender duties
of the nurse, and the menial services of the kitchen,
have all been his. But how can an individual give effi
ciency to public labors, when from hour to hour, f rOm day
to day, from week to week, and from year to year, his
attention is divided between the cook-room and the
nursery. In these helpless circumstances I have been
thankful for the imperfect services of natives, even
though their entrance into our family caused apprehen
sions and mental sufferings, which have often excited
reflections like this. Crucifixion is the torture of days.
These maternal anxieties which hourly prey upon the
heart, and produce so many sleepless nights, is the an
guish of years.
But why do I dwell on conflicts, when I am allowed
to sing of victory. Our two oldest children opened

130 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
their eyes when thick darkness was still brooding over
this polluted land. Without being left to stumble on
the dark mountains, they have been borne along the tide
of life, till at the age of twelve and thirteen years, they
came to the same fountain for cleansing as is opened for
the poor natives to wash in. So well established are
their christian habits and principles, that we have, of
late, allowed them free access to all our Hawaiian books,
and to listen to preaching, besides to each a class of lit
tle girls, whom they every day meet for instruction un
der school regulations. But the restriction of non-in
tercourse among the natives is not removed.
Dear Mrs. Bishop, who was laid in her grave six
weeks before the arrival of the reinforcement, longed
exceedingly to see and give them a charge from her
sick couch. The purport of it was this : " Do not be
devoted to domestic duties. Trust to natives, however
imperfect their services, and preserve your constitu
tions." I needed no such warning, for I had learned the
lesson by my own sad experience, and when, after years of
prostration, I was again permitted to enjoy comfortable
health, I availed myself of the aid of natives for the
accomplishment of such domestic services as they were
capable of rendering. I found that the duties of the
housekeeper, of the mother, of the teacher of our chil
dren, of day schools and weekly meetings, among the
natives, often drew me down to the couch. For as one
of our physicians told me, " You may as well talk of
perpetual motion, as to think of performing as much la
bor here as you could have done by remaining in
America." I have spoken simply of our own domestic arrange
ment; but all our mission families are regulated much on
the same plan ; and were our patrons, or our husbands,

1835. 131
now to say, " Look to New England for examples :
there ladies of intelligence and refinement, holding su
perior stations in life, often sustain, unaided, the labors
of their own families, — go thou and do likewise," — it
would be one of the most effectual means that could be
taken to send the sisters of this mission, either down to
their graves, or home to America.
As to the effects produced upon natives thus em
ployed in our families, they have more intelligence, more
of the good things of this life, more influence among
their fellows than they could otherwise possess ; and
numbers of them, I doubt not, will be added to that
great company, which no man can number, redeemed
out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.
This letter far exceeds the limits I prescribed to
myself when taking the pen. But knowing that heavy
oars are plied on that side of the waters for the benefit
of those who are here your servants for Christ's sake, I
thought good to spread before you our situation and
principles of action. Yours affectionately,
LUCY G. THURSTON.
ARTICLE LXXIII.
To Mrs. Dr. Judd.
Kaiula, December 25, 1835.
Dear Mrs. Judd:
The scenes of last General Meeting have caused
many pleasant associations to stand connected in my
mind with you and the young plants rising up beneath
your care. The intelligence that twins had been added
to your family, awakened new interest. It touched a

132 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
chord in my heart which vibrated with emotion. For
thus it was that / commenced my being, thus it was that
I was cradled in my mother's arms. Eight summer suns
beheld us twin sisters closely walking hand in hand the
pathway of life. How sweet those early memories! Then
together we descended to the very verge of the grave.
There we separated. Lydia's character had become
perfected for another state of existence, and Lucy was
raised for a then unthought-of destiny.

ARTICLE LXXIY.
To Mrs. Dr. Judd.
Kailua, November 14, 1836.
Dear Mrs. Judd:
I guessed that you understood what poor human
nature was, and that you thought that by this time I
might be in want of what Solomon says, is as good as a
medicine. Be that as it may, the reception of your let
ter, which found us in a temperate region, caused an
immediate rise of ten degrees in the elasticity of our
spirits. As to picking up a pen when the governor's
schooner was bound straight to Hilo, — had I done so
it would not have been to have written the name of
Judd, for I did not think you would have been there.
But on that day, after attending to my family school
and nursery, after acting as superintendent to a native
school of one hundred and eighty, making out two notes
on business, and putting up oranges for five stations, I
was satisfied with paying my respects to such only as
presented themselves before me in person, ; and this I

1836. 133
had the opportunity of doing by the arrival of Mr.
Forbes and family
This apology has opened a loophole through which
you can peep and obtain one glimpse of us, situated
alone on these shores of Hawaii. We have, since Gen
eral Meeting, had none other than favorable gales, and
we are now under full sail, going at the rate of ten knots
an hour ; but I know not how soon we shall find our
selves in the Gulf Stream.
Baby thrives, and is quite an important personage
among us, being the substitute of the Rev. Mr. Bishop
and family, who have removed to Ewa.
Affectionately yours,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXV.
To Miss Elizabeth Goodale.
Kailua, November 15, 1836.
My Dear Niece :
Tell your dear mother that I was better pleased
with ,the intelligence of her being a member of a Sab
bath school than of anything I have heard respecting
her since leaving America. Tell her, too, that I learn
a Bible lesson every week to recite in English. My own
children are my classmates. By giving Mr. Thurston
the class-book, we contrive to form one united family
circle. Thus we are engaged every Sabbath night at
sunset, the usual time for evening family worship.
When Saturday comes round I attend to another Sab
bath school lesson in Hawaiian. Instead of being there
a scholar to recite with scholars, I am a teacher to in-

134 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
struct teachers— some thirty of them, who are employed
in our Sabbath school.
We have now no associate at our station, Mr. and
Mrs. Bishop having removed to Ewa, on Oahu, in con
sequence of Mrs. Bishop's impaired health. The ar
rangement will probably be permanent. We have a
neighbor on one side of us, Mr. Forbes, by water distant
sixteen miles, and on the other side, Mr. Lyons, within
thirty miles.
At the last General Meeting the ladies of the Mis
sion formed themselves into a Maternal Association.
Their meetings became frequent and very interesting.
At the various stations the ladies have formed similar
associations among the natives, reports from which are
to be brought in at every yearly meeting.
Situated in such solitary circumstances, I find much
comfort and aid from our two oldest children. The old
er of these is now fifteen, and their scholars about their
own ages, yet they look up to their young teachers with
as much deference as they do to me. The future desti
ny of our children I know not. We have never yet
seen the time, when we could thrust them from those
guardians which are theirs by nature. We are daily
expecting a letter from Dr. Anderson which I hope will
throw some light on our path. I always hold it up be
fore the children that in three years, that is, when the
oldest is eighteen, they must go to the land of their
fathers. I find it necessary to do this as a stimulus to
effort beneath this tropic sun, where there is so much
that is indolent and uncivilized to meet the eye. Nine
children of the mission will probably be sent away in a
few weeks. With the exception of our own family, no
daughter in the mission will be left upward of seven
years of age.

1836. 135
When we sailed for Honolulu to attend the last
General Meeting, and were not yet out of sight of our
own shores, we looked back and saw the flames ascend
ing to the heavens. We had little doubt but one of our
dwelling houses was laid in ashes ; but in two or three
weeks after, we learned that it was our church — the
work of an incendiary not yet discovered. It was said
by a white man then on the spot, that there had never
been such a mourning among the people since the death
of Kamehameha. It however, only hastened the work
of starting, a permanent stone building, which is now
nearly completed. The belfry, spire and vane, give
quite an American look to our village.
Your affectionate Aunt,
LUCY G. THURSTON.
ARTICLE LXXVI.
The Epistle of the Thurstons to the Honoluluans. April, 1837.
LUCY with Tatina,* her husband, and all the chil
dren that are with us, to all that be in Honolulu,
called to be saints.
As we trust shortly to be given you through your
prayers, even at the approaching convocation, we thought
good to write unto you in order, that withal ye prepare
us also a lodging place. And as it was made a statute
and an ordinance for Israel, that as his part was, that
went down to the battle, so should his part be that tar
ried by the stuff, they should share alike : even so we
pray, that the end of a campaign, performed single
handed, may introduce us to the full communion and
*Tah-tee'-nah. Thurston in the native language.

136 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
fellowship of those who remain by the stuff, to the full
enjoyment of social privileges, to be comforted together
with you, with those consolations, with which you also
abound. Salute Rebecca and her household. They of Ha
waii salute you. Grace be with you all, Amen.
Written to the Honoluluans from Kailua, and sent
by Kuakini, servant of the church.
ARTICLE LXXVII.
To Mrs. Coan, Hilo.
Kailua, September 25, 1837.
Dear Mrs. Coan:
Dr. Andrews has just sent up a note, saying, that
an opportunity offers of sending to Hilo by the way of
Waimea, and as I have a caution to press upon you, I
immediately turn to my pen.
It is this. Take care of your health. I hear the
same story this year that I did the last, that your duties
through the day made you too weary to rest at night.
That is enough of itself for one who has been in the
post of observation for seventeen years, to raise the
warning voice. There are emergencies when people are
called upon to show their devotion to the cause which
they have espoused, by adventuring with life in their
hands. Not so in prosperous circumstances, performing
the daily routine of common duties: — I do most fully
believe that it is the will of our Lord that we take care
of flesh and blood, of bones and sinews, these forming
the grand, the only instrument with which we are to
serve our generation. If it is an instrument with which
we are to serve, then let it be a servant. But let us give

1839. 137
it such rest as will best secure prolonged and energetic
action. Tell our young missionary ladies, that to live a
holy life is one thing, and to sap one's constitution in
the ardor of youthful feelings is quite another, f watch
over these young plants with something of maternal
feelings. Yours affectionately,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXVIII.
To Mrs. Mary Parkhurst, Massachusetts.
Kailua, February, 1839.
Dear Niece:
Dr. Andrews and wife, myself and children have all
just returned from spending a week at Kealakekua, in
the family of Mr. Forbes, sixteen miles from this. Mr.
Thurston conducted us thither and returned. I had not
before, since my illness, been beyond the precincts of
our village, notwithstanding it had been so strongly re
commended. The Dr. was rising from sickness, having
twice had the run of a fever. We went and returned
in a double canoe. We all spent one day and night with
Kapiolani, whose residence was two miles from Mr.
Forbes, back in the country. I was delighted with the
air of civilized and cultivated life, which pervaded her
dwelling. She had a stone house, consisting of three
lower, and three upper rooms. Several of the rooms
were carpeted with very fine mats, and curtained. Three
high post bedsteads were hung with valances and mus-
quito curtains. Three Chinese settees, handsomely
trimmed, were placed one in each of the lower rooms.
The house was furnished with a writing desk, tables,

138 Life of Lucy~G. Thurston.
chairs/looking glasses, &c. A table was spread, cover*
ed with a white damask table cloth: Tea was served
up with a waiter. China cups and saucers, and silver
tea spoons. Then she had soup served out with a silver
ladle on soup plates ; and boiled fowls, baked pig, with
various kinds of vegetables, as squash, potatoes, kalo,
breadfruit, and radishes, on dining plates. Then there
was the domestic altar, the Holy Book, the sacred
hymns and reverential prayer. Thus were we enter
tained at the house of a Sandwich Islander.
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXIX.
To the General Meeting of the Sandwich Island Mission.
Kailua, April 6, 1839.
Brethren :
It was when maternal cares first pressed upon my
heart, that I was made sensible of the dangers of that
sea on which I had embarked. The cable that confined
my bark was cut, and no idea existed in my mind of
again reaching my native land. Thus launched, sus
taining such responsibilities, I beheld my situation upon
the very verge of the outer circles of a maelstrom. But
firmly believing that God helps those who help them
selves, I learned, as it were, while with one hand I
wrought, with the other to stem the tide. Thus was I
sustained day by day, during the first fourteen years of
missionary life, without any star of future promise to
guide me to the port of safety.
Then new and appalling intelligence from abroad
moved Mr. Thurston to say to me : " You must take

1839. 139
our children and go home with them." I answered :
" It is recorded in the minutes of our General Meeting,
that twenty years is as long a service in this climate as
can be expected of any one missionary. In our situa
tion, with our regulations, I am willing to sustain ma
ternal responsibilities in this land so long, but no longer.
Let us perform our measure of service within that peri
od, and then all go home together." For nearly five
years this is as the subject has existed in our minds.
Mr. Thurston has harped upon the string of sending
home mother and children, while I have been buoyed up
with the hope that he would accompany us.
But the nineteenth year of missionary life seemed
to call upon me to look at my prospects and responsi-
"bilities, and prepare for changes. But what was duty ?
Abram, in leaving his country, and offering up his son
Isaac, had a plain command by which to walk. But
from Genesis to Revelation I found no one to meet my
case. On first opening the Bible, we read that a man
shall leave his father and his mother, but we look in
vain to the only sure guide of faith and practice, to find,
either by precept or example, that he is forever to leave
his own offspring. This sentiment of modern days
seems to be introduced to meet the wants of our world,
probably destined to flourish only while the science of
Missions is in its infancy.
When Moses became a public character in the land
of Egypt, we find that his wife was left behind in the
land of Midian with his children.
Hannah, the only example of the kind in Holy
Writ, either in the old Testament or new, left her son
Samuel at the tabernacle under the care of the High
Priest, and returned fifteen miles to her own home. The
three great Jewish feasts, required husband to visit the

140 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
spot three times a year. Moreover his mother made him
a little coat and brought it to him from year to year,
when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly
sacrifice, where, with her own eyes she could behold her
own son ministering before the Lord, girded with a
linen ephod.
The command, " Go ye into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature," is drawn from the same
source as the prediction, "Many shall run to and fro,
and knowledge shall be greatly increased."
In turning to view the human family in the 19th
century, among the heterogeneous mass which went to
people our earth, I behold three distinct classes of chil
dren, laboring under a system of measures which tend
to deprive them of both their natural guardians. I al
lude to the traffic of African blood, the burning of Hin
doo widows, and the exile of missionaries from their
country for life. To be myself drawn into such circum
stances, to be instrumental in giving birth to immortal
natures, and then myself exercise an agency to thrust
them from me, perhaps to be crushed, perhaps from their
unprotected state to be led into temptations and sin,
was more trying to my feelings, than sustaining mater
nal duties in the very heart of a heathen land, when
gross darkness was upon the people, — a darkness that
could be felt.
When at the inexperienced age of twenty-four, I
was called to decide upon the important question of
quitting my native country for a heathen land, my fath
er and all my friends referred the matter entirely to
myself. Without advice, without influence, I alone sus
tained the responsibility.
At the more experienced age of forty-three, another
question of equal moment came up before me. But in-

1839. 141
dependence of action was no longer mine. A long array
of "powers that be," rose up before me. Husband,
associates, the Prudential Committee, the American
Board, and the Christian Public. In such circumstances,
not communicating my trials to mortal ear, not aware of
my danger, and not taking heed to my steps, I found
myself in the Slough of Despond. By efforts too much
for human nature, I extricated myself, and reached the
side opposite my own house. It was on the 27th of
August, 1838, that I made the surrender of laying my
children on the altar. • Then I resolved to take my prop
er place, to remember that I was a daughter of Eve, a
wife of a minister of Jesus Christ, of a missionary to the
heathen. I resolved to be led and guided like a little
child, by those who managed the affairs of Christ's
kingdom, even though I alone was called to wander to a
far off land, there to be deprived of those in whom my
strength lieth, and to return with the weakness of a
Samson shorn of his locks.
The result was such as might be expected. Like
poor Christian, I lost my burden. But what excited my
astonishment was, I could no longer say I am weary.
The distress of my mind, and the pains of my body had
taken flight together. For three days there was an un
natural degree of rest, repose and languor, when I expe
rienced an attack of paralysis on the right side, so very
slight, at first, as not to interrupt my usual routine of
duties. It continued to increase daily, and precisely one
fortnight from the night that I formed my purpose of
action, I was extended on my bed, encircled by friends,
commending, for the first time, my children in their
coming orphanage to the guardianship of Mrs. Andrews.
During the following week, my life was despaired of
from one day to another, and at periods, from one

142 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
hour to another. My head was so disordered that eight
weeks passed away before I was once removed from that
sick bed on which I had been laid ; during which time
I was fed with a tea-spoon like an infant.
But although cast down I was not destroyed. He
who knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are
but dust, said to the destroying angel, " It is enough.''
That I live, again to act my part in the theatre of life,
possessing the use of my limbs and mental faculties, is
the Lord's doings and marvelous in our eyes. But I am
not in the possession of equal powers, either of body or
mind as formerly. Besides a sense of weight, on my
right side from head to foot, hourly reminds me of what
I have been, of what I may again be. But although
deep has called unto deep, and all God's waves and bil
lows have rolled over me, it has only, fixed the steadfast
purpose of my soul, to let others lead, and while I fol
low, accepting of trials and sacrifices as my portion, not
counting even my life dear unto myself.
And now, after a campaign of twenty years, it is
our desire to have the privilege of providing for our own
house also. By the Prudential Committee we are refer
red for direction to this Body. Now our waiting eyes
are turned to you. Were I allowed to speak my feel
ings, my petition and my request is : If it please this
Mission, and we have found favor in their sight, and if
the thing seem right in their eyes, that they permit me
to conduct my children across the ocean to the land
which is theirs by birthright ; to a land of industry, of
civilization, and of christian institutions. If it is made
a question whether the husband and the father accom
pany us or not, you and he, will, of course, decide accor
ding as the finger of Divine Providence seems to your
own minds to direct. LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXX.
To Mrs. P. P Andrews, Hilo.
Kailua, July 25, 1839.
Dear Mrs. Andrews :
Last night, as the sun was sinking beneath the hor
izon, we set foot on the shores of Kailua, on our return
from the General Meeting at Honolulu. But it was not
necessary to come to these scenes, to be reminded often
and tenderly of you.
Short as has been the time since I saw you, I have
seen some of the varieties of human life. Yesterday, in
solitary circumstances on the schooner, we were accom
modated upon the naked deck, eating from the poi dish
with our fingers. But the other day, while at Kaneohe,
we were seated at the table with twenty, where luxury
and etiquette seemed to preside. At one time I had the
apprehension of fleeing for life before the face of ene
mies.* Yet another, watching, day and night, over the
*An armed French ship was anchored within cannon shot distance of
the town of Honolulu. Within view and reach of those shotted guns,
resided the American Missionaries. In case of hostilities, other for
eigners would find an asylum and protection on board the French ship.
But the missionaries were pointed out as the special mark for devasta
tions, calamities, insults, and horrors, threatened by cannonading, and
by landing a lawless crew from a French Man of War. If a man of
their vessel was injured it was to be a war of extermination, neither
man, woman nor child were to be saved. The hour was set when they
were to commence hostilities, unless the king yielded to all require
ments. It was a peremptory demand for the surrenderof the sovereigns
prerogatives, the session of lands, and a deposit of $20,000 as security for
the future obsequiousness and obedience of his Hawaiian Majesty Ka
mehameha Third to the king of the French.— [Flag Ship Jarves History,
and Bingham's History.]
There was a time in this extremity, when the friends of the king in
his presence, laid the matter before the King of Kings. The prayer was
ended. But the youthful ruler lingered kneeling. 143

144 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
sick couch of my elder boy, while no tongue but little
Henry's gave utterance to the deep feelings of the heart
— " Is Asa a-going to die ?" Then we again found our-
elves buffeting the rude surges of the ocean, in the
same schooner which touched upon the rocks on the
way down, and in which I extinguished fire in coming
up, having no appendage of boat or canoe on board
for any emergency. Then even the voyage had variety.
The first part was exceedingly rough, the little children
asking with tears, " Will the vessel tip over ?" Howev
er, our native mariners had no such fears, and even if it
did, why they knew how to right it — by cutting away
the masts. The last part of the voyage was as calm as
a summer's day, and served to remind me of the end of
the voyage of life, after the conflicts and trials of the
way. Affectionately,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXXI.
To Mrs. Coan, Hilo.
Kallua, January 9, 1840.
Dear Sister Coan:
I rejoice once more in being able to address you.
This I have ever intended to do before leaving the Is-
ands, even if I could not take my pen before being on
the way for Oahu. But since our excursion round the
Island, my cares have been like wave behind wave, re
quiring head, and heart, and hands to buffet them. Our
stay here has been unexpectedly prolonged. But I thank
Him without whose cognizance not a sparrow falleth to
the ground, that we are still dwelling in the quietude of
our own home. To make preparations for a voyage of

1840. 145
twenty-four weeks, for a family of seven members, un
der the equator and around Cape Horn, in sickness and
health, in touching perhaps at foreign ports, and in
landing on our native shores, is not all. In ploughing
the ocean's deceitful waves, I wish to feel that whatever
betide, all will be well with me and mine. Jesus, too, is
passing in our midst. What time so opportune to ask
Him to lay his hands upon all my children, and to bless
them. You were kind to speak a word in behalf of a child
of unformed character, about to be sundered forever
from both natural guardians. Under what influence is
the scale to turn, which will fix that child's destiny in
both worlds. Without calculating on probabilities, I
am called to lay my children all as blanks into my heav
enly Father's hands, to let him write upon them as seem-
eth good in his sight, and to hold myself in readiness,
either to be used, — or dashed as a potter's vessel. O,
for that humility, for that submission, for that gratitude
which becomes a dependent being.
I beg you to tender my parting salutations of love
to each of your kind associates. Peace, that peace
which the world neither gives nor takes away, be with
them and you. Brethren and sisters, pray for us. Fare
well. Affectionately yours,
LUCY G. THURSTON.
ARTICLE LXXXII.
To Mr. Armstrong, Honolulu.
Dear Brother:
Since you have the kindness to allow me to spread
before you my feelings, permit me to state :
That the danger of the return of my former disease,

146 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
the paralysis, may be rationally apprehended during my
voyage to the United States.
That in case of another attack, no other prospect
would seem to be before me, than either a speedy disso
lution, or being left to drag out existence, a wreck both
in body and mind.
That the liability of its occurrence will depend
much upon the quiet state of my own mind.
That there are two subjects which lie with oppresr
sive weight upon my feeling, my children who go with
me, and my husband who is left behind.
That the sorrow and anxiety which I shall feel in
view of leaving Mr. Thurston in such desolate circum
stances, will be greatly augmented or lessened, in the con
sideration of whom he has for associates. His retiring
habits, his dereliction of self, and a slight cough from
which he has not been free for the past nine months, all
lead me to wish to commend him to the watchful care
and sympathy of known and tried friends.
Therefore, my petition and my request is, if I have
found favor, and the thing seem right, let Dr. and Mrs.
Andrews remain at Kailua.
My prayer is now before you. Nothing remains for
me, but to lay my hand upon my mouth, and prapare
myself to say, whatever may be the result of the deep
surge which is now passing over our family, Amen and
Amen. Yours in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE LXXXIII.
Our Children.
THE natives knew I had a systematic school for them
in the sitting room in the house, situated in the re
tired yard, and they learned to obtain permission quietly
to drop in and silently witness the novel scene. They
could at once behold order and application, and though
ignorant of the English language, they shrewdly judged
that our children were prodigies of obedience compared
with their own degenerate offspring. With them, could
be seen at the end Of their dwelling house a little ur
chin with a stone in his hand at open defiance against
his father, crying out : " You don't need to dodge,
father ; I am not agoing to throw yet."
While the natives have been observing my school, I
have often and often seen the tears trickle down their
cheeks. They were grieving that they had destroyed
their own children on the threshold of life, and parental
desires were awakened of having themselves sons and
daughters thus molded.
Whenever I walked abroad, or entered the church,
every eye was turned upon them, bespeaking looks of
astonishment and admiration. So that notwithstanding
they had no intercourse with the people, they were em
phatically public examples in a nation that had never be
fore seen the effects of a christian and civilized education.
When our eldest daughters were twelve and four
teen years of age, their habits were so formed, and their
principles so established, that we gave them permission
to learn the native language from pure sources. They 147

48 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
'ere instructed in it by their parents, allowed access to
lawaiian books, attended on their father's ministry,
ecame teachers in the Sabbath school, also in the day
shool, and each had a chamber in which she gathered
er own Sabbath school class around her for religious
xercises. They were allowed to come in contact with
atives as teachers, under school regulations, but not as
ssociates. They were very much revered, and exerted
powerful influence over the native mind. Thus it
ras, that they cheerfully and devotedly labored for
ve years before they left the Islands.
We stood alone in thus ' making the experimet of
etaining children on heathen ground. At this time,
idien the mission is in its twentieth year, more than for-
y missionaries' children have been conveyed away by
arents, that have retired from this field of labor.
Eighteen have been scattered about in the father land
without parents.,

PART SECOND.

1841-1869. DEATH OF TWO CHILDREN AND TWO GRAND
CHILDREN. LAST DAYS OF FATHER THURSTOS.

1841.
ARTICLE I.

Departure from the Sandwich Islands. Arrival in New York. Sickness
of Family. Death of Daughter.
FEBRUARY 20, 1841.— Accompanied by four chil
dren, I sailed from the Islands on the 3d of last
August, passed a fortnight at the Society Islands on our
way, and arrived at New York six months from the time
of our embarkation. At the Sandwich Islands I parted
from him who has been my stay and staff during my
pilgrimage from my father's house. He staid to feed
the flock over whom he had been made overseer. I left
to make provision for the education of our children. In
crossing the ocean, and in my reception in this country,
I have cause for the most unbounded gratitude to Him
who has caused my pathway to be strewn with comforts.
We have spent two weeks in the benevolent family
of Mr. Benson, and are now entertained in the family of
Mr. Cummings, an editor of the New York Observer. I
intended to leave next week for Boston and Marlboro,
but my plans are frustrated by sickness, fcucy is con
fined to her bed with inflammation of the lungs, and is
an object of care and solicitude. We have every at
tention and care which our situation demands. We are
149

150 Life of Lucy 67. Tliurston.
afflicted but not cast down. While God chastens with
one hand, he supports with the other.
February 25. — In one week from the time Lucy
felt the chill of a fever, she felt the chill of death. Day
before yesterday I traveled with her down to the dark
valley, — no, not dark — all was light. Many precious
words fell from her lips, and her feelings were charac
terized by sweet submission to the Divine will, and an
unshaken reliance on the Savior. For many hours I
reclined by her side upon her dying bed, till all was
hushed and calm in death. Now I can say more than I
ever could before. Four children on earth and one in
heaven ! Mr. Ely, an elder in Dr. Spring's church, kind
ly permitted the remains of our loved one to be laid in
his own family vault.
On Monday, Lucy was pronounced out of danger,
and I was strengthened with the hope of her living, un
til Wednesday morning, when it was announced that
she must die. It was a very great shock to me, both in
body and mind. All strength left me, and I felt like
Belshazzar when his knees smote together. I retired
and was alone with God. A simple thought passed
through my mind. " I will try to bear whatever is laid
upon me." The change in my feelings was as if I had
received the touch of an angel. I was strong in body,
strong in mind, equal to meet the emergency. I return
ed to my friends with composure and fortitude, which
never for a moment forsook me in all the varied trying
scenes through which I was called to pass. I was sus
tained, I was comforted.
March 9.— Since Lucy's funeral all the children
have been prostrate. The remedies employed have been
bleeding, cupping, leeching, blistering, purging, etc.
One child has been so low with a complication of dis-

1842. 151
eases, that every hope of life seemed cut off. Now, all
are gaining health and activity.
God has in a wonderful manner raised up friends.
Mr. Cummings, wife and sister, have been most solicit
ous to promote our comfort and happiness. Indeed, the
manner in which they, strangers, sought us out, and
conducted us to their home, seems to me a distinguished
Providence.

ARTICLE II.
Advice to a Daughter at Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, written when
about to return to the Sandwich Islands.
New York, March 1, 1842.
My dear Daughter Persis :
In pursuing your eduation, next to taking care of
your heart, take care of your constitution. On this sub
ject I feel great anxiety. The better scholar you are
the greater will be the danger of your taxing your pow
ers too heavily. If your health allows, secure to your
self a thorough course without being diverted from your
object. Pursue your studies without anxiety as re
spects pecuniary means. You know that, as long as
your mother inhabits the same globe with you, in order
to have this object accomplished, she will share with
you the last dollar at her command. Ever keep me in
formed of your situation, feelings, prospects, progress,
etc. After spending three or four years at the Semina
ry, a year devoted to teaching would, be very improving
to you. I cannot now advise you respecting your future
course in life. You know my general views. Throw
yourself unreservedly upon the guidance of your Heav-

152 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
enly Father, and watch the developments of his provi
dence. In that far-off land of your chilc'.hood and
youth, you have still a father's home and parents ever
ready to welcome your return.
After granting you that training and those privi
leges which will fit you for any desirable situation, in
any part of the world, my work respecting you will be
done, and I shall leave you free as air to choose your
pathway in life. I know you will wish to serve your
generation, to serve your Savior.
I will not disguise it, — life is replete with anxieties,
perplexities, cares, toils, sufferings, and sorrows. Well,
let them come. It is a state of probation and of disci
pline, and all things are so arranged by infinite wisdom
and benevolence, that even we may become in a high
degree possessors of the rich stores of quiet self-denial,
of holy fortitude, of cheerful resignation, and of heav
en-born benevolence. We will then travel on in the
vale of mortality, in the depths of nothingness, if such
be the will of our Lord, until, from exalted heights, we
hear a seraphic voice saying : " Come home to your rest."
What your father said to me, let me repeat to you.
" Never let one murmuring thought arise in your mind
as though your lot were a hard one." Thank God that
he gave you birth in this 19th century of our christian
era, that you were early saved from unholy influences,
and instructed in the principles of our holy religion, that
you and your parents have a name among God's people,
— thank him that your sister is now before the throne,
that yourself and brother are permitted to enjoy the
rich literary and religious privileges of our American
institutions ; — that the young members of your family
are allowed the prospect of still enjoying privileges, and
giving life and interest to the parental abode. O thank

1842. 153
Him for those light afflictions, which are but for a mo
ment, and which may work out for you a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory. * * * *
My own daughter, endeared to me by every consid
eration that can affect a mother's heart, in now bidding
you farewell, my mind reverts to the hour when you
were first laid in my bosom, when your father kneeled
by the bedside, and with, many tears consecrated you to
the Savior. Since that memorable day, twenty years
have run their round, always finding mother and daugh
ter side by side. And can I give up my daughter, my
first born, my might, and the beginning of my strength?
None but He who knoweth the unutterable feelings of
tenderness and love which I have felt for my child,
knows the corresponding agony which the prospect of a
separation has produced.
And yet, when I three years ago lay upon an isth
mus between time and eternity, balancing between two
worlds, — redemption, the great work of the soul's re
demption,, was opened to my mind with amazing vivid
ness. Then I thought of the manner in which Mary of
old expressed her love to the Savior with a box of costly
ointment. I had an offering still more precious, such as
would honor the deepest feelings of a mother's devotion.
I could rejoice to express my love and gratitude to the
Redeemer of the world by laying upon the altar in any
manner most acceptable to Him, my two youthful
daughters, — my most precious treasures.
Our own Lucy has since been called for in an unex
pected way. But I know to whom I have consecrated
her, and have found it one of the sweetest acts of my
life to give her up to the gracious hands of Him, from
whom I received her seventeen years before. May a

154 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
sanctifying influence rest upon her memory, and lif e-giv.
ing breezes waft over her tomb.
The revolution of one year has again brought us
to the spot where Lucy took her upward flight, — where
two other children and my own country are about to
recede from my view. While others are giving 25, 50
and 100 per cent, in addition to what they have before
done, mine are offerings not to be estimated by dollars
and cents. God loveth a cheerful giver. I thank my
Savior that he first gave you to me, affording me the
opportunity of giving you back to him. I give you to
him to live, and toil, and suffer on earth, or to go and
behold his glory in heaven. I give you to him who has
all resources at his control, and whose wisdom and be
nevolence are infinite. But if he loves you with a wise
love, and sees that you need purifying in order to reflect
his own image, he will inflict discipline. He will cause
thorns to spring up in your pathway. But do not stop
to weep over the trials of this life. It is yours to accept
them in such a way as will cause them to become your
richest blessings. Lay then one hand upon your mouth,
the other upon the head of the sin-offering of our world,
and, with humility, with holy love and joy and activity,
pass through this wilderness world to your Father's
home on high. There, beyond the conflicts of sin, I
shall again behold what I am here called to resign.
"O, gracious hour, O, blest abode,
We shall be near and like our God ;
And flesh and sense no more control
The rising pleasures of the soul."
My own daughter, child of my heart, adieu.

ARTICLE III.
To Absent Children in America. Return Home.
Kailua, November 30, 1842.
My Dear Son and Daughter :
We reached Kailua October 24th, in safety, where
we found your father alive — well — in prosperity — and
in the possession of his accustomed cheerfulness. He
was alone at the station, and had been so for three
months. During these two years of solitude and trial,
he has found solace in his labors. When we left him,
his church consisted of six hundred members. When I
returned, of eighteen hundred.
He is much gratified with the situations and pros
pects of both his children in America. Now act well
your part, and thus strengthen the hearts of your pa-.
rents, and of your numerous friends here, who inquire
after you with great interest.
For two days and nights after my return to Kailua,
I neither slept nor wept. I was raised above the con-
.flicts of mortality. My being seemed etherial. I had
reached the port of peace. I had reached my husband
and my home. Natives crowd to see me by the hun
dred. They must all shake hands. My quiet school
room is now the public room for natives. We all sleep
up stairs. When your father's study is completed, and
things are adjusted, I will tell you how we are situated.
This letter must go to-night, and I must stop, though
I have sheets of intelligence to communicate. I pen
this on my knees by my bedside, a position favorable to
dispatch. So you must not wonder if it does not look 155

156 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
like me. Good night. The same Eye that now sees me,
sees you, which affords consolation to the heart of your
ever affectionate and sympathizing mother.
ARTICLE IV.
To a Missionary Sister.
Kailua, November, 1842.
IS it so that I am again at home, or am I dreaming?
Letters from yourself and others, a visit from friends,
the shaking hands with hundreds of natives, my own
home and husband, would seem evidence enough to con
vince me of the reality — and yet I cannot realize it. Is
it so that I am no longer upon the lap of the world, ei
ther meeting friends from whom I have been separated
twenty years, or taking final leave of them, or experien
cing first the unpleasantness of meeting strangers, and
the pain of separating from them as friends? And the
*rattling and jolting, the puffing and screeching, the dash
ing and wetting, the whistling and howling, the running
and shouting, the rocking and creaking, and groaning of
stage, car, steamboat and ship, of winds, waves, and
mariners, are they exchanged for the purest pleasures
that have survived the fall, the peace and tranquillity of
domestic life?
Here I sit in my corner of the room, in my rocking-
chair, at my writing table, as I used to sit. The three
other corners are vacant. But they speak silent volumes
to me of those who once filled those seats, and sat at
those tables. Yet in viewing these vacancies, no feeling
of desolation or sorrow has given me shade of sadness.
I rejoice that I have, in so high a degree, tasted the fe
licities of maternal love. I rejoice in the assurance that
lie has accepted the offering at my hands.

1842 157
You, too, know what it is to receive a gift, and to
restore the same to the Giver. A lamb of the first year
without blemish. What a precious offering ! Thank
the hlessed Savior for the rich experience which such
scenes of unutterable tenderness and sublimity bring
with them.

ARTICLE V.
To Mrs. M. M. Cummings, New York City.
Kailua, December 10, 1842.
I HAVE written you once since I left America, but
as there is a vessel lying at Honolulu, bound directly
to New York, I cannot refrain from dropping you a line,
dictated from my own home. It was on the 24th of
October that I found rest in the house of a husband,
that my children found a father's hand and a father's
home, added to a mother's care.
The natives were overjoyed at my return. Those
who had lived in our family knelt around me, and wept
aloud, bathing my hands with their tears. For several
weeks there was a continued series of calls, the kind-
hearted natives coming by schools and by districts to
welcome my return. Of these, some burst out into a wail,
but the more enlightened only wept. Some spoke of
their joy, and some of God's long-suffering in permitting
us to meet. Some spoke of the manner in which they
had prayed for us in the social circle, and in secret
places ; and some of their love to their teacher who left
his family to dwell alone with them. Some spoke of
the great turning of the natives to the Lord during my
absence, and some named the scholars of my children,
most of whom were now sisters in the church. Some

10o Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
spoke of the sad fate, and others of the blessedness of
the departed Lucy. Some sympathized with our chil
dren left in America, bereaved, separated, and made
orphans in that far-off land of strangers. Those chil
dren, they said with tears, are our children. They were
born and reared in our land. Great is our love for them.
Now that I am once more established in my own
home, I increasingly feel my obligations to make it an
asylum for the invalid and the stranger. A voice from
yonder distant shores seems to follow me, saying : "Free
ly ye have received, freely give."
My three eldest children are all far, far away. But
I have given them all to a God of infinite wisdom and
benevolence. In so doing each contributes to the hap
piness of every waking hour of my life. There is Lucy's
corner, her window, her table, her chair. There she sat,
and studied, and wrote. Now, mortal has exchanged
for immortality. In strains gentle and joyous she speaks
from heaven. What do I say ? An own child in heav
en ? How shall I sufficiently praise God on earth, for
connecting with our family, by natural bonds, an heir of
glory. I gaze at her upward flight. It is, as it were,
a golden chain, mooring our family within sight of the
celestial city. O, for a heart to praise the Lord with ev
ery breath, and with childlike simplicity and confidence
trust Him with all my concerns, serving and glorifiying
Him, just in the way he is pleased to direct.
Yours most affectionately,
LUCY G. THURSTON.

ARTICLE VI.
A meeting of Confession and Thanksgiving.
Katlua, November 9, 1845.
My Dear Daughter Persis :
At the last General Meeting a fast was observed,
quite at the commencement of the meeting. At the first
exercise your father presided. Read the third chapter
of First John, and you will see what he took for the
foundations of his remarks. He trimmed as closely as
ever you heard him trim anybody, and concluded by
saying that he had been twenty-three years a member of
this mission, during which time they must have heard
of and seen him do many things contrary to this feeling
of love. He made confession of his deficiencies and sins,
and asked their forgiveness. Before the day was through,
six other missionaries, each in turn, were seen presenting
themselves individually before the house making confes
sion and asking forgiveness. A meeting thus commenced
was concluded with thanksgiving. The brethren expres
sed themselves as I never before heard them, respecting
that spirit of love, of tenderness, and of forbearance,
which had been exhibited throughout the meeting.
Your father was called upon to conclude the meeting.
He commenced in strains of thanksgiving — was over
come by emotion, paused — only adding, with a faltering
voice, "In union may we be one, in heart and action one,
then we shall be one with Thee in heaven."
159

ARTICLE VII.
Poisoned by Strychnine. Kailua, April 3, 1850.
FOR a fortnight I had experienced multiplied ills. I
had overcome all. Debility alone remained. A
tonic, of all things, was what I most wanted. O, for
some quinine ! The Dr. had pointed out a particular
vial of it to your father for his own use. He had fre
quently spoken of it, but it was not prepared, and he
said he knew not how to put it into a liquid state. Af
ter consulting a medical book, I sent to the Doctor's
and asked your father for the vial of quinine. It was
brought. The label is French, I thought. The name,
what is it? Strychnine. The last sylable is like qui
nine in English. I am alike ignorant of the French and
of the medicine. But Mr. Thurston and Dr. Andrews
know. Now for mixing it. This shall be done by my
recipe ; 19 grains of quinine dissolved in one hundred
teaspoons of diluted alcohol, with three drops of sul
phuric acid ; ten teaspoons would then contain a grain ;
3i teaspoons £ of a grain. This last shall be a potion.
I first tried it by taking one teaspoonful. It did not
affect me much anyway. So the next morning, before
breakfast, I took one-third of a grain. Having already
exercised to the extent of my strength, I lay down on
my bed, facing- the north. Singular sensations suddenly
came over me. I turned half way over, in order the
better to be heard from the school-room, saying : "Ma
ry, come here, do ; I feel so strangely, I don't like to be
160

1850. 161
alone." This was no sooner uttered, than I became
transfixed in the very position in which I had turned to
speak to her. "Where is Thomas? Let him go for
your father. Let him come first and see how I am.
Don't alarm him. Tell him it is from taking quinine."
Ever and anon, a wedge seemed driven through me, the
tension becoming higher and higher, and still another
and another wedge to very extremity. To touch me
was renewed agony. To hold my hands and feet with
a firm grasp seemed to stay me from being sundered in
twain. Every window and every door was thrown open
from the first. Your father at length said, "I feel very
faint." He let go my hand, halted a little, and reeled
to the door. After taking water he revived ; asked to
see the medicine, and expressed his doubts of its being
quinine. One hour had now elapsed. My first stage of
suffering was ended. But it was succeeded by another
still more severe. 1 was as immovable as ever, while
convulsions took possession of my frame. Every min
ute or two a strong spasm passed over me. What was
more, it required the stillness of death to prevent these
spasms from being constant upon me. To touch me, to
touch the bed, to step on the floor, to swing the fan,
caused my whole frame to be shaken with intense suffer
ing. A teaspoonful of water, put into my mouth and
swallowed, produced convulsions of double strength.
"Leave me in the room alone. Stay on that side the
threshold." Yet there was I myself. My very teeth
closed so into the gums as to produce spasms. To open
them a little produced spasms. To move my tongue or
speak", produced spasms. I was hard pressed to hold
onto life, without breathing. In my thoughts, I hushed
myself as if dealing with infancy. " Be quiet, be quiet,
be quiet. Hush, .hush, hush." I said to myself: "I

162 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
am cut off from human aid, shut up in the hand of the
Almighty. Jesus was immovably suspended on the
cross. He knows how to be touched with the feelings
of our infirmities. In such pitiable distress and help
lessness, I cling to such a Savior, I yield myself to Him
for suffering, or ease, or action ; for life or death. Only
purify me from sin, even as silver is purified in the fur
nace." I repeated many times to myself the hymn,
commencing, " Jesus, Savior of my soul."
Thus shut up to utter helplessness, to solitude and
thought, it proved one of the most interesting seasons
of my existence. From seven to eleven I was in one
position on my bed, as if in bands of brass. At one,
your father assisted me to recline on pillows in the armed
chair in the school room. Convulsions ceased altogether
by two. The children sat by the center table, industri
ously employed in tumbling over the leaves of half a
dozen volumes. Now and then sentences were read
aloud for general edification. Strychnine was the cho
sen subject, and their investigations showed the drug to
be a most deadly poison.
Four o'clock in the p. m., found me, with my cane,
just able to set one foot before the other, abroad in the
balmy air. I accommodated myself to feebleness by
sitting down by my little nursling tree, and removing
its tiny twigs. The lamps were lighted, the supper bell
rang, and four cheerful faces were grouped at that even
ing meal. Then reading as usual, Carlyle's Cromwell.
His last sickness and death. Cromwell ! How L have
wronged him by ranking him among hypocrites. Now
I count him among earth's worthies. But I forget that

1850. 163
I am simply giving you a peep at our house on the 25th
of March. Fare ye well.
[After taking the strychnine, three months elapsed before I reached
the state in whcih I was before my nearly fatal mistake. Then the im
provement still went on, and the heaviness that I had experienced on
my right side ever since my attack of paralysis, and also the frequent
feelings as if another attack was impending, left me entirely and for
ever.]
ARTICLE VIII.
A Farewell Note Before a Voyage to the United States.
Kailua, September 15, 1850.
I address a line to the companion of my youth, my
protector, my counsellor, the father of my children,
my husband. For thirty years we have traveled life's
pathway together. Now I go to be repaired like a worn
shoe, that in active life I may hold on by your side.
But I am borne up by your sanction, advice, and wishes,
and by the approval of our fathers, great and good men.
I go, and in so doing, strip your home of its remaining
olive plants. I leave you in a house so solitary, that in
midnight silence you will hear no other sound than the
ticking of the clock. As Lucy on her death-bed said :
' "Alone, all alone." Thus desolate, should sickness pros
trate, and death do its work, farewell. The life to come.
The life to come.
For myself, I give up rest and the quiet pleasures of
domestic life in the house of an effectionate indulgent
husband. Without a shield, with woman's weakness
and woman's infirmities, I go to take my chance, and
become a wanderer on ocean and on land. A ship- wreck
ed vessel, fire at sea, famine in a boat, a desolate island,
and lawless pirates, — these are some of the dangers that
lie in ambush on the highway of oceans. Nor do I for-

164 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
get, that though I plant my feet in safety on the shores
of the pilgrim fathers, fell disease is there. Open vaults
are there. Let us stand in our lot, girding ourselves
anew, having on the whole armor. Let us be of good
courage, play the man for our people, our children, our
selves, and the Lord do what seemeth him good.
You have, with unsurpassed kindness, opened our
way before us. Now, day by day, lift up your heart on
high, that faithfulness and wisdom, that humility and
grace- be given Us liberally. Often write to me across
the continent. Tell me of your welfare, and how you
prosper. Remind me of my duty. Thus I shall be ev
er made to feel your left hand beneath my head, and
your right hand embracing me.
Like the mysterious influence of the North Pole
over the magnet, so you will be to me, to restrain, to
becken, and to bring back to a state of rest.
At home and abroad, in life and death, I am your
affectionate wife.

ARTICLE IX.
To a Daughter left in a Seminary In the United States. Written while
on the Voyage back to the Sandwich Islands.
My Dear Daughter Mary:
Thirty-two years ago, at the age of twenty-four, I
first passed this way. Then, by my side, I had my only
earthly stay, my new-found husband, a strong support,
firm in principle, fixed in purpose, refined in feeling, in
dulgent, and faithful in love. Now at the age of fifty-
six, I am again here on my fifth voyage around Cape
Horn. But it is the first time in my pilgrimage from
my father's house, that moons wax and wane, while I

1852. 165
am called to thread alone the rugged pathway of life.
Now, alone ; yet not a widow. Alone ; yet not child
less. No, not alone. My multiplied precious ones clus
ter continually around my heart. Alone ? No, I see
them. I feel their mighty influence. Husband, sons,
daughters, grand-daughters, all are mine — mine to give
warmth, and richness, and depth, and fullness to a foun
tain within, ever fresh, ever flowing, ever widening. I
go to rejoin the husband of my youth, the father of my
children. They have now all left the parental roof,
to obtain privileges found only in the fatherland. Fath
er and mother will still be there, if it be the Master's
will, serving in the enjoyment of a green old age. We
Stop not to inquire, what will become of us in sickness,
— what in the decline of life, — what in case of bereave
ment ? But — what is present duty ? What are we able
to accomplish ? What endure ?
My daughter, my nurse, housekeeper and shield,
my companion, pupil, and counsellor, three times my
fellow passenger around Cape Horn, now our pathway
diverges. I go away and leave you — leave you all alone.
Yet it is self-denying parental affection, it is trust in
God, that bids us say : " Go, avail yourself of the ad
vantages of enlightened America, and thus become to
your friends and society, as a 'corner-stone, polished
after the similitude of a palace '."
Yet can I go through all this without having my
heart probed to the very bottom ? In my lone room my
tears often flow. But I thank the Author of my nature
that he has enlarged my being by endowing me with
these affections, and by giving me such an object on
whom to place them. Now that I can do nothing more,
it soothes and sustains me to commit you, unreservedly

166 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
to the wisdom and love, the care and guidance of the
blessed Savior. With uplifted heart, I wait for the.
winds to bear me intelligence of the opened pages of
providence respecting you. May both mother and
daughter cultivate a spirit of willingness to go where
he bids us, to live where he places us, to bear what he
lays upon us, and to die when he calls us.
That you have been allowed to remain within the
family sanctuary till your ideas, tastes, habits, and prin
ciples have been formed, till your young affections for
your own parents, brothers and sisters have been ripen
ed and matured, I count among my greatest earthly
blessings. Now you go forth on a pilgrimage ; but you
go cherished and sustained by some of the strongest
feelings that cluster within the human heart. You know
and can confide in the care and love of your father and
mother, your sister and brothers. Those two little buds,
too, will learn to lisp and love their aunt. And Lucy,
our sainted one ! In the midnight hour I often think
her near my pillow. On m£, breath is the whisper : "Go,
be to Mary a guardian angel."
Your parents have been blessed with a heritage of
toil and self-denial, urged on by love, trust, and hope.
Treasures, our all, have multiplied beneath our hands.
One-fifth part of these priceless possessions is vested in
you. Occupy for the great Master's use, neither wast
ing by imprudence, nor burying in a napkin. Prepare
yourself for useful service in earning day by day your
daily bread. Still think of your father's home as yours,
and yourself as ours. At the same time think of your
self as at your own disposal. You will first obtain a
knowledge of books, of life, and of human nature ; then
according to your own tastes and judgment, select your

1852. 167
future pathway in life. In whatever circumstances you
are placed, in heart and action, cherish a spirit which
will sympathize with the Savior in his work of benevo
lence to our revolted race.
I wish to point you to the temptations and trials of
earth. You are treading a pathway strewed with mag
ic thorns and flowers. If you go forward and tread res
olutely upon the thorns they will become flowers. If
you turn from the path of duty to gather the flowers,
they will become thorns.
The softening, elevating influence of a virtuous sis
ter's love, in forming a brother's character is immense.
Think of this, and take for your motto, " She hath done
what she could."
When an inmate in the families of those who wel
come you to their fireside, strive to render yourself
useful. In doing so, and learning their method, the
greater benefit will be your own. Housekeeping is wo
man's profession. I wish you to give special attention
to this subject. To be able to sustain the responsibility-
to regulate and to perform every part of household good,
in the most accomplished manner, is woman's glory.
It is a subject of untold importance that you at
tend to your health. A good constitution is one of the
corner-stones to a useful and happy life. Study and
obey nature's laws. , Let understanding and prudence
be your counsellors, leading you to take good care of
the delicate machinery of your own system.
A dozen years ago, ours was an unbroken family,
together surrounding one family board. Now, without
looking at the wanderer on this great and wide ocean,
we are scattered on two islands, in two counrties, andv
in two worlds. Still we are all bound together in love.

168 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
That this love may become sanctified and perpetuated
on earth and in heaven, is the heart's desire and daily
prayer of, Your affectionate Mother.

ARTICLE X.
A Surgical Operation.
My Dear Daughter Mary:
I have hitherto forborne to write respecting the
surgical operation I experienced in September, from an
expectation that you would be with us so soon. That
is now given up ; so I proceed to give a circumstantial
account of those days of peculiar discipline. At the
end of the General Meeting in June your father return
ed to Kailua, leaving me at Honolulu, in Mr. Taylor's
family, under Dr. Ford's care. Dr. Hillebrand was
called in counsel. During, the latter part of August
they decided on the use of the knife. Mr. Thurston
was sent for to come down according to agreement
should such be the result. I requested him to bring cer
tain things which I wished, in case I no more returned
to Kailua. Tremendous gales of wind were now expe
rienced. One vessel was wrecked within sight of Kailua.
Another, on her way there, nearly foundered, and re
turned only to be condemned. In vain we looked for
another conveyance. Meantime, the tumor was rapidly
altering. It had nearly approached the surface, exhib
iting a dark spot. Should it become an open ulcer, the
whole system would become vitiated with its malignity.
Asa said he should take no responsibility of waiting the

1855 169
arrival of his father. Persis felt the same. Saturday
p. m., the doctors met in consultation, and advised an
immediate operation. The next Tuesday (12th of Sep
tember), ten o'clock a. m., was the hour fixed upon. In
classifying, the Dr. placed this among "capital opera
tions." Both doctors advised not to take chloroform be
cause of my having had the paralysis. I was glad they al
lowed me the use of my senses. Persis offered me her
parlor, and Asa his own new bridal room for the occa
sion. But I preferred the retirement and quietude of
the grass-thatched cottage. Thomas, with all his effects
moved out of it into a room a few steps off. The house
was thoroughly cleaned and prettily fitted up. One la
dy said it seemed as though it had been got up by
magic. Monday, just at night, Dr. Ford called to see
that all was in readiness. There were two lounges
trimmed, one with white, the other with rose-colored
mosquito netting. There was a reclining Chinese chair,
a table for the instruments, a wash-stand with wash
bowls, sponges, and pails of water. There was a frame
with two dozen towels, and a table of choice stimulants
and restoratives. One more table with the Bible and
hymn book.
That night I spent in the house alone for the first
time. The family had all retired for the night. In the
still hour of darkness, I long walked back and forth in
the capacious door-yard. Depraved, diseased, helpless,
I yielded myself up entirely to the will, the wisdom, and
the strength of the Holy One. At peace with myself,
with earth, and with heaven, I calmly laid my head up
on my pillow and slept refreshingly. A bright day
opened upon us. My feelings were natural, cheerful,
elevated. I took the Lord at his own word : "As the

170 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
day is, so shall thy strength be." There with an unwa
vering heart, I leaned for strength and support. Before
dressing for the occasion,! took care to call on Ellen,
who had then an infant a week old by her side. It was
a cheerful call, made in a common manner, she not being
acquainted with the movements of the day. I then
prepared myself for the professional call. Dr. Judd was
early on the ground. I went with him to Asa's room,
where with Asa and Sarah we sat and conversed till
other medical men rode up. Dr. Judd rose to go out.
I did the same. Asa said : " You had better not go.
you are not wanted yet." I replied: "I wish to be
among the first on the ground, to prevent its coming
butt end first." On reaching my room, Dr. Ford was
there. He introduced me to Dr. Hoffman of Honolulu,
and to Dr. Brayton of an American Naval ship, then in
port. The instruments were then laid out upon the table.
Strings were prepared for tying arteries. Needles
threaded for sewing up the wound. Adhesive plasters
were cut into strips, bandages produced, and the Chi
nese chair placed by them in the front double door.
Everything was now in readiness, save the arrival of one
physician. All stood around the house or in the piazza.
Dr. Ford, on whom devolved the responsibility, paced
the door-yard. I stood in the house with others, making
remarks on passing occurrences. At length I was invi
ted to sit. I replied : " As I shall be called to lie a
good while, I had rather now stand." Dr. Brayton, as
he afterwards said, to his utter astonishment found that
the lady to be operated on was standing in their midst.
Dr. Hillebrand arrived. It was a signal for action.
Persis and I stepped behind a curtain. I threw off my
cap and dressing gown, and appeared with a white flow-

1855. 171
ing skirt, with the white bordered shawl purchased in
1818, thrown over my shoulders. I took my seat in the
chair. Persis and Asa stood at my right side ; Persis
to hand me restoratives; Asa to use his strength, if self
control were wanting. Dr. Judd stood at my left elbow
for the same reason ; my shawl was thrown off, exhibiting
my left arm, breast and side, perfectly bare. Dr. Ford
showed me how I must . hold back my left arm to the
greatest possible extent, with my hand taking a firm
hold of the arm of my chair: with my right hand, I took
hold of the right arm, with my feet I pressed against the
foot of the chair. Thus instructed, and everything in
readiness, Dr. Ford looked me full in the face, and with
great firmness asked: "Have you made up your mind to
have it cut out?" "Yes, sir." "Are you ready now?"
"Yes, sir; but let me know when you begin, that I may
he able to bear it. "Have you your knife in that hand
now ?" He opened his hand that I might see it, saying,
"I am going to begin now." Then came a gash long
and deep, first on one side of my breast, then on the
other. Deep sickness seized me, and deprived me of my
breakfast. This was followed by extreme faintness.
My sufferings were no longer local. There was a gener
al feeling of agony throughout the whole system. I
felt, every inch of me, as though flesh was failing.
During the whole operation, I was enabled to have entire
self control over my person, and over my voice. Persis
and Asa were devotedly employed in sustaining me with
the use of cordials, ammonia, bathing my temples, &c. I
myself fully intended to have seen the thing done.
But on recollection, every glimpse I happened to have,
was the doctor's right hand completely covered with
blood, up to the very wrist. He afterwards told

1V2 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
me, that at one time the blood from an artery flew into
his eyes, so that he could not see. It was nearly an
hour and a half that I was beneath his hand, in cutting
out the entire breast, in cutting out the glands beneath
the arm, in tying the arteries, in absorbing the blood, in
sewing up the wound, in putting on the adhesive plas
ters, and in applying the bandage
The views and feelings of that hour are now vivid
to my recollection. It was during the cutting process
that I began to talk. The feeling that I had reached a
different point from those by whom I was surrounded,
inspired me with freedom. It was thus that I expressed
myself. "It has been a great trial to my feelings that
Mr. Thurston is not here. But it is not necessary. So
many friends, and Jesus Christ besides. His left hand
is underneath my head, his right hand sustains and em
braces me. I am willing to suffer. I am willing to die.
I am not afraid of death. I am not afraid of hell. I
anticipate a blessed immortality. Tell Mr. Thurston my
peace flows like a river. 'Upward I lift mine eyes.
From God is all my aid :
The God that built the skies ,
And earth and nature made,
God is the tower
To which I fly ;
His grace is nigh
In every hour
God disciplines me, but he does it with a gentle
hand. At one time I said, "I know you will bear with
me." Asa replied, "I think it is you that have to bear
from us."
The doctor, after removing the entire breast, said
to me, "I want to cut yet more, round under your arm."
I replied, "Do just what you want to do, only tell me
when, so that I can bear it." One said the wound had

1855 173
the appearance of being more than a foot long. Eleven
arteries were taken up. After a beginning had been
made in sewing it up, Persis said : "Mother, the doctor
makes as nice^a seam as you ever made in your life."
"Tell me, Persis, when he is going to put in the needle,
so that I can bear it." "Now — now — now," &c.
"Yes, tell me. That is a good girl." Ten stitches were
taken, two punctures at every stitch, one on either side.
When the whole work; was done, Dr. Ford and Asa re
moved my chair to the back side of the room, and laid
me on the lounge. Dr. Brayton came to my side, and
taking me by the hand said: "There is not one in a thous
and who would have borne it as you have done."
Up to this time, everything is fresh to my recollec
tion. Of that afternoon and night, I only remember
that the pain in the wound was intense and unremitting,
and that I felt willing to be just in the circumstances in
which I was placed. I am told that Dr. Ford visited
me onec in the afternoon, and once in the night, that
Persis and Asa took care of me, that it seemed as if I
suffered nearly as much as during the operation, and
that my wound was constantly wet with cold water. I
have since told Persis, that "I thought they kept me
well drugged with paregoric." He replied, "We did not
give you a drop." "Why then do I not remember what
took place ?" "Because you had so little life about you."
By morning light the pain had ceased. Surgeons would
understand the expression, that the wound healed by a
"union of the first intention."
The morning again brought to my mind a recollection
of events. I was lying on my lounge, feeble and help
less. I opened my eyes and saw the light of day. Asa
was crossing the room bearing a Bible before him. He

174 Life of Lucy G. Tliurston.
sat down near my couch, read a portion, and then prayed.
For several days, I had long sinking turns of several
hours. Thursday night, the third of suffering, Thomas rode
nearly two miles to the village for the Dr., once in the fore
part of the evening, again at eleven. At both times he
came. At two o'clock he unexpectedly made his third
call that night. It was at his second call that he said to
Persis: "In the morning make your mother some chicken
soup. She has starved long enough." (They had been
afraid of fever.) Persis immediately aroused Thomas, had a
chicken caught, a fire made, and a soup under way that
same midnight hour. The next day, Friday, I was
somewhat revived by the use of wine and soup. In
the afternoon, your father arrived. It was the first time
since the operation, that I felt as if I had life enough
to endure the emotion of seeing him. He left Kailua
the same day the operation was performed. A vessel
was passing in sight of Kailua. He rowed out in a
canoe and was received on board. Hitherto, Persis, Asa
and Thomas, had been my only nurses both by day and
by night. The doctor gave direction that no one enter
the room, but those that took care of me.
For weeks my debility was so great, that I was fed
with a teaspoon, like an infant. Many dangers were ap
prehended. During one day, I saw a duplicate of every
person and every thing that my eye beheld. Thus it
was, sixteen years before, when I had the paralysis.
Three weeks after the operation, your father for the
first time, very slowly raised me to the angle of 45 de
grees. It seemed as if it would have taken away my
sense. "It was about this time that I perceptibly im
proved from day to day, so much so, that in four weeks
from my confinement, I was lifted into a carriage. Then

1855. 175
I rode with your father almost every day. As he was
away from his field of labor, and without any family re
sponsibilities, he was entirely devoted to me. It was of
great importance to me, that he was at liberty and in
readiness ever to read simple interesting matter to me,
to enliven and to cheer, so that time never passed heavi
ly. After remaining with me six weeks, he returned
to Kailua, leaving me with the physician and with our
children. In a few weeks, Mother, Mr. Taylor, Persis, Thom
as, Lucy, Mary, and George bade farewell to Asa and
Sarah, and to little Robert their black-eyed baby boy.
Together we passed over the rough channels up to the
old homestead. Then, your father instead of eating his
solitary meals, had his family board enlarged for the ac
commodation of three generations.
And here is again your mother, engaged in life's
duties, and life's warfare. Fare thee well. Be one with
us in knowledge, sympathy, and love, though we see
thee not, and when sickness prostrates, we feel not thy
hand upon our brow. Your loving Mother.

ARTICLE XI.
Death of Asa G. Thurston.
AsaG. Thurston, our oldest son, leaving his wife
and children on Hawaii, went to Honolula, accompanied
by his mother, to consult a physician in regard to a tu
mor on his breast, which had caused excruciating pain
for many months. He lived only a few days, dying

176 Life of -Lucy 67. Thurston.
suddenly of what the physician pronounced to be aneur
ism of the great aorta.

Honolulu, Dec. 20, 1859.
My dear Husband and Daughter :
My mission here is accomplished and I am ready to
return to my lonely husband. My trunks are in the
basement, packed ready for starting. In a pleasant bed
room stand Asa's trunk and saddlebags. His boots, his
hat, his all, all are laid aside. His earthly house too, is
taken down, and treasured in a sacred spot. Mortality
has been swallowed up of life. Together we walked a
peaceful pathway, leading to an open grave. But it lay
through green pastures, and beside still waters. For a
week and a half before he left us, his soul entered into
rest respecting his wife and children. With full confi
dence he could trust them, as he had long been able to
trust himself, to a covenant-keeping God. After that I
saw no more tears.
At the funeral service, Rev. Mr. Corwin, a former
. classmate, returned thanks for the example of one who
had come into this community to teach us how to die.
Men of the world said they would give all they possess
ed could they thus attain the serenity of soul with
which Asa Thurston lived in hourly expectation of sud
den death. Renewedly yours,
Lucy G. Thurston.

1859 177
Letter addressed by Asa to his parents, written at
intervals, in great weakness, from the 6th to the 12th of
December. He died on the 17th: —
My dear Father and Mother :
Standing as I am on the borders of the eternal world,
still an inhabitant of earth, yet in daily, yes, hourly ex
pectation of the summons that will call me hence, I
would commend to your parental care and kindness the
wife and babes I leave behind, still to toil on in this
world of care and suffering. Father ! Mother ! they are
your children, the loved ones of your son. Let them fill
in your affections the place / have filled, and share in the
benefactions as / should share. If want and distress
should overtake them, may 1 not ask a home for them
beneath your roof -tree ? It is pleasant to me to think
of my sons growing up under the same home influences,
amid the same scenes, and under the same holy teaching
as those in which my own infant years were passed, and
through the force* of which, after long years of wander
ing, I was at last brought back, as the returning prodi
gal, to acknowledge for my God, my Saviour, Him to
whom, beneath that roof, my infant lips had learned to
lift the voice of prayer and praise.
Cherish them, dear parents, as you have ever cher
ished their father. Let my Sarah ever be to you as a
daughter beloved. Through six years of wedded life,
in sickness and in health, in adversity and in the full
tide of prosperity, she has to me fully realized the antici
pations and wishes, the hopes and desires of our joyous
and happy courtship. She is eminently worthy of your
love, none even of your own well loved daughters more
so. A virtuous woman, her value is "far above rubies."

178 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
I am satisfied to leave them all in the hands of a
prayer-hearing God. The assurance that they will be
provided for, robs death of its sting, and leaves me joy
fully to meet the summons that is to call me hence.
And now, dear parents, farewell for a brief season,
until we meet again in those mansions of bliss, where
pain and sorrow are unknown, where with the innumer
able company of angels and justified spirits, we shall
ever dwell in the presence of Him with whom is fulness
of joy. amid those holy pleasures which shall be forev
er more. Your dying son,
Asa.

ARTICLE XII.
Death of two Grand Children.
(My daughter Mary, a widow, had just returned
from Illinois to Honolulu, with her three little children,
to find a home in her father's house, and to minister to
her parents in their declining years. Our son Thomas,
having finished his theological course in New York, re
turned with her.)
Honolulu, May 29, 1866.
My dear Children in California :
I take up my pen to speak to you of the departed,
and will first- mention Ed. He reached us on the Sab
bath. Thursday eve he had an attack of croup. When
the doctor came Saturday morning, he immediately and
freely gave his views. There was no hope of his life.
It would terminate in a few hours. The mother unin..
terruptedly ministered to her dying child, "You are

1866 179
going up into the sky, to the Happy Land, where papa
is and where God is." By repeatedly shaking his head,
he expressed strong aversion, and said, "Wait till Moth
er goes." His mother told him decidedly that she could
not go now ; she could not go till God called her. The
23rd Psalm was read. Your father prayed. Then his
son. Save the soul of the child. Give us submission.
We felt that both petitions were answered. A holy
calm pervaded the room. Ed looked up to his mother
and asked : "Is Ed going up into the sky ?" "She re
plied, "Yes," and inquired, "Do you want to go ?"
With a pleased countenance, he repeatedly nodded as
sent so sweetly, so fully ; afterwards he uttered with
difficulty, "Come and get Ed." With a satisfied air
he then turned over, laying his little hand beneath
his cheek. In fifteen minutes he had ceased to breathe.
We had approached very near to the Saviour ; we had,
as it were, laid our precious child lovingly and trusting
ly into his own blessed arms, to be borne away from
our sight. He showed his acceptance of the gift, by
giving us light and love, consolation and strength.
In the forenoon a friend rode up to the door and
inquired, "Are you all well here?"
"All are well. Yet death has entered our doors."
"Ah ! has the old gentleman gone ?"
"Walk into the parlor and see what has befallen us.
Not the aged with grey hairs has been selected, but the
child of five years."
The funeral was attended the next day, Sabbath,
just one week from the day of their arrival. The first
line of the piece sung was, "There is a reaper whose
name is Death." Little Mary went with us to the ceme-

180 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
tery. She enjoyed the ride, and was interested in the
scene at the grave.
That evening, our son Thomas, lately arrived from
New York, preached in Fort Street Church. His first
hymn : "And let this feeble body fail." Connected with
the events of the day, and the manner in which it was
read, it was very impressive. His text: "And Jesus
himself began to be about thirty years of age." In
three hours from the time that we stood by the first
opened grave of a grandchild, we were listening for the
first time to the preaching of a son, for whom we had
been laboring thirty years. A son ! qualified for the
gospel ministry. It is enough. A grandchild ! gone
to be where Jesus is, that he may behold his glory.
Amen. Little Mary, at the interesting age of first prattling
infancy, lived and moved among us five weeks. How
happy she was in independently ranging the yard in the
open air ! How delighted in visiting the young brood
of yellow chickens ! How unsuccessful in trying to turn
round and sit down on a moving tortoise ! How satisfied
and calm in planting herself by the side of her brother,
on the lap of our mother earth !
She was attacked with a hoarse, hard breathing,
which in four days resulted in death. When we un
mistakably read the call, — "Mary, come up hither," — in
the fulness of our hearts we responded : "Go, Mary, to
thy Savior." Ed was the only one in the land of
spirits that she knew on earth. In one short month, as
we count time, I think he was matured, and commission
ed to come a ministering spirit to his little sister, strug
gling in the swellings of Jordan. Such is the love of a.

1866. ' 181
good shepherd to a tender lamb, — such the consolation
given to our stricken hearts under bereavement. Mary's
hands and feet were cold as death. She was leaning
against her mother, sitting in an erect position. "Co,
co, co," (cold), she many times repeated, and nestled
still nearer to her mother. Suddenly her languid eyes
became animated and lustrous. She looked attentively
as toward some object. Her mother asked: "What is
she looking at ?" and turned around her head to see.
Little Mary spoke: "Oh! Ed! Ed! Ed!" till the sound of
her voice died away with her failing breath.
The funeral was at four the next afternoon. Pre
viously little Mary rode with us in the carriage to the
grave. She still rode with us, but in her coffin. How
much more soothing than to place a loved one alone up
on the black hearse!
In the midst of our crushed hopes, I do not forget
the great mercy which saved them from the dangers of
their long journey. I am thankful that we were per
mitted to see the faces of our grandchildren, and to
hold communion with them for a little season. How
kind the arrangement, that they were permitted to die
in the bosom of our own family, and find a peaceful rest
in our own sepulchre! I rejoice that in the counsels of
heaven, our own child was chosen to give being, and to
watch over the earth-life of two' immortal beings, lent
treasures, to be transplanted, at the Master's will, to a
higher life. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is
within me, bless his holy name. Your loving Mother.
Lucy G. Thurston.

ARTICLE Xin.
Last Days of Father Thurston.
Honolulu, Dec. 8th, 1867.
My dear Daughter Persis :
MANY times of late we have thought your fath
er's days were about to be numbered. First, by
an attack of paralysis (his third attack,) affecting speech
and intellect. This was followed from day to day with
spasms of pain at the heart, sudden, short, severe. He
had hardly rallied, when a gash from an axe on his right
foot, cutting off three toes, kept him on his back more
than three months. I now know that I have been pre
served to be his nurse in old age. I never forget that he
may be cut off any day ; but he may be continued for
years. The grass to us looks green, the flowers beauti
ful. They speak of a better land ever blooming.
January 25th, 1868.
Three weeks ago to-day, your father first complain
ed of headache, so very unusual a symptom, that it seem
ed to us very threatening. The second week, in addition
to pain, he saw shining, glimmering appearances lowered
from the upper ceiling, and drawn up again. The third
week he suddenly became utterly unable to find the
way aright from one room to another. Neither can he
at any time tell what room he is in. The appearances
he witnesses in space seem sometimes to overwhelm
182

18C8. 183
him. He sees crowds of men. He points and exclaims:
"Ke aupuni, Ke aupuni" — the Kingdom, the Kingdom.
He is completely enveloped in a cloud of bewilderment.
Of his whole family affairs, explained to him, he says
decisively, "I don't know anything about them."
March 23, 1868.
My dear Cliildren and Grandchildren :
I write to tell you that your father Thurston, your
grandfather Thurston has entered into rest. He died
March 11th, aged eighty years and five months. We
had lived together forty-eight years and five months.
His reason was at times dethroned during his illness of
nine weeks. He forgot almost everything, even his own
wife and children. But in the midst of all, with unvary
ing constancy, he ever shewed his love for prayer. The
last two days of his life he did not speak. Tuesday was
a day of extreme restlessness. It was almost as much
as one could do to adjust his bed-clothes, so weak that
he was quite unable to turn himself. At evening he lay
composed. Two o'clock came. He never moved after.
His laborious breathing, his convulsive movements, his
clammy sweat, told me that the last sands of his life
were falling. That whole night I lay on the back side
of the bed, unable to sit up from extreme prostration.
Once he turned his head, fixed his eyes fully upon me,
but could not utter a syllable. The morning dawned.
A sudden change took place. Its language was, "Be
hold the Bridegroom cometh." All our household came
at once around the bed to wnfch the ebbing away of
life. I took hold of his arm with one hand, and placed
the other upon his forehead. His serene eyes were fixed

184 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
upon mine I repeated the most appropriate hymns I
know of in our language. "Rock of Ages, cleft for me,"
and "Jesus, Savior of my soul."
His convulsions had ceased. His hard respirations
had gradually ended. His breathings were shorter and
shorter, softer and softer, till they became gentle as
those of infancy. Then he calmly closed his eyes, and
gave up the ghost. It was eight o'clock.
The strongest tie that bound me down to earth was
then severed. Standing by his cold remains, how vivid
ly were brought to mind his words, spoken beneath a
father's roof, "You shall have my care and love, till these
hands and this heart are cold"! Now I am written a
widow, having the promise that God will be my husband.
I adore that power and love which formed and
watched over our companionship for more than forty-
eight years, and for the great privilege allowed me of
smoothing his rough pathway through life, even down
to the river's brink. May his fallen mantle rest on me,
on our children, on our children's children, on every in
dividual of our posterity, down to the latest generation.
From your bereaved Mother.
Lucy G. Thurston.

ARTICLE XIV.
From the American Church Missionary Register, New York, October, 1868.
A CYPRESS BOUGH  BY REV. F. S. RISING.
ON the 11th day of March, 1868, in the city of Hon
olulu, the Rev. Asa Thurston fell asleep. He
closed his eyes upon the bright sunlight of his dear Ha
waii nei, and the celestial glory burst upon his sight.
He laid aside the staff of his old age and grasped the
unfading crown and the palm of victory. He ceased
from his life of unintermitted missionary labor, and
went hence to serve his Lord day and night in the heav
enly temple. Near his earthly home the ever-surging
Pacific, emblem of eternity, beat upon the shifting
sands. Now he listens to the dash of the endless ages
at the feet of the Ancient of Days. He walks no longer
under the fierce heat of the tropical sun, but in the
genial warmth and blessed light of the Sun of Right
eousness. As he is parted from our gaze, we would,
with hearty affection, write this memorial of him as one
who glorified his divine Savior, and in whom the grace
of God was magnified.
He sailed out of Boston harbor in the brig TJiaddeus
in October, 1819. His face was set toward the Sand
wich Islands. - The Duffha,d carried the Gospel light to
the Society group in the South Pacific; but in the north 185

186 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
deep darkness brooded. Out of it rose the death-cry of
Cook. Imagination easily sketched the horrors of a land
where a savage club laid low the English navigator. A
Hawaiian lad, brought by a sea-captain to New Haven,
told the idolatry of his countrymen, and besought some
to hasten thither with the good news of God. Hiram
Bingham, Asa Thurston, and five laymen, with their
wives, heard this boy's touching appeal, and in answer
girded themselves for their grand venture of faith. For
eign missions were not then popular. The chilly Octo
ber day, when the sails of the Thaddeus were unfurled,
typified the coldness of the Christian heart toward the
heathen world. But these pioneers were born heroes.
Thurston, by his physical strength and courage, had
won, years before, at Yale college, the much prized staff
of "bully." With a moral courage and strength more
sublime, he and his companions kissed their brides, and
led them from the hymeneal altar to dwell in mid-ocean
amid savage islanders. Our hearts beat quick as we re
call the heroism of those young men and women putting
America behind them to win a nation for Christ. The
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
sent them out. For the results of their work the Lord
be praised! It was Thurston's lot to labor at Kailua, on the island
of Hawaii. What a parish for a novice to handle! It was
a filthy village of thatched huts, built upon beds of in
durated lava, on which the fervent sun poured his fur
nace heat every day in every year. It nestled amid a
grove of cocoanut trees, and reached down to the shore,
whither came rolling in the white-crested billows. Be
hind it rose the lofty volcanic peak of Hualalai. Stand-

1868. 187
ing at its base one could trace the perennial green of
the forests reaching nigh unto the summit, deeply
scored with hideous black tracks of lava reaching unto
the sea. The luxuriant foliage hid from distant view gaping
fissures, thirty-nine extinct craters, the grim ruins of
the temple of Umi, and other tokens of wild desolation.
Further down the coast rose the loftier peaks of Mauna
Loa and Mauna Kea, 13,000 feet high, snow-capped,
fierce fires raging within, and now and then breaking
out with quakings, roarings, mighty rushings, and ter
rific hissings, as the lava threw itself red-hot into the
sea. Very solemn to dwell in such a land with these
volcanoes ever in sight!
Then Kailua was, at the time of Thurston's land
ing, the residence of the king. He was a profligate, and
the royal city was the fountain of the kingdom's pollu
tion. Here the tabu had been broken and the idols de
stroyed, that there might be no check to iniquity. The
ruins of heathen temples were everywhere about, heart-
sickening to behold, and heathen vices were enthroned
in every hut and stalked abroad in every village. Men,
women and children were like the volcanoes. Raging
fires of wickedness within broke out ever in desolating
flows. In a thatched hut in the midst of this physical
desolateness and moral degradation, Thurston and his
wife found their earliest Hawaiian home. Amid such
scenes their first-born came to them. Here the Gospel
was first preached for the regeneration of Hawaii nei
and the salvation of may thousand souls.
When nearly half a century had passed, partial
paralysis compelled the heroic Thurston to rest from

188 Life of Lucy 67. Thurstou.
his toil, He was no longer young. His locks were
gray, and grand children made more happy his home.
During this long period he did not once leave the Is
lands. Others came and went, but he remained the
tireless evangelist. Tropical heat did not abate his
vigor. Long journeys on foot over lava tracts did not
exhaust his strength. The hardness and wickedness of
the heathen heart did not discourage him. Preaching
in season and out of season did not weary him. The
love of Christ constrained him, and he did not pause in
his labor until his body cried out, "It is enough."
During these fifty years he bore an active part in
all the remarkable changes which God wrought among
the Hawaiians. The king and the common people alike
felt his influence. His huge church-building within a
stone's throw of the royal residence attested this. When
the capital was removed to Honolulu, he did not follow
the king, but the common people still heard him gladly.
We can imagine the grateful joy of his soul as, year by
year, he saw the heathen people become Christian and
the absolute despotism changed into a constitutional
monarchy. It was our privilege to spend a few days under his
hospitable roof after paralysis had disabled him. We
cannot soon forget his venerable form, crowned with
flowing silver locks, his gentle, modest spirit, his earnest
ness of soul, his simple faith, his calm expectation of the
future. The king might well bow before him, and the
young do him reverence, as one of the fathers of the
kingdom. When he landed, Kamehameha II. was a half-
clad savage, dwelling in a filthy hut, rioting in degrada
tion. When he went hence, Kamehameha V. resided in

1868. 189
a stone palace within sound of the church-going bell,
with every appliance of modern civilization and Chris
tianity about him. Let unbelieving and half-hearted
men sneer at Foreign Missions, if they will. One life
like that of Asa Thurston, so sublime, so self-sacrificing,
so successful, far outshines any diamond that they can
bring from their mines.
After paralysis came upon him, he went to Califor
nia in quest of health. There, though nearly eighty
years of age, he first saw a railroad and telegraph. The
world had been busy with its inventions while he was
absorbed in his chosen work. When he returned to
Honolulu, to await the Lord's summons, he must have
mused upon the superior facility for missionary work
which the Lord gives in our day.
Young men, ponder the life of Asa Thurston. Em
ulate his faith and zeal. Unnumbered millions call to
you for the bread of life. The Gospel is in your hands
as a power. Go forth and wield it in the midst of the
nations. We may be pardoned one word of reference to Asa
Thurston's widow. She shared his trials, went with him
in his long missionary tours on foot, and equaled him in
heroism. She taught the Hawaiian men to love their
wives and their Savior; the Hawaiian women to fear
God and honor their husbands; the Hawaiian children
to obey the Lord and their parents. So she carried into
the huts of that dark land those blessed words — Love,
Virtue, Home, Jesus, Heaven. Many an Hawaiian
household to-day blesses God for the gifts sent by her.
She now awaits her Lord's call, and we may have ven
tured upon her retirement that we may appeal to moth-

190 Life of Lucy 67. Thurstou.
ers, wives and sisters to show forth such missionary
spirit as hers. Christian women! do not keep back your
husbands, brothers and sons. Do not stay at home
yonrselves. Make speed to fill the world with the glory
of Emmanuel.

ARTICLE XV.

FUNERAL ADDRESS,
DELIVERED MARCH 12TH, 1868, BY REV. ELI CORWIN, ON
THE OCCASION OF THE DEATH OF REV. ASA THURSTON,
ONE OF THE AMERICAN PIONEER MISSIONARIES TO THE
HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
" The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of right
eousness."— Pbov. xvi: 31,
~^T~0 ordinary event is that which calls us together in
-*- ^ solemn assembly to-day. Two races unite to pay
a grateful tribute of respect to the departed patriarch of
a mission which has been the best gift of the one race
to the other. Forty-eight years ago this very month, on
the 31st of March, 1820, the deceased reached the shores
of Hawaii with the pioneer missionaries sent out by the
American Board to evangelize these then benighted and
barbarous islands. This day of his burial is just one
month less than forty-eight years from the day when he
and the still surviving companion of his earthly pilgrim
age (who has cared for him so tenderly during the closing
years of his life) were stationed at Kailua, the ancient

1868. 191
residence of the Hawaiian kings. And there, for more
than forty years, he continued to reside and to labor as
the honored pastor of a large and very important parish.
The instructor, for a time, of both Kamehameha II.
and Kamehameha III., his influence upon the conduct
and disposition, especially of the latter, must have been
very great, at a period in Hawaiian history when it was
most important to secure the good will of those highest
in authority, and when the word of the king was law
and his will was absolute. But, as is ever the case with
the faithful minister, his influence was greatest and his
usefulness most apparent among the masses of the com
mon people. Never once leaving the Islands for forty
years, he was honored of natives and foreigners alike as
"a faithful, patient, persistent worker, steadfast, and
abiding in one stay far beyond the ordinary duration of
missionary life. Indeed I know not that in the entire
history of missions a like instance is recorded of one re
maining so long upon the field and at a single post,
during the life-time of a whole generation, without re
visiting the home of his childhood or visiting any other
land. Only when advancing age and repeated strokes
of paralysis had rendered him incapable of service; on
ly when his strong hand lost its cunning and hio tongue
had begun to give a doubtful utterance, did he consent
to resign his pastorate at Kailua that he might spend the
closing years of his life in this city.
Here how beautiful the evening time of his life!
What a privilege to us and to our children to have be
fore us that venerable form and that benignant counte
nance, a perfect pisture of the patriarchs and prophets
of olden times not soon effaced from the memory! In-

192 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
fancy with its budding beauty and its fragrance of a
new life is lovely in its gentleness and innocence. Youth
with its vigor of ripening ambitions and maturing pow
ers is interesting indeed; but no sight on earth is more
impressive than a beautiful old age.
In his case the outward appearance was but the
truthful expression of the inward life; a calm and un
disturbed repose of faith; a rest in Jesus which knew
no solicitude; a sublime quietude of soul which felt no
fear. The hoary head is indeed a crown of glory, if it
be found in the way of righteousness. But he died not
of old age. With marvelous physical powers, perhaps
unsurpassed in his day by those of any other resident
upon these Islands, whether native or foreigner, he might
but for the attacks of disease, have survived a century.
The brain and nervous system were first to give way, be
fore his hearing was impaired, his eye became dim, or
his natural force abated. That well compacted and well
proportioned frame seemed too strong to be torn down
even when the mind had ceased to maintain a logical
succession of thoughts, and his conversation, a strange
mixture of Hawaiian, English and Latin, had for the
most part ceased to be coherent.
Those of us who were permitted to visit him near
the close of life connot soon forget those more lucid in
tervals when for a little the soul reasserted its power
over the tongne, and with indescribable pathos and earn
estness he exclaimed, "My love for Jesus is very great."
Nor can I soon forget that responsive smile with which
he gave assent to what was said of the preciousness of
Christ to the believer's soul, when his tongue could no

1868. 193
longer give utterance to his thoughts, and his eyes were
already glassy with the film of death.
Governed by principles, and not by impulse, in his
habits of devotion, he persisted in leading at family
prayers as a priest in his own household, till he could no
longer frame sentences correctly; and after that to the
last day of his life, nothing made him more restless and
uneasy than the omission of the regular family devotions
at the appointed hour, nor did anything soothe and com
fort him so much as prayer.
Though remarkably taciturn all through life, yet he
was hardly less remarkable for a quiet humor which was
kept in subjection to his Christian dignity, while it did
much to make him agreeable in social life, and to make
him buoyant in spirit under all the trials of missionary
labor. And this cheerful temper and Christian mirth-
fulness characterized him to the last. No pleasantry
was lost upon him even when his memory of the past be
came a blank, and he could not recognize his family or
his friends. His peculiarly rich and well trained voice, even
when age had somewhat shattered it, gave forth at times
such tones as made it a feast of melody to my ear to
have him seated for years close at my right hand in the
sanctuary. Neither the choir nor the congregation were '
ever disturbed by his singing out of time or out of tune,
while the general effect of congregational singing was
greatly improved by that remarkable voice of manly
power, yet of womanly sweetness, to which we shall lis
ten, in the service of song, nevermore. Alas, one more
praying voice is silenced, one more loving heart is cold,

194 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
one more tongue so eloquent in praise is still! But
though the organs of utterance fail to communicate his
thoughts and feelings to mortal ears, who can tell the
higher blessedness of that intimate communion he holds
with Him who planted the ear and who knows our
thoughts before we utter them? That powerful frame,
that manly form, is shut up within the narrow house of
Death, but his freed spirit is not holden of his dominion.
The weary body rests, but the soul has entered upon a,
career of higher and holier activity. That hoary head
shall soon be a buried crown; but how far are its beauty
and excellence transcended by that crown of glory which
he wears who already reigns wtth Christ, consecrated a
king and a priest unto God. And there are stars in that
crown. How many already garnered in glory, while
ascribing all the honor to Christ, the sin atoning Lamb,
have occasion to welcome him with peculiar joy as, un
der Christ, the faithful shepherd and bishop of their
souls. What a debt of gratitude does the vast congrega
tion worshiping in this sanctuary owe to the God of all
grace for the services of the departed! Their beloved
pastor, whose absence to-day is so much regretted, could
speak eloquently to his people of his personal indebted
ness to him whom he greatly honored and tenderly loved
as a spiritnal father. For it was to the blessing of God
upon a sermon preached by Father Thurston that he
ascribed that personal interest in religion which resulted
in his conversion. So in the life of the deceased repro
duced not only in the missionary life of his own son la
boring upon another island of this group, nor yet alone
in the lives of many natives still living who mourn for
him as for a father, but with redoubled power and ener-

1868. 195
gy is it reproduced in the ministry of him who now oc
cupies a central position of influence as pastor of the
great congregation accustomed to worship here.
The materials are wanting for a complete record of
the life of the deceased, but his record is on high. And
what a life as it is recorded there, and as God and angels
contemplate it! What a life of honor and usefulness as
even we are permitted to see it! What an encourage
ment to the pioneers of Christian missions who go forth
to the waste places of the earth to plant the standard of
the cross among the barbarous tribes, the thought that
they too may be permitted to witness the fruit of then-
toil in a renovated nation, in a converted people, in a
heathen tribe liberated and lifted up by the power of the
gospel! What a life devoted to the temporal and eter
nal well-being of thousands upon thousands who have
lived and died under his honored ministry ! What a life?
compassing in its span the entire history of Christian
civilization in these islands of the sea!
Yet what is this to that unending life of glory and
blessedness upon which he has entered? The days of the
years of his pilgrimage have been four score years; but
that heavenly life is measured by larger cycles, and its
successive periods shall be made more and more illus
trious by yet higher joys and more distinguished services.
Heaven is not mere reception of knowledge and absorp
tion of bliss; it is holiness in action. There is fulness of
joy, because perfection of love. There are pleasures
forevermore, because spiritual employments in which the
soul can never grow weary. With renewed zeal and un
tiring patience let us labor, that we too may see the fruit
of our toil, and win at least the welcome plaudit, "Well
done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy
of thy Lord."

ARTICLE XVI.
To EeT. Mr. Bissell, Pastor of Fort Street Church, and to the members of Fort
Street Church.
Honolulu, Sept. 29th, 1869.
IN 1819 a church of seventeen members was formed
in Park Street Church, Boston, prominently by Rev.
Dr. Worcester, first secretary to the A. B. C. F. M.
That church was organized to be transplated to the then
far off, unlettered, and heathen islands of "Owhyhee.''
I was one of the members of that church. Mr. Thurs
ton was one of its pastors. Thus it was that he became
my pastor; I dwelt beneath his shadow, lived in his
strength, experienced his watch and care and priestly
offices, during a pilgrimage of forty-eight years. Then,
from my heart went up the wail, " My father, my father,
the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof."
The last original pastor of that transplanted church,
known by the name of the " Old Mission Church," had
now passed away. After that event, at the first celebra
tion of the Lord's Supper in this church, I awoke to the
consciousness that I stood alone. To me there was now
no head, no nucleus, no inclosure. For months my heart
has yearned to be in the bosom of a church of Christ,
and to renew covenant relation with his people.
All unworthy as I am, will you receive me into this
fold — that I may thereby gain consolation and strength,
the intimacy of fellowship and love, and be found, even
unto the end, walking in all the commandments and or
dinances of the Lord blameless?
Lucy G. Thurston.
196

PART THIRD.

HAWAIIAN JUBILEE  REMINISCENCES FOR THE OCCASION.
1870.
ARTICLE I.
Extracts from letters, explaining the Origin of these Articles, etc.
I HAVE been writing reminiscences of life fifty years
ago. A vote of the Hawaiian Board last year invit
ed the pioneers to the work. So far as I was concerned,
I heard of it, with perfect indifference. Mr. Bingham,
who had been several years in America, was invited, and
expected to come out, and would be all sufficient, but he
died. Here was Mrs. Whitney and myself. She was
suffering and very weak. One of the leaders of the Mis
sion came to me.
"Can you write a little without injury to yourself ?
Describe the day you came on shore."
•'That was too barren of incident to be interesting.
There should be a wider view taken."
"Well, just as you please : do it your own way."
I took my pen reluctantly. It was hard work to
make a beginning. When I did begin, it was to de
scribe events two years after being here. Gradually I
came into the work, with my whole heart, of reviewing
and describing those early days. I then wrote to the
Members of the Hawaiian Board.
197

198 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
Fathers. — I speak as unto wise men ; judge ye wbat
I say. I have taken for my motto, "She hath done what
she could." By spending months oblivious of 1870, by
deep and long silence, solitude, and contemplation, to
gether with the aid of old journals, I have written two
documents. .
The first embraces Hawaiian and New England
scenes, as taking place simultaneously ; tie position and
prospects of the Missionaries during a voyage of more
than five months ; the first appearance of a heathen na
tion ; their incipient approaches to better things, and
the comforts and struggles of pioneer mirsionary life.
The second contains anecdotes, sketches or tales, il
lustrative of social life, of native and foreign character,
as exhibited some fifty years ago and thereabouts.
Over this review of past scenes in my deep se
clusion, many tears have been shed by eyes that have
been trained not to weep. Then I have exercised entire
self-control while I read my sketches for criticism.
In passing I would say, I have no manuscript to put
into the hands of the future secretary at the meeting of
the Evangelical Society, to be read by him, and then
pass into its archives.
Forgive me; but these two documents are twin sis
ters, children of my old age, and I consider them ex
clusively my own. Yet I am ready to say, "He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear." Will not that suffice ?
After being shut up to my own aspirations, a knowl
edge that they met the favors of my sons and daughters,
did my whole being good, even though nothing should
come of it.
In order to action, I await your approval in the Ian-

1870. 199
guage of the one who induced me to write these remin
iscences, "Just as you please. Do it your own way."
Respectfully submitted to the consideration of the
Hawaiian Board.
Lucy G. Thurston.
[Hitherto it had not been encouraged to have wo
man's voice heard in a promiscuous meeting. But when
the Hawaiian Board was asked permission for me to give
a public reading, every liberty was respectfully granted.
A part of these manuscripts written in 1870, were
not publicly read. Some that were read, I have arrang
ed in their historical order in another part of the book.]
ARTICLE II.
Notice of First Public Reading.
HAVING been sustained and blessed in this the land
of her adoption for fifty years, and being still allow
ed to measure off days and nights, fringed with light and
peace, MRS. THURSTON,
As a Tribute of Thanksgiving,
proposes to give a Public Reading of Reminiscences of
Fifty Years ago and thereabouts.
All, who dwell on the soil and breathe the air of Ha
waii, understanding the English language, are embrac
ed in her sympathies, and are affectionately invited to
come within the sound of her voice, on this the occasion
of our Nation's Jubilee.
The Reading will take place Monday P. M., 7£
•o'clock, June 13, at Fort St. Church.

ARTICLE IIL
Preamble-
OUR eyes were turned on Mr. Bingham,who, in 1820,
was one of the pioneer missionaries to this nation.
He was invited to come out from the Eastern States, and
would have become a pioneer mouthpiece at this semi
centennial meeting. But the Master said, "Come 'up
hither." The fact then stood before me, there is no man here
to remember, and repeat the A B C of the mission.
Yielding to official advice, so tenderly urged, I most
reluctantly addressed myself to the work of sketching
scenes of. the past to spread before the present genera
tion. With the aid of old journals I was enabled to look
through the long vista of fifty years. I went back, hack,
 back to Old Time, and there alone long tarried.
When I returned, it was with the strong desire of speak
ing to my familiar and sympathizing friends, to those
who dwell on the same soil upon which I labored with
those, who in troublous times, laid the foundations of
generations. I have not here many brothers and sisters. All be
low fifty-five, I consider my children.
I come, then, in the character of a mother, address
ing my children, speaking to them of by-gone days.

200

ARTICLE IV.
The National Mourning for Kamehameha, and the Distinguished and
Honored Foreign Resident.
THE morning after the death of Kamehameha I, their
usual national mourning, for the death of a great
chief, commenced. They went upon the idea that their
grief was so great, that they knew not what they did.
They were let thoroughly loose, without law or restraint,
and so gave themselves up to every evil, that they acted
more like demons incarnate, than like human beings.
Without any shield, rank and sex were upon a level with
the meanest and most outrageous of the populace. Their
grass-thatched cottages were left empty; their last ves
tige of clothing thrown aside ; and such scenes of whole
sale and frantic excesses exhibited in the open face of
day, as would make darkness pale. A tornado swept
over the nation, making it drunk with abominations.
These then dark outskirts of creation were left, in that
one particular, to work out and reach the highest heights,
and the deepest depths of heathenism that earth has ever
seen. It was among their more decent and innocent
extravagances, that they burned their faces with fire, in
large, permanent, semi-circular figures, and with stones
knocked out their front teeth.
There was at that time, a foreign resident, who had
dwelt some thirty years at the Islands. He had a family
of children, all of them in the bloom of youth. One of
them incidentally remarked, that, as a thing of course,
they should attend that public mourning for Kamehame
ha. The father immediately replied: "If my children do
attend, they will never again cross the threshhold of my
201

202 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
house." So he nailed up every avenue to his dwelling,
and sat with his native wife and five children, without
the light of the sun during those days of riot.
He had all along been a rare example in that degen
erate age, of building a hedge about his family, and
standing in the gap thereof. When occasion offered, he
spoke with energy and decision, giving a certain sound
well understood by his children and by strangers.
By marriage, by deeds and by counsel, he had justly
risen to the eminence of becoming a peer with the first
chiefs of the nation. Saxon blood flowed in his veins.
He was Mr. Young, the noble grandfather of our most
noble Queen Emma.

ARTICLE V.
Infanticide.
SOMETIME near the year 1800, an infant daughter
was born into the Hawaiian nation. It had no sooner
crossed the threshhold of life, than its own mother
adopted the heathen practice which filled the land, of
hastening to lay it in a pit-hole and concealing it from
the light of day.
After passing through the scenes of birth and burial,
the heathen mother sat down to rest. Soon a friend
came along, who deeply regretted that the child had
been burried, as she would have become its nurse, and
she hastened to ascertain the true state of things. In
uncovering the loosely made deposit, she came to a large
piece of lava so suspended at both ends as to prevent
its coming down with crushing weight on the body.

1870. 203
¦Quickly removing it, the little thing appeared on its
knees and arms. And the babe wept. Her arms gave
a welcome to the forlorn stranger. She took it to her
home, and reared it with love to a mature childhood,
then returned it to its mother. In the meantime, the
child had learned the history of its dawning life. So
When her mother requested her to do a thing she had a
quick reply, "At my birth you had no love for me ; I
will not obey you."
She lived to become an idolater, and to feel the iron
laws of kapu, to woman cold and cruel as the grave.
She lived to see the idols all swept away, and wo
man, in a good degree, restored to social privileges.
She lived to see a new era dawn upon the nation, by
having the revelation of God to man reach them, to whom
it was ahk e addressed with the rest of our races.
She lived to become a member of an organized
Church of Christ, to become an help-meet for a deacon,
who for more than forty years has been a presiding
officer, and one of the most substantial pillars of the Ha
waiian Church.
She lived to show that she possessed talents, which
with culture, would have adorned any society in any na
tion. She died, making a great vacancy on earth, that she
might fill a higher place in heaven.

ARTICLE VL
The Five Daughters.
THERE was a family of five daughters, between the
ages of twelve and twenty, who early became mem
bers of the Mission School. Saxon blood flowed into
their vains. By becoming instructed, they became more
intelligent, more attractive and more sought after by the
cultivated and refined. In their generation they were
the leading characters of the day. Rising into life with
in a new era, and thoroughly instructed in a new system.
of morals, they put forth the tender leaves of hope.
Alas, alas, for vines that have no hedges ! The boar out
of the wood doth waste them, and the wild beast of the
field doth devour them ! Paternal authority, secured by
wealthy influences, was as the east wind in the day of
the strong wind, to sweep away all that was sacred. I
could tell facts respecting their young lives, that would
cause the ears to tingle. But I pass over those never-to-
be-forgotten memories, briefly alluding to the eldest
Bister, who in age, had attained independent action.
She was more mature and meditative. She said that
before the missionaries came, when she looked abroad,
the inquiry came into her mind, "What great man made
this world ?" Her mind seemed to be instinctively pre
pared to receive instruction. She was our joy, and the
crown of our school. We even dared to hope 'that she
loved the truth : but the test came. Official power, ac
complishments and wealth combined, turned the scale.
Yet her conscience was so ill at ease, that she packed
204

1870. 205
her wardrobe and was on the very point of retiring from
the position, which she had accepted, when her plans
were frustrated. Although living in the same village,
she was no longer under the influence of the mission
aries. One day a teacher incidentally met her. She
was as ever cordial and communicative, and in relation
to the choice she had made, said, " I cry every day."
These girls were all my own scholars. I loved them.
Through all the scenes that I have passed from that time
to this, I have, without record, remembered their names,
even as I have remembered the names of the children of
my own brothers and sisters.. There was Hana, Polly,
Charlotte, Mary and Jennie.
And here let me mention one of the keenest trials
that a pioneer missionary is called to experience. He
plants a vineyard. When he looks that it should bring
forth grapes, it brings forth wild grapes.
" O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a foun
tain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the
slain of the daughters of my people ! "

ARTICLE VII.
The Wife of the Tahitian Missionary.
THE London Missionary Society sent out a deputation
of two gentlemen, Rev. Daniel Tyerman and George
Bennet, Esq., to visit their Missions in the South Seas.
While there, two converted Tahitians and their wives of
high standing in the church, were set apart as mission
aries to the three destitute islands of the Marquesas.

206 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
Mr. Ellis, their pastor, and the deputation wished to ac
company and see them established in their new field. A
very obliging sea-captain, bound to the Sandwich Islands,
engaged to take and set them down at the Marquesas,
but the wind proving unpropitious, he deferred going
there until his return voyage. Thus it was that they be
came the welcome guests of the Mission House, at Hon
olulu. The Tahitian missionaries, with their simple piety,
were received with no less interest. And although they
were not accommodated at the Mission House, our terms
of intercourse were intimate, affectionate and confiding.
The captain of the party, too, was introduced to us as a
man o f high moral principles, who had been to them a
brother. He was young, amiable, and cultivated. Noth
ing was more natural, while he lay in port, than that he
made himself familiar at the Mission House. Sometimes
he sat with us at the family board, oftener made social
calls. During the day, our numerous family branched off
as duty or inclination led. When evening hushed the
cares of life, some dozen of us assembled in the sitting-
room to enjoy the high privilege of social intercourse.
On a certain euening, the day was being thus delight
fully crowned, thought eli citing thought, with an ease
and freedom which English courtesy exhibited and en
couraged , — when we were startled by a loud knock at
the door. One of the Tahitian missionaries had come
with the astounding intelligence that their own captain,
with a band of his sailors, had just been to their house,
and from before his eyes, had borne away his wife to his
ship. To the panic-stricken husband, there was no re
dress. The thing must take its course. Law had not
then raised its powerful arm in the nation. Every one

1870. 207
did what was right in his own eyes, and looked his
neighbor straight in the face.
On that dark and black night, standing aghast at the
revelation of such fearful villainy, within our own trust
ed circle, I turned to my husband and asked, "What pro
tection have I against being carried off in like manner?"
He replied, "You have none." Then I remembered with
dismay, that only two days before, that same captain
leisurely spent hours in the afternoon at the Mission
House, and as a natural thing invited me to walk on the
plain. It was one of the daily duties of us ladies to
walk for health, but never without an escort. We had
perfect confidence in him, and yet I declined, I hardly
know why.
The next morning Mr. Ellis visited the ship, and
when he asked the woman to go ashore, she replied, "The
captain will not let me."
There were two hackneyed expressions in those
years, which have become obsolete. The one was, that
"These islands lay at the end of the earth." The other,
that "Men who visited them left their consciences at
Cape Horn."
After a season, the Tahitian missionary's wife was
graciously permitted to return to her husband. The
pastor, alive to her interests, said to me, "She is bent
on spending the days adroad in the fields. She seems to
be somewhat partially demented. Do go and speak to
her words of comfort." I found her on the plains, with
a square covering drawn tightly around the whole length
of her person, and her chin resting low on her chest.
She was roaming about, she knew not, and she cared not
whither. She neither wished to see, nor speak to any

208 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
one. Desolation and despair had taken fast hold of her
soul. A blight had fallen upon her whole being.
Instead of an early opportunity of returning, our
English and Tahitian friends were unexpectedly detained
more than four months. Then that captain and that ves
sel were ready for sea. Our friends, as travelers, did
the best they could, embraced the only opportunity that
offered for a return, entered the same vessel, under the
same captain, that brought them here. The ill-assorted
inmates were shut up to themselves, and sailed away to
gether. The sole object for which those three English
gentlemen projected the voyage, was quashed. A visit
to the Marquesas, and there establishing a Mission, was
necessarily given up. No thanks to transgressors that
other benevolent plans employed their activities.
On the passage back, a woman died. Under the
auspices of the captain, the remains were sewed up in a
strong canvas, weighted with two eighteen pound balls,
and committed to the deep, with christian rites. It was
the corpse of the crushed wife of the Tahitian mis
sionary. She was born in idolatry, and hers was a checkered
life. Her pastor Was with her in her last hours, and
hoped she sought and found mercy.
The bereaved husband returned to his old home, a
three-fold mourner; the loss of his wife, the defection
of her character, and his total failure in the mission to
which he had been appointed.
In a public journal, a volume of 500 pages, in pro
gress at that period, and given to the world in 1831, cog
nizance was taken of this affair. The wife of the Tahi
tian missionary was called by name. She was compared
to the woman who was a sinner. She was spoken of as

1870. 209
having brought disgrace on herself,and occasioned much
grief to her Christian relatives and friends.
The captain passed on with an unsullied reputation.
And, in consequence of his attentions to his passengers
to and from the Sandwich Islands, he was presented with
six large hogs, a great number of cocoanuts, some bread
fruits, and other presents of native growth and manu
facture. Thus the reputation of those two individuals are
even now sailing down the stream of time. And this is
a specimen of the manner in which the scale was poised
between civilized man and olive complexioned woman in
these Pacific Seas, in the former part of the 19th cen
tury. Wise men did it, who knew the times and saw the
phase of public opinion, and who sat the first in the king
dom as journalists and editors.

ARTICLE VIII.
Missionaries' Children in Pioneer Life.
I NOW approach a, subject compared with which all
personal missionary trials sink into insignificance. It
was forming the characters of children on missionary
ground in pioneer life. Capt. Chamberlain brought out
with us five promising children^ between the age of one
and twelve. No one of us had conceived the idea that
children with unformed characters must be separated
from the people to whom we were sent. Those children
were in full connection with the native children of our
family boarding school, in their studies, in their amuse
ments, and in their employments. When our English mis-

210 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
sionary friends came, they saw at a glance that we had
begun upon a wrong tack with our own children. They
spread before us the developments and experiences of
missionary life for thirty years at the Society Islands.
Some items of intelUgence were most startling in their
character. The earth seemed to be receding from be
neath our feet, with no firm foundation remaining on
which to stand.
Then it was that the pioneer missionaries renounced
their republican principles, and, with one stride, became
autocrats of the first water.
The next influence exerted by the English deputa
tion respecting our children, was, in giving to their
young American brethren a piece of advice. It was this:
"Let Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain take their six children,
go home and train them up for God. They never can do
it here. As society now is, for unformed characters to
come in contact with natives as foreigners, is moral
death." Those most interested exhibited their true char
acters, by silently laying the case before the brethren to
await their decision. They unanimously said, "Go."
Thus we younger ones lost our parents. With two in
fant sons and five infant daughters lying on our arms, we
were left to stand in our lot, and breast the sweeping
tide as best we might.
From the lips of one of Zion's watchmen at that
time, fell the following startling words, which became
engraven on my brain, as with a red-hot iron. " The na
tion must be converted, or our own children will go down
with them into the same pit."
We were going forth weeping, bearing precious
seed. Our own families and this nation were both in
the house of bondage.

ARTICLE IX.
Kuakini, or
GOV. ADAMS, as he was called by foreigners, was the
governor of Hawaii, and made his permanent resi
dence at Kailua. He belonged to the first class of chiefs,
was a noble looking man, and rose higher in civilized
habits than any other chief of his time ; he used coffee
and tea daily on his table, dressed uniformly in Ameri
can costume, and was distinguished for a knowledge of
the English language.
In the third year of the mission, when he was at his
place alone, without the presence of a missionary, he
built a church for the white man's God. When we were
stationed there, he established family worship, and in
duced Mr. Thurston to go daily and officiate at his house.
During the second year of our residence at Kailua, the
church became too small for the increasing numbers who
would fain attend. Gov. Adams then erected another,
larger and more commodious, one hundred and eighty
feet by sixty. It was superior to any house of native
workmanship upon the Islands. When this was burned
by an incendiary, the Governor erected a large stone
house of worship, with galleries and pulpit. The latter
cost five hundred dollars.
The Governor himself occupied, for awhile, a very
pretty framed house with green window shades. It was
brought from America, and was placed in a capacious
yard surrounded by a wall ten feet in height, and about
the same in width. It made quite a distinguished appear- 211

212 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
ance at the head of the village. He afterwards changed
his residence towards the centre of the village, where
he erected another dwelling-house in more costly style.
His influence was altogether oh the side of civilization,
order, and improvement. He gave good laws, patroniz
ed schools, and for a time had both a reading and a wri
ting school in his own yard, under his own instruction.
He read through his English Bible with care, and assist
ed in translating the Scriptures, asked a blessing at table,
and attended public worship regularly.
For awhile, though he exhibited so many good traits,
he was not decidedly pious. He was the first person at
Kailua who solicited baptism, and it was a very trying
thing to him that he could not be among the first led to
the baptismal font. But his religious character rested
in the clouds. Another company presented themselves
for baptism, while he held a retired seat. He then dis
patched a letter to Oahu in the form of a complaint,
saying, if he were not baptized that year, he never
would be. His threat enings were as unavailing as his
solicitations. There was a meeting of the members of
the church. He thought he would meet with them; but
the door was closed against him, even by his own sister
Kaahumanu, who was of still higher standing in author
ity than himself. So he sat down on the threshold of
the door, and indulged in his own agitated reflections.
He returned home, sat up and read his Bible during the
whole night. Thus he struggled, — until he felt himself
to be a "lost man," — w~as willing to accept of salvation
on the humiliating terms of the gospel, and enter the
kingdom, not as a chief, but as a little child. The usual
congregation at that time numbered about five thousand.

1870. 213
The day the Governor was baptized, it was computed
there were about eight thousand in and around the church.
Governor Adams, in calling on his teachers, was
most entertained in visiting the room where domestic
operations were performed. He continued to observe
the process of making butter, till he felt himself master
of the art. I think he was the first native in the nation
who undertook its manufacture forty years ago.
He commenced thus : After separating the cream
from the milk, he threw the cream away, and put the
skimmed milk into the prepared container. Application
and perseverance presided over that churn. But the la
bor was all in vain. He hastened to compare his notes
respecting the process of making butter with those of
his teachers. He thus discovered his mistake, and learn
ed by deep experience that the churning of cream brought
forth butter.
Again he was in perplexity. The teacher's butter
was all one color — yellow. His was not so. Various
hues of the rainbow were detected in it, — red, green, &c.
Some parts of his butter were fully salted, other parts
not at all. Between these two points, salt was worked
in, in different degrees. And time gave different hues
to the various strata,
But with the docilty of a child, he took, as it were,
for his motto, "Try, try, try again," so that not many
moons waxed and waned before, in the art of mak
ing butter, he was, from the shoulders and upwards,
taller than any of his fellows.
When we first reached the Islands, not one woman
in the nation, and but one man, appeared with a covering
on her head. The first native woman who was seen

214 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
with a bonnet in church, was the bride of Thomas Ho
pu, at the time they were married. From that period,
the custom gradually extended, led off by the nobility.
After the mission had been established many years, Gov
ernor Adams made a law that no woman should enter
his yard without a bonnet. If the law was broken, the
penalty was to have the hair cut off close to the head.
After that, he made another law, that no woman should
enter the church without a bonnet. The natives were
quite ingenious in manufacturing hats and bonnets out
of the palm leaf which is indiginous to these Islands.

ARTICLE X.

WAS a principal chief, and the husband of Kapio
lani*. He was of commanding stature, and distin
guished for refinement and polish of mind and manners.
Such was his fluency and eloquence in speech that he
was styled the national orator.
When Gov. Adams was absent at Oahu for two
years, Naihe was appointed to attend to his official du
ties on Hawaii. As a magistrate he was as firm as he
was affectionate, and in passing sentence upon offenders,
the tears were often seen chasing each other in quick
succession down his cheeks.
We enjoyed frequent intercourse with him, and less
than a fortnight before his death, saw him at his own
*She was the heroine who iirst dared to descend into the crater of Kilanea,
and defy the goddess that was universally believed by the natives to reside

1870. 215
place. He walked out with us to our conveyance and
there, for the last time, pressed my hand between both
his own with all the exhibition of a father's feehngs.
He had then been feeble for a few days, but several
times we received encouraging intelligence of his health.
How then was I amazed at the expiration of a week, to
hear that he had .been suddenly seized and lay senseless!
Mr. Thurston went and saw the termination of the fatal
apoplexy. A few days previous to this event, he called
into his presence two of his confidential men, to whom
he thus spoke: "There is something in me which tells
me that I must die." After giving charge respecting his
power and possessions, now to be transferred, he added :
"Take care of the missionaries. Do for them as I have
done." As a christian, Naihe was decided and devout. Well
I remember one Sabbath, when the Lord's Supper was
celebrated. Naihe was present, from his residence a dis
tance of sixteen miles, a circumstance of frequent occur
rence. He sat there with his accustomed dignity, such
as begets in mortals respect and esteem. I looked at him
and looked again. Something more deep, more reverential
than I had before observed, seemed to sit upon his coun
tenance. He appeared as if in the presence chamber of
his Maker. It proved to be the last time that we wor
shipped together in earthly courts.

ARTICLE XI.
Kaahumanu.
I HAVE seen a woman of portly dimensions go drip
ping from her bathing place in the ocean to make a call
on the missionaries. In the presence of them and their
wives, she entered their sitting room. With the ease
and self possession of royalty, she took a seat on the set
tee, and carried on conversation with freedom. Did I
say she came from the bathing place? — She came as it
were from Eden, in the dress of innocence.
Ten years after, the work of moulding her character,
and of her moulding the character of the nation, ceas
ed. For fifty years she had lived in heathenism. Then
she entered upon a new life. A brighter example of the
power and grace of God, never passed from Hawaii to
Heaven. It was Kaahumanu, the highest chief in the
nation, possessed of royal authority.
As a heathen, she was the haughty, majestic sover
eign of Hawaii. As a christian, she was energetic and
decided, but the humble Queen and Mother of her sub
jects, from nobility down to peasantry. All the mission
aries she adopted as her own children ; and instead of do
ing as she had done, giving them her little finger with
arrogant and imperial airs, she gave them her heart with
maternal tears.
216

ARTICLE XII.
Kamehameha I,
The Blacksmith and his Daughter.
WHAT I am now about to relate, fell under my own
observation, or was received from the lips of him,
of whose eventful life I speak.
Far, far back in the prosperous reign of Kameha
meha I. a vessel visited these Islands. She had on board
a blacksmith. Kamehameha was every inch a king. All these Is
lands were made for him; and so he thought was that for
eign blacksmith. Power and skill so interlaced provi
dences, that when the vessel sailed, the blacksmith was
detained on shore. Stung to very frenzy by being left
in those revolting circumstances, to drown thought, he
turned to the bottle, When his spree was over, he
worked for his royal master, but with the full purpose
of embracing the first opportunity to leave the Islands.
Kamehameha had never been introduced to the code
of christian morals. Another vessel came and went, and
the pioneer blacksmith was still detained. The fright
ful idea of a long and hopeless captivity now burst upon
him. He drank more deeply, to assuage by oblivious
sleep, his burning madness. But for him there were no
soothing iufluences, no gentle whispers. His further ex
periences were simply recurrences of the bitter past.
When power slipped from the hand of the great
Conqueror, a vigilant eye was no longer necessary.
The man had been crushed. He no longer desired to re
turn to his native country. His highest ambition was 217

218 Life of Lucy G. Tlmrston.
his bottle. He knew, by deep experiences, the horrors of
delirium tremens. He knew the agony of *mind which
precedes suicide. He had made all preparation. The hand
containing the fatal poison was on the way to his mouth.
An impulse suddenly arrested him, and influenced him
to hurl that death-potion to the winds.
Such was his sad state when the American Missiona
ries reached these Islands in 1820. Other foreigners came
and took us by the hand. For four years he never ap
proached us. His first call was one never to be forgot
ten. His embarrassment was overwhelming. We were
then living in a mudwalled hut made for a cookhouse,
simply having such surroundings as enabled us to live.
His confusion of mind was simply from coming into the
presence of one of his own country-women. It would
naturally give a fresh view of better days, and a more
realizing sense of the deep pit into which he had fallen.
He was more at ease before he left us, something of a
kindly feeling must have kindled within him, for he ev
er after made us calls.
His house was the rendezvous for the gang who
kept their blue Saturdays. When this line of life ceas
ed with him, and he had footed the last bill, he estimated
that he had spent seven thousand dollars for himself and
others in liquor. He had been roused to attend public
worship. By placing himself beneath gentle and reno
vating influences, he at length stood up a temperance
man, and s- humble christian. With the feelings of a
conquerer he then looked to achieve one more victory.
He had an only child, a daughter, approaching woman
hood. Her type of character was similar to the young
in those years, under very little more control than the

1870. 219
wild goats of the mountain. In two respects: she differ
ed. She was smarter and proportionately more mischiev
ous. He went into his own shop and made an iron ring
in which to incase her ankle. He then chained her to
the post standing in the middle of his thatched house,
reaching from the ground to the ridge-pole. After being
thus confined for three weeks, her ankle became chafed
and swollen. She promised fair. He pitied and released
her. She immediately left his premises, went straight to
a neighboring outhouse, and secreted herself in a brrrel.
He sought and found her, and, with an unwavering pur
pose, secured her as before. With a persistence allied to
that of Grant's on a broader scale, he now kept her
chained to that post three additional months. The bat
tle was won. The daughter had learned to fear, to obey,
and to love her father. She then came under his guid
ance, the instruction and influence of the missionaries,
as had never been thought of before. She married, be
came a faithful wife, a devoted mother, and a humble
christian. The name of her father has been obliterated
among men; but his female descendants have honorably
received the names of five foreigners. He died and was
entombed in his own yard. But he still lives on these
Hawaiian Islands, lives in his posterity of three genera
tions. His conjugal vicissitudes, all with the sable daugh
ters of the land, were not tragic like those of Henry the
Eighth; for at the time of his death, there were three
ex-wives, and still another living with him. His fourth
wife was a crown of glory to her husband. In manner she
was at once humble and dignified. She belonged to Na
ture's nobility. In being introduced as mistress of that

220 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
wrecked house, she reigned queen of hearts. Her hus
band was fully sensible that through her influence he had
become elevated to a higher plane, and grieved that so
few years remained in which to enjoy a happiness he had
never before tasted.
Number four entered that family with her eyes
open. She knew that number two was still a member of
that household, as it were to grind at the mill. She
heeded it not, but gathered up her strength to be to the
desolate white man a help-meet and a solace. Thus
years were measured off to him beneath a serene setting
sun. Then he was cut down with a stroke. I saw him
inclosed in a coffin, which was sustained at an elevation
of common chairs. By the head, sat in repose, two fe
male forms, habited in black. The weeping eyes of both
were fixed upon one countenance. They were number
four and number two.
No envy, or. jealousy, or suspicion, ever seemed to
mar the kindly feeling of the ill-assorted inmates of that
home. They were borne along the quiet stream of life
in peace and simplicity.
Honor be to the memory of the humble old patri
arch. I knew him well. He had my most profound
sympathy in his deep degradation, in his mighty con
flicts, and, in his great conquests.

ARTICLE XIH.
A First Native Prayer Meeting.
WHEN Mr. Thurston first commenced his Hawaiian
labors at Kailua, the new native church was every
Sabbath filled to overflowing, with doors and windows
crowded. There was a company of natives, common
men, who, for a time, went and stood on the outside of
the church, by an open window. Their object was to
scoff. They pointed the finger of ridicule and said: "The
priest shuts up his eyes to pray" Then uttering expres
sions of contempt, they went away laughing, when pray
ers were half through.
After awhile, they felt differently, and attended se
riously. These new feelings grew upon them, till they,
too, wished to worship God. But they did not know
how. They had only learned his name; that was all.
Everything else was dark. Yet their feelings inclined
them to meet for social worship. They had learned
from the teacher's family the manner of kneeling. They
had learned through the open windows of the church,
that they must first shut their eyes and then speak to Je
hovah. In praying to their idols, they always kept their
eyes open. What they had learned, they wished at once
to put in practice. They therefore appointed a prayer
meeting the next Sabbath evening in a large house, made
for storing canoes.
They met accordingly, and in sitting down, formed
a straight line across the middle of the house, from end
to end. Then, all kneeling, the first man at one end of
the row, carefully closed his eyes, and repeated this 221

222 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
prayer: "O, Jehovah, we pray to thee." They could
say no more. They knew no more. Every one there, in
the same manner in course, repeated that same prayer
"O, Jehovah, we pray to thee." The meeting was
then ended. But before they dispersed, they appointed
another prayer meeting.
Again, the next Sabbath evening, they met. Again
they ranked and prayed, in course and manner as before,
and were able to add to their prayer, thus: "O, Jehovah,
we pray to thee. Take care of us this night." In this
way they proceeded, step by step, and continued to pro
long their prayers from meeting to meeting.
They likewise introduced a new exercise by way of
variety. They sent one out to stand alone in a spot
where all was silence and darkness to obtain a thought.
When he returned, he was asked: "Have you obtained
a thought?" "Yes." Without inquiring what it was
another was sent out after the same manner, and so on.
If one returned quickly, though he professed to have
obtained a thought, it was not acceptable to those
within ; but he must go again, go out farther into the
dark, stay longer, and thus obtain a better thought.
They expected that by waiting on God under such cir
cumstances, he would reveal himself to every heart.
Such were their first unaided efforts in feeling after God.
One of these men belonged to our household dur-
ring a quarter of a century. It was in after years that
he told me the manner in which he learned the ABC
of prayer. Then he was able to pray with the fervency
and wide scope of a minister, and was often called on
to officiate at funerals. In connection with this account,
the importance is impressively shown of putting out a
talent to usury.

ARTICLE XIV.
A First Case of Church Discipline.
KAENAKU was a distinguished native woman.
She was tempted, and lured into sin. Her hus
band was an unbeliever in the new religion. There
were no newspapers in those days, to give intelligence.
He availed himself of the usages of the times. In the
early hush of evening, with a lond voice, he proclaimed
through all the length and breadth of the village, that
a church member had been guilty of adultery.
Then he went home to comfort the culprit. His
dingy, thatched hut had but one opening. It was in
the middle, through which they entered half doubled.
He placed this wife in one of its close darkened corners,
and forbade her leaving it.
When church members came to see her, he would
stand between them and her, to say, that there was no
use in their coming there to speak to her words of en
couragement. She could no more do right than a
stone could roll up hill. When he ate his meals, if he
so willed, he rolled her a potato, and she ate it. Other
wise she had opportunity of fasting. Yet he had grace
to allow her one privilege. When the bell rung for a
religious exercise, if conducted entirely by a missionary,
she might attend by going directly there, and coming
directly back.
When moral darkness brooded over the land, a
darkness that could be felt, Kaenaku arose like a bright
morning star, harbinger of coming day. Then how 223

224 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
fallen! She was denied freedom, denied social inter
course, discarded utterly and forever by her husband,
doomed to live continually beneath his frowning brow,
his cruel government, and made a target to be daily
pierced with his sharp arrows.
One day he went abroad. She embraced the oppor
tunity, slipped out, and went a mile to see her female
teacher. She frankly told her story; acknowledged that
in walking with a large company, in an unprotected
state, across the wide waste of the island, she had fallen
into sin, and was very sorry for it. But the unfeeling
manner in which her husband was crushing her for a
vice so common, highly exasperated her.
The teacher said to her: "You have been guilty of
a great sin against your husband. Unless he requires
you to do wrong, accept with meekness and obedience,
whatever he is pleased to measure out to you." In the
depths of her distress, to be thus received by her
teacher, whom she loved and trusted, was to her a blank
disappointment. She had fled to her for consolation,
but she had only painfnlly probed her, and ordered the
most self-denying remedies.
A long conversation followed. At length she
arose and stood face to face with her teacher. Eye met
eye, hers without a blink, and without a movement in a
single muscle of her face. Stern resolve was written on
every line of her countenance. Just in that attitude, a
long, long silence was measured off. Then she opened
her mouth and said, "Til do it;" tenderly gave her hand
and her aloha, and returned to her wretched home to
begin anew. And she did it.

1870. 225
The next time she called upon her teacher, she was
a free woman. She carried in her hand a manuscript
of some fifteen or twenty pages. In her seclusion, and
under her serious but salutary discipline, she poured
forth her views, and the feelings of her heart upon
paper. It is worthy of note that not a word was
dropped alluding to the abuse and severity of her hus
band. She had found her proper place of self-abase
ment. The fifty-first psalm was a transcript of her
heart broken for sin. She said, long as she lived on earth,
she should make it her study to do God's will. When
she died, he might dispose of ner just as he pleased.
The recreant manner in which che had treated Christ
and his cause, made her feel that she merited crucifixion
with her head downward. Occasionally she wTould sit, as
if lost in deep thought, and then sigh, as if from the
very bottom of her heart.
Possessing talents of the very first order, and cun
ning with her needle, she was an appendage of nobility.
She had white embroidered dresses, and silk ones of bril
liant colors. All these she laid aside, feeling that they
were not suitable for her who had sinned so deeply, thus
to adorn her person. She aimed only at respectability.
A black silk dress, a black mantle, a plaited palm leaf
bonnet trimmed with black, formed her usual Sabbath
habit. With her jet black hair and jet black eyes, it was
a very becoming costume.
By her meekness and wisdom she soothed the fierce
anger of her husband, and completely won back his af
fections. He fully reinstated her in her former position.
She was again gladly received as a Sabbath-school teach
er, where she was a model of faithfulness. The church

226 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
welcomed her return to its bosom, with tearful rejoicing,
and with increased affection and confidence. She again
approached the Lord's table, with the deepest penitence
and humility. Much had been forgiven her, and she
loved much.
On the eve of thus being most happily restored to all
her former privileges, her teachers sailed to attend the
General Meeting of the Mission. When they returned,,
Kaenaku was in her grave.
Even then the sad story of her defection was being
told in Gath, and published in Ashkelon, causing the
enemies of the church to triumph, and her own children
to be made sad — but her teachers knew, and that infant
church knew, and the angels knew, that from polluted
Hawaii, from the ashes of idolatry, her soul had strug
gled up, to swell the notes of Redeeming love.

ARTICLE XV.
Thatched Houses.
DURING the first twelve years of missionary life,
we dwelt ten years in eight successive thatched cot
tages, all without a floor. Five of them had no other win
dow than that of cutting away the thatch, leaving the
bare poles. After reaching the Islands, two of these cot
tages had been successively the abode of royalty. Two
thatched ones made under our own direction, were divid
ed into rooms by thatched partitions, having also glass
windows, few and far between.

1870. 227
Those thatched buildings made comparatively com
fortable summer houses. But during bleak, rainy sea
sons, to those with any constitutional disease or weak
ness, it involved both health and life. It was in these
circumstances that pulmonary complaints took fast hold
of my frame. I looked around for means to resist this
invasion. Horse-back rides seemed desirable.

ARTICLE XVI.
My First Horse-back Ride.
IT was in 1825. Horses were very scarce in those days,
owned only by the first-class of chiefs. I asked
Gov. Adams if he had one of established habits for so
briety. He assured me that he had, and that I should
make trial of it. It was brought. It had a kind of
cloth pad, a foot and a half square, on its back, confined
with ropes, and a rope for its bridle.
Necessarily leaving the two children under the care
of their father, I went out and mounted. But by ordi.
nary means, there seemed to be no such a thing as get
ting a single step out of the animal. At length, by hav
ing one native go before and pull, and another go in the
rear and drive, locomotion slowly commenced. Seated
on a curve, without any facilities for preserving my
equilibrium, urgency compelled my free hands to grasp
the mane. We had just surmounted all obstacles, and I
was becoming mistress of that new state of things, when
suddenly we came to a dead stand, by reason of a sub-

228 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
stantial stone wall, which crossed our pathway. It could
not of course be turned aside like a gate; but the expect
ed medical aid was not to be given up. As there was no
alternative to success, the two natives went to work
cheerfully in laying stone by stone aside. After some
delay, we proceeded on as before, and entered the vil
lage. All left their houses to come and gaze. Evidently
there was a novelty beyond that of getting on the stupid
beast. It was this: A woman was riding with both
limbs accommodated on one side of the horse, a thing
never seen before; although the Governor and head wo
man had given them examples of female horsemanship.
After becoming the observed of all observers, and having
received a reflection of their happy faces, we turned back,
put up the gap in the wall, and reached home with mer
ry hearts, having enjoyed in the ride all that was ludi
crous. I then remembered that when at Honolulu, a newly
arrived sea-captain called on the missionaries and in
formed them that he had brought out for them some no
tions, such as high-post bedsteads and side-saddles. The
English Deputation of the London Missionary Society
were then inmates of our family They never forgot,
and they nev^r allowed ?<s to forget, our American no
tions, high-post bedsteads and side-saddles.
I sent and obtained one of those saddles. We had
a wicket gate, hung with leather hinges from a worn out
shoe, introduced into the stone wall. Gov. Adams kind
ly allowed me his own fleet saddle-horse. Thus I was
accommodated for sanitary rides.

ARTICLE XVII.
Pulmonary Disease. Complete Deliverance From.
MY youthful years opened upon life with a great
degree of physical health and vigor. A little
more than a year before I first left my country, my
mother from active life was suddenly laid upon a bed of
fever and great helplessness. A sister or myself were
constantly by her side both by day and by night. In
one short week the disease proved fatal. A few hours
before she breathed her last, in the chamber of death, I
expectorated blood from the lungs. For six weeks it
was the cause of much debility. Then a very 'slight
cough commenced, and it constantly increased till it was
very harassing. The scales were vacillating. Powerful
remedies brought it to a severe crisis. It was life, recov
ery. Again I engaged in active scenes, and for several
months sustained the responsibilities of the school-room.
My health seemed confirmed. It was never alluded to
by any one, in deciding about engaging in the enterprise
of a foreign mission.
Three years after those sufferings, J became a
mother. Two days after that event, a slight cough
commenced. It increased and kept me in a prostrate,
perilous position. But I at length rallied, and apparent
ly stood again on firm ground. Three years more run
their rounds in health. Then the hard struggles of pio
neer life, its efforts and its privations again prostrated
me with pulmonary complaints. Nature triumphed, and
I was again free. 229

230 Life of Lucy G. Tliurston.
Scarcely a year had elapsed, when wo were visited
by storms of fierce winds and deluging rains, uncom
monly long and severe. No ray of light was admitted
into our dwelling but through an open door. Our house
was thatched with lauhala leaves, and these were loosely
put on by unfaithful hands. The only spqt I could call
home was damp, cold, and bleak. When the evening
mountain breeze came down in its strength, I enveloped
myself in flannel and found refuge beneath the double
curtains of a bed. Thus all had been well, had not
heavy dampness acted upon me as a blight. Disease
took fast hold of my frame, and became obstinate. The
very breath I drew daily fastened on my mind the im
pression that I should soon die of consumption. Four
years passed away before I was restored to my former
vigor. But as it appeared in after life, victory over
disease was then most complete. The penalty for
accidental over-exertion in my mother's short, fatal
sickness, was entirely paid in ten years.
Afterwards, for more than thirty years spent at
Kailua, not even sweeping influenzas seemed to touch
me, nor was I affected with common colds. I shared
both in common with others, after passing from that to
other climates.

ARTICLE XVIII.
Hawaii.
WE were taught that unprovoked, the natives of
these islands conspired the death of the great navi
gator, Capt. Cook, cut off vessels, murdered crews, and
chewed the flesh of their enemies as the sweetest titbit
of revenge.

1870. 231
Conversing with the captain of our vessel, a few
weeks before reaching these islands, in 1820, he re
marked that he must get his guns out, for it was not
safe to approach these islands without being in a state
of defense. "What," I replied, "leave us, a feeble com
pany, in a defenseless state, among a people you cannot
approach without fire-arms?" "Ah," said he, shaking his
head, "it is not my wish to leave you in such circum
stances." We were dropped down on their shores, and left in
their sole power. From personal acquaintance and a
thorough knowledge of their character, we found them,
as a nation, ignorant, debased, polluted, wedded to their
sins; but all was done in a good-natured way. Alco
holic drinks had the same effect on them as upon the
civilized world, it turned men into brutes. But to be
implacably cruel and revengeful toward their enemies,
formed no part of their character. They were peculiarly
simple, and child-like, affectionate and confiding. There
is no figure of speech in saying that when Queen Ka
mamalu, who afterwards died in England, found a
daughter of America, a stranger in a strange land, under
peculiar trials, — she, being possessed of ample dimen
sions, cradled the afflicted one in her arms, pillowed her
head upon her bosom, and wept over her tears of sym
pathy. And now after a lapse of fifty years, a review
of those friendships, formed with those children of' na
ture, in those early days, stirs within me the deepest
emotions of my soul. O Kamamalu, Kamamalu, thou;
too, didst become a stranger in a strange land, and when
there so early called to plunge into the dark, cold stream,
didst thou reach a better land ?

232 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
The missionaries by accommodating themselves to
new circumstances, both with firmness and with elastici
ty, by quietly dropping the seed of the Kingdom as
opportunity offered, passed along five years beside the
still waters. It was when the seed sprung up, and
brought forth fruit, that they were called to put on the
whole armor, that they had prepared, in which to face a
savage nation. Their heaviest missionary trials came
by inversion; came from the other side of the globe,
from the representatives of the proud christian nations
of England and America.
Ten natives stood propounded for admission into
the church. Among them were Kaahumanu, the ener
getic and decided ruler of the Kingdom, Kalaimoku,
her powerful Executive, the two dowager queens that
sailed with us on board the Thaddeus, the ex-queen of
Kauai, a son of king Kaumualii, and Kapiolani, a high
chiefess, second to no one in noble aspirations and acts.
As yet no native church had been organized in the land.
There was simply that transplanted church from Boston,
to which had been added a reinforcement.
Under such circumstances, an English ship touched
at these islands, bringing some strange animals. They
were white-skinned bipeds, of the genus called Homo.
They appeared to have a fellowship one with another,
for, after leaping ashore, they seemed to cling to each
other in a body, in number about forty. They bore
along with them what in the hands of soldiers would
have been called weapons of death. They had, too, the
gift of speech; for, from their lips, in English accents,
proceeded sounds like these: "If the missionary will
teach the people that they are absolved from obeying

1870. 233
the ten commandments, it will be well with him. Oth
erwise, we will take his life, and burn down his house."
The wife of the missionary was then isolated, look
ing alone to her husband for protection. She was a
refined lady, then in a most delicate state of health.
But she was equal to the emergency, and both she and
her husband rose to the heroism and sublimity of the
spirit of martyrdom. Then it was that the people,
known through our world as barbarians and savages,
formed a garrison around their teachers, and stood day
and night with pointed bayonet. Then it was that
Hoopili-kane, of the first-class of chiefs, stood up in his
power and strength, and portly bearing, and said: "If
they shoot my teacher, the ball shall pass through me
first." He had become the husband of the dowager
queen of the white dress. They were helps meet for
each other, and long lived to be a nursing father and a
nursing mother to the church of Lahaina.
Thus when the Bible was brought to these islands,
it made great confusion. It was invading the strong
holds of an opposite power, which had maintained
undisturbed sway for ages. Its foreign emissaries
were active and bold. They entered a territory belong
ing to a Sovereign Power. They cast their eyes upon a
vineyard where the first gush of joys had been experi
enced by the missionaries and natives, mingling prayers
and tears and labors together. The intruders said: "We
will slay the people here with physical and moral death.
We will beat down their vineyard, destroy its hedge,
and sow it with salt. We will lay the whole village in
ashes." That was the purport of their sworn purpose.

234 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
Their weapons of warfare were stones, clubs, knives and
cannon balls. The great war between good and evil,
between right and wrong was then instituted.
Passing by vessels of an inferior class, a naval ship
of the Uniied States became an antagonist. The Cap
tain's demands were well defined, and his great boast
was, that whoever opposed him, would find his vessel to
be like fire. So while his men smashed in the windows
of private houses, and imminently imperiled life, he rode,
rough-shod, over the heads of the rulers of the land, and '
with the bold front of Apollyon, asserted his right and
his power to inoculate the people with physical and
moral death; and so far succeded, that the acclamations
of triumph rent the air, and where heard in the distance.*
In this great crisis of the nation, missionaries were
wanted that counted not their lives dear unto them
selves. The nation saw that there was a wide, impassable
gulf between the spirit of the two parties.
There were those, on the one hand, who hissed the
idea of having Christianity engrafted on this wild stock;
whose aim was to crush Christianity in the bud ; who
would blast with the breath oftheir nostrils everyone that
opposed their measures; and who claimed ignoranee and
sin to be the only natural inheritance of these islanders,
leaving disease and death to follow in the tram, un-
thought of, and uncared for.
*187L Within the past year, I have heard it related, that it came to
pass in after years, that the commander of that naval ship, abundantly
reaped as he had sown. In the intensity of his sufferings, and in the wild
agony of his mind, it became his wish that no woman had ever been born
into the world. His loving and self-denying sister, who ministered to him
in his extremity, said to him, " But I am a woman, and your mother is a
woman." In his reply he said, " You two are exceptions. I do not in-
elude you in my wish."

1870. 235
On the other hand, there we're those who opened up
to them happiness, both here and hereafter, by leading
them to virtue, to intelligence, to duty, and to God;
standing firmly at their posts, ready to seal their teach
ings with their blood.
This was a heathen nation, just waking into life,
and seeing men as trees walking. Not the tongues of
forty missionaries, if they possessed a perfect knowledge
of the Hawaiian language, and the eloquence of angels,
could, in words, have so vividly portrayed the contrast
between the spirit of the world and the spirit of the
church, between selfishness and benevolence, as did those
hostilities. God made the wrath of man to praise Him,
and the remainder -thereof he restrained.
The missionaries, in planting churches in a land del
uged with the iniquity and scum of ages, made no compro
mise with Evil. The government of the churches
required them to be wiped from impurity and intemper
ance, even as a dish is wiped, wiping it, and turning it
upside down.
The State, christian in its front and bearing, noble
in its general aspect, has, nevertheless, compromised
with Evil. By receiving money into the public treasury
for means of impurity, and of intemperance in drugs and
alcoholic drinks, vultures have been allowed to prey up
on the very vitals of society, and a fearful blot to mar
the beauty of the escutcheon of the nation.
May the afflatus of the Almighty lead the Legisla
tive Assembly, on this the year of the nation's jubilee,
to present Hawaii, the first-born of this vast Pacific, a
distinguished spectacle to the nations, revealing a youth
ful form, in symmetry, in beauty, and in glory, clear as
the sun, fair as the moon, and as terrible to all opposition
as an army with banners.

ARTICLE XIX.
Blind Bartimeus.
THREE days after landing, the queen, Kamamalu
gave the sisters a promising boy twelve years of age
as a pledge on her part that their friendship should be per.
manent. He loved to learn, and acquired the knowledge
of language very readily. When at any time he saw a
tear, with much tenderness he ever inquired the cause by
asking, "Is it love to your father?" . He often sat down
on the mat by my side, and said: "Mrs. Thurston, talk
about Jehovah, talk about Obookiah." Every new thing
that he learned respecting God and his laws, of Jesus
and of heaven, he imparted to others in the village. A
poor blind man listened, and at once believed and loved.
Without further instruction, he began to pray and ex
hort. Some listened, others laughed, and others mocked.
The King had him before him to see what the gabbler
had to say, when he heard so good a confession that he
was sent away from the royal presence with liberal ap
proval. He discontinued eating dog's flesh, live vermin, and
other loathsome garbage, of which the natives are
ravenously.fond. A man who lived under the same roof
with him, feeling this abstinence as a tacit reproach on
his own more filthy feeding, became indignant, and com
plained to the King, that his blind neighbor, under the
influence of his strange religion, refused to taste the
national dainties alluded to above, and begged that he
might be punished, to compel him to do as other people
236

1870. 237
did. "The man is right," replied Liholiho. "I will not
suffer him to be harmed. I intend myself soon to learn
the new system, and to leave off these bad ways. Then
you must all do the same."
After the blind man lovingly received his first ideas
of the new religion from juvenile lips, which was in the
early part of 1821, he exhibited one uniform character.
He would be seen early Sabbath morning, without hat or
shoes, without pants or shirt, with his girdle and a slight
kapa thrown around his person, with a staff, a long beard,
sightless eyes, and diminutive bending form, wending
his way to the missionaries' house. There planting him
self by the gate or outer door, he would sit long in med
itation, waiting for a passing salutation. I have known
the foreigner, with crowned head and shod feet, with all
the paraphernalia of dress in the last most approved
fashion, in feelings wither into insignificance before his
love and devotion, his pathos and humility. Here is a
tame specimen of what he often expressed in grimaces,
in gestures, and in words, all combined. —
"Let me feel your hand. Let me cling to it. Let
me weep over it. Let me express the feelings that swell
my heart. The glory of this great salvation I owe first
to God, and then to you."
He was the first marked christian convert, and be
came the blind preacher of Maui, so distinguished for
ability, fervor, and eloquence.

ARTICLE XX.
Items, Showing What Instrumentalities Have Been Employed in Building up
This Nation.
TTNDER God, the people of these Islands are in-
U debted to Kamehameha L, for bringing them all
under one Government:
To Obookiah, for first touching chords^the vibra
tions of which, with ever increasing force have caused
Jehovah to become Hawaii's God.
To Kamehameha II., for abolishing idolatry, and re
ceiving a Protestant Mission.
To Kamehameha III., for allowing his subjects to
hold land in fee simple, for a written Constitution of
Laws, for limiting his own power, and enlarging that of
his subjects, by giving them the elective franchise, there
by, through their own representatives, having a voice in
the councils of the nation.
To the A. B. C. F. M., for reducing a verbal dialect
to a written language, and for letters and Christianity.
To the American Bible and Tract Societies, for fer
tilizing streams through the land.
To England, France, Belgium, and the United States,
for receiving them as a sister nation in the constitution
of nations that encircle the globe,
To Admiral Thomas, for the continued independence
of this nation.
And to Individual Enterprise, for political advice,
for educational aid, for the learned professions, for com
merce, the arts, and agriculture.
238

ARTICLE XXL
(Extract from a Honolulu Newspaper.)
A Rare Entertainment.
ON Monday evening the same church was again filled
with a large audience to listen to Mrs. Thurston's
Reminiscences of early missionary life. The fact that
she was one of the pioneer band, which the brig Thad
deus brought out in 1820, that she was teacher of the old
chiefs and that she was to read her own narrative, cre
ated much curiosity to hear her. Although nearly sev
enty-five years of age, she executed her task, which oc
cupied one hour and a half, without faltering, and in a
clear voice, which could be heard in every part of the
house. The narrative commenced with the touching story
of Obookiah, the young Hawaiian who went to America
to learn of true Christianity that he might return and
teach his countrymen. He and three or four other Ha-
waiians were taught in the mission school in Cornwall,
Connecticut. It was their arrival and appeal to Chris
tians in America that led those who embarked in the
brig Thaddeus to devote themselves to missions, against
the remonstrances of their relatives. So eager were
some of the pioneer band to leave, that one or two of
them broke off in the midst of their college course at
Yale, that they might join in the novel expedition. Mrs.
T. narrated some incidents about the young King Liho
liho, Kaahumanu and other chiefs, which were new and
interesting. She and her husband, the late Asa Thurs
ton, having been the teachers of these noted chiefs, she
had opportunities which few of the missionaries en
joyed to collect facts about them. Her narrative was
made up of short anecdotes, so minute in detail and so
239

240 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
touching in pathos, that they awakened the deepest in
terest in her hearers. , Among them was the story of
blind Bartimeus, — the conversion of John Ii — a royal
feast in 1820, when the young king brought aluaueddog
into the missionary's house, sat down and acked them to
join in. The story of the venerable John Young and
Isaac Davis, the counsellors of the great Kamehameha,-
under whose advice and assistance he had conquered the
group was very touching, as was that of Keopuolani,
the wife and mother of kings. In connection with the
remarks relatiag to this heroic chiefess, Mrs. T. exhib
ited a silk shawl presented to her by Kaahumanu forty-
four years ago — a beautiful memento of a noble Ha
waiian, whose memory will always be dear to those who
knew her. Not the least interesting was the story of the
erection of the first framed house on Hawaii, which the
Board of Missions had sent out. The erection of framed
houses had been tabooed, but woman's influence prevailed
with the king, and he allowed the tabu to be set aside
and the house to be built. The closing remarks, in
which she described the fierce opposition encountered by
the early missionaries from base foreigners — whom she
termed "bipeds of the genus homo"— was one of the most
withering and deserved rebukes ever uttered by woman's
Ups. The exercises occupied one hour and three-quar
ters, and the interest of the audience seemed unabated
at its close.
Before adjourning, His Excellency the Minister of
Foreign Affairs rose and suggested that a collection be
taken up for the two remaining pioneer missionaries —
Mrs. Thurston and Mrs. Whitney — to which call the con
gregation generously responded by contributing the sum
of $350. Two verses of the missionary hymn closed one
of the most interesting meetings ever held in Honolulu.

ARTICLE XXII.
Home,
HOW can I write reminiscences of fifty years ago,
without turning to a father's home ? It was in a
rural spot, twenty-five miles west of Boston.
His house was red, its heavy color enlivened by
deep trimmings of white. Two chimneys, at a due dis
tance from each other, issued from the roof beside the
ridgepole. It was two stories high, the two tiers of
windows exhibiting the taste of modern architecture.
Enter the massive front door, of ample width, turn
to the left, and you will find two front rooms with their
chambers. In those rooms, cast your eyes aloft, not
very high, and you will see well-seasoned beams that
speak of perpetuity. Look on the floor by its walls, and
you will see. that the beams whereon the house rests, pro
ject sufficiently to accommodate childhood to seats. Speak
reverently of those ancient well-seasoned beams. They
were laid in the earlier part of the eighteenth century,
when Queen Anne reigned over the Colonies, and they
remain to this day. The sixth generation, in a direct
line, is there now being trained for earth and for heaven.
It is an entire family of five orphaned children of Ha
waiian birth. The strong frame-work of those four
rooms formed a nucleus to a large farm-house, whose
doors in my childhood years, used to be counted up as
fifty-one. That antique western chamber, with two windows,
through which to view the splendor of the setting sun, with 241

242 Life of Lucy G. Thurston,
a chimney, and a closet filled with wood, to give warmth.
to solitude beneath the reign of a long, bleak winter, was
my sanctum sanctorum.
Our large family was made eligible for life's work,
by having its thrift depend on the activities of every in
dividual. We were a world by ourselves, under the
reign of one united head, whose natures and whose
titles were All Power and All Love, the father and the
mother. The daughters were linked with an active, discreet
mother, to give with their own hands comfort and hap
piness to all the departments of domestic life. They
were made familiar with wielding every implement of
the kitchen, and introduced into the mysteries of pre
paring both the substantial and the elegant comforts of
a f aimer's table; the limited places from which to select
materials, being the cellar, the garret, the pantry, the
dairy, the garden and the orchard. They plied the
needle, having in that line of labor to accommodate them
selves to the warmth of summer, and the rigors of win
ter. "They sought wool and flax, and worked willingly
with their hands." The comparison of "days being
swifter than a weaver's shuttle," was to them very im
pressive, because so well understood. "They were not
afraid of snow for their house, for all were clothed"
with woolen of home manufacture. There were several
of the family whose business it was to work, and whose
pastime it was to study. And industry enabled them to
do a day's work at each.
An efficient father led forth his sons to the toils of
the day. In the summer, at six o'clock in the morning,

1870. 243
the family breakfast was taken with dispatch, as if to go
forth to meet the king of day. Yet he, who officiated
as priest of that house, under most pressing employ
ments never thought of omitting the customary reading
of a chapter in course from the large family Bible, placed
on the small stand before him, within the family circle.
Then they all arose and stood, while he laid incense upon
the family altar, always with a full volume of voice.
Commencing business thus early, and laboring late in the
decline of day, five seasons of refreshments were called
for; but the meal of meals, for variety, and for social
intercourse, was at noon-tide leisure.
At a given signal the laborers from abroad hastened
to exchange meridian rays for the shades of home.
There from every point was a reunion of the whole fam
ily band. At the announcement of "Dinner is ready,"
the united head stood side by side, at the upper end of
the large oval dining table, the children promptly fol
lowed into line, the sons standing at the right hand of the
father, according to their ages, the youngest son and the
youngest daughter completing the oval circle, standing at
the foot of the table.
Then the father spread forth his hands and led in
an exercise of devotion called "asking a blessing,"
thus : —
"Almighty Father, command thy blessing upon this
food. Give it strength to strengthen us. Give us grace
to enable us to live suitably under all our enjoyments,
temporal and spiritual, for the Redeemer's sake."
" Order is Heaven's first law," could not be found
written on the walls. But at a glimpse, the spirit was
seen. At that table, the mother was mistress of the

244 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
carving knife and of ceremonies, recefving aid from her
elder children. The father, at liberty, led off in conver
sation, by remark, by recital, or by instruction as the
case might be. Although he was puritanical in his re
ligion, after the straitest sect, yet neither that, nor the
heaviest toils of life, prevented him from being prone, at
this noon-tide season, to pass into the lighter regions of
anecdote and hilarity. His family followed hard after
him. But they were very careful not to raise sails, till
he had first raised a wind. With delighted feelings, eye
met eye, and heart met heart. And that allowed, chas
tened exuberance of mirthfulness, was not without its
use in causing the bones to become moistened with
marrow. An air of gravity assumed by the father, was, as in
a mirror, reflected from every face. After a moment's
pause, they simultaneously arose, and stood with preci
sion and reverence. The father's voice was again heard,
eading in a second exercise of devotion, called "return
ing thanks," thus: —
"Source of all being and happiness, we thank Thee
for life with its surrounding blessings. We thank Thee
for this social repast. We thank Thee for the day and
means of grace, and the hopes of immortal life beyond
the grave. Through Jesus Christ."
Thus the young beings of that family, in animal, in
social, and in spiritual wants, were so fed from their
father's store-house, that they gradually returned to the
renewed duties of the afternoon, with feelings prepared
to say to the children of dissipation, "Yon may go and
dance at balls, but we'll enjoy our friends at home."
In that region in those days it was the public opin-

1870. 245
ion; dividing a father's property, where sex alone was
the guide, that it took two daughters to poise against one
son. At the same time it was a matter of consideration
and forethought, that the son be trained to an employ
ment that would secure to him the comforts and happi
ness of life. No such provision was made for a daughter.
His time, when he came to be of age, was of value, and
turned into dollars. When the daughter came of age,
the lino of freedom was not observed, but she, like a
child at home, lived on and labored without remunera
tion. No calculation whatever was made for her, but
that, according to the constitution of things, some one
of the sterner sex would take her by the hand, and lead
her forth into the mazes of human life.
Under such influences, a character was manufac
tured not very far from my father's dwelling. She be
longed to a family of substance and position The mar
ket was supplied, and she was left, without forming any
new ties of life for herself, which would draw forth her
activities and affections, and engage her in the commerce
of life with her fellows. Her parents, too, died, and she
was left alone to lay her hands upon their cold grave
stones. Without any aim in life, without any self-reli
ance, she was thrown back upon herself, to sustain the
full responsibility of her own existence. The fierce
ordeal caused the juices of social life to be dried up.
She avoided society, even public worship. As a natural
result, when she was seen, her manner and dress ap
peared odd. One chamber, her paternal inheritance, left
her in her father's will, till the day of her marriage^-
which never came, — that one chamber was her refuge.

246 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
When she ceased to breathe, came her funeral, and
mother Earth received her child of vacant life to her
silent bosom.
There was another maiden lady near my father's
house in another direction. She was independent, enter
prising, and self-reliant. The tendrils of her nature
clasped humanity. The afflicted knew where to go for
sympathy, and the perplexed for counsel. She laid her
soft hand upon the heads of childhood, her still softer
voice of love fell upon their hearts as they rose up_ and
called her blessed. She was eminently a lady of mark.
Every lip pronounced her name with respect and defer
ence, as being one whom they delighted to honor.
In the year 1822, soon after the printing of the first
sheets of the spelling book in the Hawaiian language, a
missionary was sitting at a table in his own house, with
a chief, teaching him the rudiments of his own language.
The chief grasped at an idea he wished to communicate.
So turning to his attendants, seated on the mat, he said:
"The consonant is a man, the vowel is a woman; put
them together, they make something; apart they are
nothing at all." We, who are more thoroughly instruct
ed, know that a vowel makes a perfect syllable by itself.
It is a consonant only, that makes nothing at all, standing
alone. At the distance of half a mile from my father's house,
by an unfrequented pathway, there was a district school
of forty or fifty pupils, gathered from a section of agri
culturalists. In morals and intelligence it was No. 1.
T/iere respect to superiors was diligently inculcated.
Boys bowed, and girls courtesied. In the morning, as
the teacher was seen to approach the school-house, the

1870. 247
scholars were at their seats, rank and file, standing ready
to receive their teacher with an obeisance, as they would
have done to a king. He returned the salutation. This
was the greeting of a new day. During all its hours, no
scholar retired from, or returned to his presence, without
a similar act of courtesy. Did a scholar come before the
school to read a composition, or speak a piece? He
knew as by instinct what was the Alpha and what the
Omega. And the beautiful result of that school of nur
tured virtue, was seen along the streets by children and
youth always respectfully recognizing their friends and
superiors. An accomplished teacher, (of blessed memory),
taught his pupils, in that school, to love learning for its
own sake, and when school was closed to the higher
classes for nine months, until another winter revolved
upon them, he bade them, at their own homes, search for
knowledge as for hidden treasure, and to pursue a daily
course of study, even without a teacher's aid. And I
know that under his influence, some of his scholars thus
spent all the time they could command.
The first class of girls had passed through the high
er rules of Adams' Arithmetic. At the examination, the
tall, educated minister stood up, and made an address
according to custom, to the reverently-standing scholars.
During the exercise, a blush was seen to pass over the
cheeks of the girls of the arithmetic class. The words
dropped were simply these: "There is no use in girls
going so far in arithmetic, other than setting themselves
up as candidates for the wives of merchants."
There was one there who had higher aspirations
than to make education a matrimonial ticket. She hail

248 TAfe of Lucy 67. Thurston.
been taught by the schoolmaster mentioned above, that
daughters had been endowed with minds capable of cul
ture; and that intellectual attainments raised them in
the scale of being. But, in female education, would her
father, the Deacon, go ahead of his minister ? It was
not to be expected. She wished to go forty miles away.
And nothing would satisfy her short of hearing a nega
tive, come from the lips of her decided father. So,
choosing a calm hour, replete with home enjoyment, she
stood behind his chair of repose, so as to elude the pen
etrating eye of a bluff refusal.
She then summed up all her resolution, and said:
"Father, I have a strong desire to attend Bradford
Academy. May I ?" A response came, not anticipated.
He was pleased, — was moved, — granted every indul
gence asked, — and from that moment the love of a
father for a daughter expanded into the bright hues of
deep respect. He allowed influences to be exerted over
him, and his mellowed character to be moulded in a
manner very touching.
At the age of twenty-four, the most important
proposition of the daughter's life was laid before her.
By a written communication she learned that her father
felt that "he had consecrated her to God, and though
such a separation would be most trying to nature, yet
the thing proceeded from the Lord; his will be done."
She inquired: "Do you advise me to go for life to a
foreign heathen land ?" He, whose casting vote had al
ways decided the important questions of her life, for the
first time was silent. "Lucy," he said, "you must choose
your own pathway in life. It is for yourself to walk in,
apart from your father."

1870. 249
Then she stood on the mount of independence, with
full liberty to dispose of herself. Contiguous to this em
inence, lay the deep, dark vale of crushing responsibility
and agonizing thought. It was a salutary lesson to her,
that, unaided, she there tarried and counted the cost.
Alone with the Savior, she made a decision: where he
led, however dark the pathway, she would follow, to
stand or to fall. The burden was removed from her
mind. With an elevation of soul, with cheerful, un
moved feelings, she coupled, by contrast, the friends and
country of home, and the privations and dangers of a
pilgrim's life.
The day she left her father's house, he had eight
married children, and eight sons and daughters-in-law.
Of that sixteen in the home circle, she, who took her life
in her hand, and went to the heathen, is now the sole
survivor. To have her early friends restored to her, in all the
vigor of immortal youth, one more beautiful change in
her alone is wanting, — going to sleep on earth, and wak
ing up in heaven.

ARTICLE XXIIL
The Voyage of Voyages.
I HAVE thus long veiled this experience within
my own family. When I am gone, withholding
names, let it come in as part of my life's history.
During the last fifty years, I have taken five voy
ages, each of eighteen thousand miles in length more or
less. In looking back over them all, one stands out very

250 Life of Lucy 67. TJiurston. »
prominently. It proved to be a rare school. Deeply
expensive, almost revoltingly so. But the acquirements
were worth all their cost. The branches pursued were,
poverty of spirit, forgiveness of injuries, self-control in bear
ing one's share of the ills of life, forming the hearts of child
hood to piety, and ultimately rejoicing in tribulation. As
a straw, thrown into a stream will show the course
of the current, so, now and then, through a loophole, I
give a partial glimpse of the manner in which lessons
were impressed on the mind. As there was neither
name nor book to its belongings, I designate it from
what it was to me. SECTION I.
From the Time of Sailing to the First Port.
(New York to Valparaiso, with two Youngest Children.)
My dear daughter Pertsi.-s: — ¦
I learned more of human nature on my voyage
than I ever learned before, since I had existence. You
know how the 27 th Psalm became endeared to us as
being the last we read at family prayers. Before the
voyage was ended, I read it again and again, feeling as
if every verse had been prophetic. "The Lord is my
light and my salvation, whom shall I fear ?" etc.
And did the captain report that he had incurred
more risk in defending and upholding me than ever be
fore? What chivalry! For a time that was true. May
blessings descend an hundred-fold on his head, and on
those most dear to him, for every effort thus made.
Two months from seven may thus happily be deducted.
Engrave it in marble, and whisper it in the ear of the
Most High. But now we are approaching inclement

1870. 251
weather, and furious winds. Sociality is suspended.
Sympathy is withheld. Aid is withdrawn. What of that?
From persons in such situations, must I require continued
evidence of their continued friendship to be at ease?
Far be it from me. And so I counted off the days and
nights, and dreamed that to-morrow would be as yester
day. True, I encountered well-aimed arrows dipped in
poison. But I was sustained by an inward conscious
ness of striving to do what was right; and while they di
minished my happiness, they failed to pierce my heart.
Yet that, too, was to come, and from a source so unex
pected and aggravating, that it seemed to wither my
very being. I was not in the state of David and his
men at Ziklag, who wept till they had no more power to
weep. I wept till I had no power to refrain from weep
ing. Oh, could I have forgotten memories the most
precious and tender.
After being out some two months, for several weeks
we had most tempestuous weather. For three days a
gale continued with unabated fury. At one time our
situation was such as I never before then witnessed. As
the sailors express it, the ship was wallowing in the
trough of the sea; and as the poets express it, the waves
were running mountain high. Behold one of them, not
in the distance, not ahead, but in looking up at the very
side of the vessel, which in her tremendous rolls, would,
on the lee side, dip the water into the ship from over
her very bulwarks. A depth of it tumultuously crossed
arid recrossed the sky-light, as I never before beheld.
What can they be doing on deck ? I do not hear the
waves thrown over," and yet the water rushes to and fro,
as if the very ocean was let loose upon us. The door of

252 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
the companion way was closed and fastened, but as the
cover happened to be drawn off sufficiently to admit my
head, I went up the stairs to take a peep, and at once be
held the situation of the ship, and the sublimity of the
ocean. The liability of a wave soon rendered it neces
sary to close the companion way entirely, and I reluc
tantly withdrew from a view of the ocean in all its
strength and majesty, to my dark abode below. The
captain, too, was about wearing the ship, in a gale of
wind, one of the most dangerous maneuvers there is per
formed However, nothing was experienced from it of
a nature more serious, than that of a pitcher of water,
which was standing in its assigned place ever since being
aboard, discharged its whole contents onto our books,
and our largest chest, standing within cleats, jumped out
of its fastenings, turned a somerset, had its top torn off,
and lay on its side at the foot of the stairs. Thus the
day dawned upon us. The captain remarked at the
breakfast table, that if he had not tacked the ship before
that time, its decks would have been entirely swept.
Then there was a day of disasters. In going from.
the companion way to the house on deck, there was quite
a little space to pass, where there was nothing to lay
hold of, to enable one to maintain a perpendicular posi
tion, when very rolling, wet, and slippery. There the
strong arm of the practical sailor was appreciated. Not
thus accommodated, the result was, I fell and was sent
down to the lee side of the ship with a velocity and
force, of which I had not before conceived. I struck
upon my chest against the stairs which led to the upper
deck. At first it affected me very much. I enveloped
myself in flannel, and kept in my berth; but by night I

1870. 253
found it difficult to bring a long breath, or make an ef
fort to help myself. The next day I was, about appear
ing as usual.
In going up to the same meal, in just the same
place, a strong active man, a passenger, fell, and was
considerably injured by being sent across the deck. He,
too, lodged against the stairs. Then he was laid up in
his berth. Since the gale his wife and children had kept
their room. Now she was called to make efforts. But
before the day was out, she fell with great force, her eye
coming in contact with one corner of a chest. The
eye became very much inflamed, and the parts around
looked frightfully bruised; but she made the best of it,
bound it up, and spent most of the night in wakefulness
and effort, to prevent her children being thrown from
the berth.
Said the captain to a passenger, "You look ten years
older than you have done. The howling of the wind,
the groaning, and creaking, and rolling of the vessel, the
clashing of the waves, and our running, and hallooing,
and pulling ropes, has frightened you. Be of good
courage. It is time enough for you to be discouraged
when you see that I am."
It was in that extremity that I was singled out and
disciplined by finding myself silently imprisoned under
lock and key. No anger or indignation crossed my
mind to bear me up, but I felt, — I felt crushed. I
knocked, and knocked, and vainly knocked, to obtain
release. There were two doors between me and my
children, who, with others belonging to the second table,
were at their evening meal. They all thought the
thumping was outside on the upper deck. And others

254 Life of Imcy 67. Thurston.
'happened to be in various parts of the ship. After a
lapse of time, the steward returned to his pantry, which
was on the same aisle opposite my prison. I called him
and he released me. I soon returned with the children
through the darkness and howling of the storm, and
closed the door in my little room below. But such a
sense of utter desolation I had never felt before. I sat
down and wept like a child The children said, "Moth
er, what makes you cry so ? Mother, what does make
you cry so."'
I presume before two hours had elapsed, everv soul
on board that vessel had learned the humiliating posi
tion in which I had been placed I passed the thing in
silence, but an irrepressible curiosity sprung up among
the passengers, as to cfWho did it?" When away from
me, my children were incessantly plied on the subject,
charged with having done it, and found no end in being
questioned and cross-questioned respecting it. Nothing
short of sifting things to the very bottom could silence
their persevering inquiries. Thus a week passed away.
feelings within, and elements without, seeming to be in
strange sympathy, all antagonistic to repose. Then the
secret came out. The author of the deed, to pacify feel
ings, assumed its responsibility.
The captain himself said to me with his own lips, "It
was Zthat fastened you in last week. I did it because
you visited the place before the second table was served."
Mrs. Ihurston. — "After the gale commenced, I
did not visit the place between serving the first and
second tables, until I had the example of Mrs.  .
You considered her fastidious to a fault. Added to her

1870. 255
example, I had your own. You were both up there un
der the same roof. I and my children were below, and
it was impossible for us to pass to and from the compan
ion way to the aisle without aid. So, situated as I was, I
acted as I did from a sense of duty."
He replied. — "If any apology is necessary on my
part, I am ready to make it now."
Mrs. T. — "No feeling ever crossed my heart that I
was acting in a manner that you would disapprove."
I am ashamed to tell you who it was that thus
watched over my pathway on the high seas, and thus
spurred me on to duty.
The next day, Divine service was attended in the up
per cabin. First hymn: —
"When overwhelmed with grief,
My heart within me dies,
Helpless, and far from all relief,
To heaven I lift my eyes."
Text : "But as for you, ye meant evil against me, but God
meant it for good."
The exercises of that hour were very consoling and
strengthening. I dwelt much upon, and folded to my bosom the
"Believer and his Echo," particularly the following
extract : — ¦
Believer : "But if a brother hates and treats me ill,
Must I return him good and love him still f
Echo : Lorn him still.
Believer : If he my failings watches to reveal,
Must I his faults as carfully conceal!
Echo : As carefully conceal
Believer: But if my name and character he tears,
And cruel malice too, too plain appears,
And when I sorrow and affliction know,
He loves to add unto my cup of woe,

256 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
In this uncommon, this peculiar case,
Sweet Echo, say, must I still love.and bless f
Echo : Still love and bless.
Believer : Whatever usage ill I may receive,
Must 1 still patient be, and still forgive ?"
Echo: Still patient be, and still forgive?
This first act, coming as it did butt end foremost,
was but a mere fraction of what followed during a peri
od of five months, till leaving the ship. As streams
became embittered, I was driven back to the fountain.
I turned to the Bible as I never did before, and, as much
as possible, through all the hours of the day, made it my
companion and counsellor. Then it was that it put forth
peculiar attractions for childhood. They never tired of
hearing it read. They chose it before all written tales.
"Mother, we want to have you read more to us from the
Bible. It is a very interesting book. I want to be like
a tree, planted by the rivers of water."
Called, as it were, to lay my hand on my mouth, to
dress in sackcloth, and sit in the dust, it has been good for
me to walk in the vale of humiliation, finding my peace
of mind to be derived from deep submission and forgive
ness. How often did my imagination shoot forward to
my long-sought home, with the query, what will it be to
me when I reach there ? Mr. Thurston — will he too be
changed? — or am I so changed that he will cease to look
upon me with an eye of favor ? Such were my sad solil
oquies, and thus I wandered on until I reached my far-
distant home, the husband of my youth, who knew more
of what I am than any other mortal, and whose affec
tions have survived the winds, and waves, and storms,
and a succession of associates for so many years.

1870. 257
SECTION II.
While Lying in the Port of Valparaiso where our Vessel Stopped a few Weeks.
On reaching port, both body and mind became re
freshed, and I again experienced a return of my wonted
firmness and elasticity of spirits. Cold, desolation, and
those long dreary nights of darkness, the contending
elements, lashed to very fury, we had left far in the dis
tance. We again came in contact with a busy world.
We partook of its refreshments. We saw happy coun
tenances. We felt the renovating influence of light and
warmth. In my inmost soul I longed for the return of
peace and harmony, of kind looks and kind words. If
any advances, if any concessions, if any forgiveness was
wanted on my part, I would most cheerfully make them.
In this spirit I wrote the captain a letter. He made
no reply to it, but it led to a long conversation. The
best apology that he made for himself was, "That a con
tinued dropping would wear away a stone." O, it was
unfortunate for me, most unfortunate for him, that he
chose for his companion and most intimate friend one
who most unaccountably became my avowed enemy.
He held the position of Haman; J of Mordecai. He had
already reached the height of seriously meditating driv
ing me from the cabin. His real name I spare, and
distinguish him by the fictitious appellation of Haman.
But we were not through with our conversation.
During it, we were standing alone on the farther end of
the upper deck, looking out upon the green waters.
His criticisms were ever grateful to my private ear. (At
the public table, I only endured them.) I now elicited

258 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
them, so as to know wherein I had offended. I give you
one of his most aggravated specimens. I was told be
fore sailing that we should have a stove. Provision was,
made for it. The other three vessels, that sailed about
the same time, all had their warm stoves. In one there
was even a second stove, one in the forecastle. The
stove in our ship was not brought forward. In the cold
region of Cape Horn, on the Sabbath, public services
were held in the upper cabin. It was of much lower
temperature up there than between decks. I put on my
silk quilted bonnet, made for the voyage, to go up. As
I felt the cold, and as it was favorable, too, toward con
cealing the tears that sometimes trickled down my
cheeks in spite of all my efforts, I retained it on my
head. I did not consider, I did not even know, that it
would be construed into disrespect, and that the "wearing
of a bonnet was proper only for a meeting held in a bar
room, or in a barn."
Capt. — "But did you not see how cross it made me
look?" Mrs. Thurston. — "No idea ever passed my mind
that wearing a bonnet during a religious exercise on the
Sabbath, was displeasing to you."
After mentioning several such like criticisms, he
added: "So when I saw how obstinate you were and did
not try to please me, I let you go."
Mrs. T. — "My own conscience bears me witness
that I have always tried to please you."
If it is any apology for the captain, let it be said,
that Haman in the cabin considered it obstinacy, because
I did not do as they thought most proper.
Mrs. T. — "What! obstinacy in me, because I did not

1870. 259
shape my conduct according to your private feelings ?"
Capt. — Well, if you didn't know them, then there
are two points of character for you to look at at the
same time : — your understanding and discernment, which
seems to be even surpassed by your stupidity." Thus
endeth the second lesson.
Soon after reaching Valparaiso, the captain called
on a distinguished family from my native state, pious,
wealthy, and living in good style. The lady, through
him, extended an invitation to me, to come with my
children and spend the time in her family, during the
weeks the ship lay in port. She apologized for not in
viting a second family, on the ground that she had but
one spare bedroom. The captain excused me for that
reason, saying it would be inconvenient for me to come
with my children, and only have one room for our ac
commodation. , So, he added, as he gave it out at the
supper table, she then sent an invitation to you, Mr. and
Mrs.  , to come and occupy that room. There was
nothing for me to say. But it was natural enough for
me to compare in my own mind, one bedroom in that
capacious house, with the manner in which we were
then stowed away, confined to one stateroom, with two
close berths, the one above the other. There was an-
another objection, he said, to my becoming domesticated
in her family, — the bold declivity that surrounded their
premises. There would be danger of the children's roll
ing down it. In the fullness of my heart, I now, for the
first time, ventured to speak, by asking, "Have not they
themselves children, a door-yard, and roads?" "Yes,
but they are accustomed to their situation. Children

260 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
were heedless, and did not always keep within proper
bounds." So Mr. and Mrs.  went ashore, enjoyed
liberty and action, the smiles of friendship, and the re
freshments of the table.
To get the cargo ashore was the business of the
ship. To accomplish this, two hatchways to go down
into the lower hold of the'ship must needs be thrown
open and kept so. One of them was within a few feet
of the door of my stateroom, and hard by the stairs
which led to the deck. While the business was in pro
gress, little  went down headlong through one, and
Mr.  with the baby in his arms through the other, to
the imminent peril of their lives. We will go on deck
and get away from these dangerous places. But on
deck stands a machine to raise the cargo aloft from the
hold of the ship. "Mind that machine! By its power
ful whirl, an iron appendage is liable to be thrown. One
stroke might break a limb or prove fatal. Mother, take
care of your children."
In the fore part of the voyage, the captain said,
that on reaching port, I should, of course attend a
church there. I remembered what he had formerly said
to me. Every Sabbath morning I laid out every article
necessary for me and for my children in going to church.
The first Sabbath, the captain went. Not a word was
said to me on the subject. The second Sabbath at the
breakfast table, he thus expressed himself: "I am going
to church to-day; who else is going?" Mr.  and
Mr.  both signified that they were going.
Capt. — "Are you going, Mrs. Thurston ?"
Mrs. T. — "If it is convenient. I have a desire to
go."

1870. 261
Capt. — "Shall you take your children with you?"
Mrs. T. — "If I go myself, they will go, of course."
Capt.— "I don't know as there will be room for all
that will be going. But / can stay. I don't care much
about going. There will be a sermon here this after
noon." Mrs. T. — "I can stay, sif ; I am not particular about
going." Capt. — "Neither am I par-tic-u-lar." (A pause.)
Mrs. T. — "If it is very pleasant to-day, Mr. 
said he would meet me on the landing place."
Capt. — "How came he to do that ? He didn't say
anything to me about it."
Mrs.. T. — "It was a very natural thing for him to
aay it." Capt.— "Why, natural ?"
Mrs. T. — "Because I was here a stranger on shore,
and he had become acquainted. It was a very natural
thing for him to offer to accommodate me,"
Capt. — "I should think he would first ascertain
whether I was going ashore, and if I were, it would be
the most natural thing to have you go with me."
Mrs. T. — " If it is at all likely to rain, he will not be
there." Capt. — "I don't know whether it will rain or not."
Thus I left the breakfast table for my stateroom.
"There, children, I have done all that is proper for me
to do toward going to church. Our persons and our
things" are ready. I said to the captain at the breakfast
table that I wished to go. If I go, he stays. I cannot
depend on finding Mr.  . We must stay where we
are. If we ever meet your father, we shall better know

262 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
how to value him. But stop, let your things be until
the boat is off. We will not miss of going for the want
of being in a state of readiness. Perhaps the captain
will yet accompany us."
A tap was heard at the door. It was the steward's
pleasant face. "  bid me say to you he thought it
would not rain." %
Mrs. T. — Say to him that I stay on board."
The captain and others went ashore. Great inquiry
was made after Mrs. Thurston. Why didn't she come to
church? Why didn't she come ashore? The captain
assigned as a reason, that she was afraid of the rain.
The day, however, was a very fine one.
Thursday. — To-night the captain said to me at the
table, that he should not advise me to go ashore again if
I had twenty invitations, on account of sickness in the
city, — yellow fever. I asked him if there would be any
danger in going to church on the Sabbath. He could
not advise, but he himself should stay on board the next
Sabbath. He should do it because he thought he could
spend the time profitably on board. There would be a
service in the afternoon.
Friday. — Capt. — "Mr.  is sick with a fever,'
confined to his room."
Mrs. 1. — "Do our friends Mr. and Mrs.  go in
to see him ?"
Capt. — "Yes. They went in yesterday. He wished
to see them. Did you think they would keep off at
arm's length?"
Mrs. T. — " I was thinking, sir, whether it would be
a greater exposure for me to go directly up the hill on
the Sabbath to their place of worship, and directly

1870. 263
back, than for them to go into the chamber of sickness."
Capt. — " You must act for yourself. I cannot ad
vise you."
Saturday Night. — The captain brought a letter to
me from you, to my stateroom door. A ship had just
arrived. He said: "The three ladies from it are all going
ashore to-morrow to church. But they are all young
married people; they can take a tramp." He closed the
door abruptly, without giving opportunity for a reply,
leaving me alone to couple the two obstacles which lay
in my pathway toward going ashore and to church the
next day, viz: the raging of the yellow fever, and my having
been married so long.
Sunday. — Had everything in readiness for going to
church. Not one single word was said about it. The
ladies in the other vessel staid there three days, and all
went to church. I staid there three weeks and did not
go at all.
Some of the passengers on board absolutely made a
laugh of the story of the yellow fever, so gravely told
at the supper table. They said: "It was only got up to
keep Mrs. Thurston on board. We have heard nothing
about it. Fever in the city? Yes, unquestionably.
And when was the time when there was none?" I
never undertook to ferret out the matter, to know
whether these remarks were just, but within cabin walls
and on vessel's deck, in the use of my own eyes and ears,
I saw the captian, steward, and passengers come and go
as convenience and inclination prompted; children led
ashore to be vaccinated, without any more reference to
the yellow fever than to the plague.
Afternoon. — The passengers from the other ship

264 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
came on board to attend service. The three ladies took
seats on the settee in the cabin, where religious exercises
were to be held
Mrs. T— "Will you take off your bonnets, ladies?"
Mrs.  . — "Do just as you please: keep them on
or take them off." They chose to keep them on. After
worship, all went on deck My little daughter was
standing by the companion way, with her black dress
and- cape on, and the drab bonnet made her for the voy
age. It was in a perfect state of preservation. The
captain and the Rev. Mr.  , a stranger, were standing
on the upper deck near the stairs. The captain called
out several times to her by name. The attention of the
whole company was arrested She approached him.
Capt, — " Go and get your new bonnet. I wouldn't
wear that old thing about when there is company."
All eyes were now turned on her, and she felt mor
tified. She went to our room, and put on her colored
silk one, which was at hand She again appeared on the
lower deck From his elevated position he again called
out to her, "That is too good a bonnet for you to wear
on board a ship." She then went down to our room and
cried. The surgeon of a man-of-war was taking tea with
us on board our ship. Allusion was made to the very
strict discipline of his vessel.
Capt. — "I don't know how Mrs. Thurston would
get along on board that ship, to be put under such
screws.^ Mrs. T. — "O, I always calculate, sir, to submit to
screws." Neither the captain's nor the stranger's risables
seemed excited, but they exhibited different expressions

1870. 265
of countenance; while a burst of laughter went round
the table, among the inmates of our ship. I guessed
some screws on board our ship were thought of.
Mrs. T. — " Daughter, will you go down and bring
up my shawl ?"
Daugh. — "Is it in your room, mother?"
Mrs. T.—"Yes, dear."
Daugh. — "Your blanket shawl?"
Mrs. T— "Yes, dear."
Capt.— "Why don't you break her of that manner
of speaking? But perhaps you don't wish to. Your
blanket shawl? She wouldn't speak worse to a dog."
Mrs. T.— "What should she have said, sir?"
Capt. — "Your blanket shawl, ma'am?" {Exit cap
tain.) Mrs.  .—"That is too bad. What she said was
perfectly proper."
At table, Mr.  was turning me out some water.
When the. tumbler was half full, I said "A plenty."
Capt. — "It is hoggish to answer in that manner."
Mrs. T. — "How should I answer, sir?"
Capt. — "Thank you, sir."
•August 1. — A pleasant day. No rebuff. Once a
sentiment I advanced was even approved.
Gave my tumbler at the table to steward* for water
-with a significant look and motion, without uttering a
word. Such was my practice.
Capt. — "That is not a right way of giving a tum
bler. If there were but one dish before me, and my
wife passed her plate for some without saying anything,
*Steward's understanding of his appropriate duties, his faithfulness and
kindness, secured my respect. He well performed his part in smoothing my
pathway across the ocean. His honest tribute was, "Mrs. Thurston has great,
patience on board this ship."

266 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
I would not give her any. I would think she insulted
me. Mrs. T. — "I have been in the habit of having
things done at table, so far as they were understood,
without words, because I was sparing of the use of the
Hawaiian language before my children."
Capt. — "I know you have lived in a land of slaves.
(At the same meal.) I saw a piece in the Medallion. I
thought Mrs. Thurston might have written it, there were
so many jaw-cracking words in it."
For months I had submitted to, and waived every
thing that had been heaped upon me. Seated at a gen
tleman's public table, without a male relative to sustain
me, instead of measuring swords with the sterner sex, I
fixed my eye on Prov. 26:4: "Answer not a fool accord
ing to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." After
considering this verse for months, I resolved to move on
to the next verse. "Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own conceit."
So, with yesterday's criticism fresh in my mind, I
went up to the table. Steward stood in the aisle door,
in one corner of the room, his hands braced aloft on
each side, his eyes looking straight before him toward
those whom he served. I sat in an exact diagonal direc
tion from him, so that my voice would have to go across
the table to reach him.
Mrs. T. — "Please to give me some water, steward ?"
(When he brought and gave it to me, I said in a low
voice, but which the captain could hear, as he sat next
to me,) "Thank you."
Capt. — " There, that is characteristic of Mrs. Thurs
ton, — from one extreme to go to an opposite."

1870. 267
Mrs. T. — " Sir, I made use of the exact words that
a lady in America put into my mouth. She had the
kindness to criticise my family. She took me into a sol
itary room to do it. She understood human nature.
She understood the feelings of the female heart."
The captain said not another word. After rising from
the table, he went directly down to a passenger's room,
to see what was the matter, " It was as plain," said he,
"that. you were offended at table, as that you have a
nose on your face." She said to him: "You have always
treated me well, but I do sympathize with Mrs. Thurs
ton, who feels deeply on the subject of being criticised
so much at the public table. She does not come and tell
me her feelings, but I see tears fall as she passes our
door to go to her room." They reconciled matters. She
thought he went to my room to do the same. But no.
The captain mentioned to a passenger whether it
could be possible that Mrs. Thurston's mind had lost its
balance, because she vindicated eating meat three times
a day. What I said was that, since I had eaten more, I
had had far better health in several respects, and far less
headache. We had had fresh provisions, vegetables,
and meat, after having been destitute of both. Was it
the benevolent sympathy of his anxious heart that led
him the same day at tea to put ten slices of salt-dried
beef on my plate ? They were about the size as if cut
from the middle part of a beef creature's tongue. In as
respectful a manner as I could, I begged a part to be re
turned. He took away ./foe pieces. I ate one piece, as
much as I was accustomed to use at that hour, when 1 ate
any. The four remaining pieces I left in a circle on the
rim of my plate. When the passenger told me the cap-

268 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
tain's remark, my reply was, "If my mind has lost its
balance, I should not have one doubt respecting the
cause of it."
It was before reaching port, that every few weeks I
was prostrated for a day or two with pain in my head.
Then I turned to tea for comfort and refreshment. It
came, as usual, once in twenty-four hours. I was satis
fied with that. But the captain must needs say at the
public table, that he had no more sympathy for Mrs.
Thurston, when she had the headache, than he had for a
drunkard. Notwithstanding, at his recommendation, I
had for months discontinued the use of fat meat and
gravies. After reaching port, my health so rapidly improved
as to have it remarked by all. The captain mentioned
it one day at the table, and asked the cause. "It is, sir,
because since coming into port I have eaten more."
I several times, as above, aimed to have my remarks
form a check upon the captain. He was afterward far
more guarded at table. The only lashes I attempted to
give him, were to hold up virtues in which he was
alarmingly deficient. The passengers thought I had
given him a tremendous rap on the knuckles. He did
not leave the dining table ignorant of the manner in
which it was received. But what surprised me was, that
after I had taken this new position, he took occasion on
deck to express his satisfaction in my increased efforts to
please him, and even thanked me. I was glad to dismiss
this kind of warfare from my mind, and even regretted
that I had ever attempted it; for, I said to myself, "It is
enough for me to cultivate humility and self-control.
Then from this school of adversity, I shall carry with me
lessons that will be of use in the most trying scenes of life.

1870. 269
SECTION III.
From the Port of Valparaiso to the End of the Voyage.
I had several lady fellow-passengers. Not an ac- -
tion, not a word, not a look proceeded from either of
them, of a personal nature, through the whole voyage,
that ever cost me an unpleasant feeling. I could say
the same of one gentleman passenger.
Haman wrote me a note of two pages. The char
acter of it is well defined in Bible language — "False
witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe
out cruelty." I sent a reply to him by the steward. He
would not receive it, but bid him return it to the writer.
An extract of my reply reads thus: —
"To Mr.  ,
Dear Sir : —
I received and read your note last evening with
placid feelings. *. * * You wish that all intercourse
should stop here. For reasons of which I am utterly ig
norant, yours has ceased with the mother some time
since. My children are now included. It is enough.
As it respects social intercourse with you, to pro
mote your happiness, I shall follow where you lead. To
promote my own I shall cherish for you the kindest feel
ings. As intelligent and accomplished I respect you ; as
a youthful taveler passing to another country through
the wild wastes of this, I pity you ; as erroneous in any
respects toward me or mine, I freely forgive you."
Matters now fast ripened, and soon reached their
climax. I was " put under axes of iron, and harrows of
iron, and made to pass through the brick-kiln." The
captain was one of the most active in these scenes. And

270 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
after being an actor in such a drama, how could he say
that, in those last days of peculiar trial, the "wisest
course was pursued f And again, as an eye-witness re
port, that in that season of my extremity my "feelings
suffered depression /" It was not so. I do not remem
ber shedding a single tear. They proceeded much
too far to reach their own aims. I was not thus to be
crushed. Through suffering I had become strong for
trials. I was lifted up. With calm, undaunted feelings,
and an equal eye, I could look on all the powers of earth
and hell.

section IV.
Sequel.
In the eighth month of the voyage I reached Hono
lulu. Before anchoring, a boat and a brother had ar
rived. I was in readiness to depart. I had reached my
friends. I had reached an atmosphere" of love, of kind
ness, and of sympathy. I had been taught their value.
My lips were sealed to everything of an opposite nature.
By skillfully evading direct questions, I was enabled to
pursue that course. Mr.  had just received a letter
from my husband, commending me to his care. After
reading it, he said: "Father Thurston is fast ripening
for heaven." I read it too. What he said in relation to
his wife was soothing to her lacerated feelings. "Many
daughters had done virtuously, but she  ."
When I went ashore there was a domestic vessel
lying in port with her flag flying from the top of her
mast, a signal for sailing. It was bound to the place of

1870. 271
my home, and waited for me till the next day. I then
sailed with my children, leaving before the ship, so late
my abode, entered the inner harbor. The note which I
had formerly written to Haman, I now sent to him, ad
ding an additional note, containing the following lines: —
"As we shall probably meet no more on earth, per
haps you will now be willing to read what I penned for
you on board. You have a mother in America: I have
a son. I know how to sympathize with mothers, and I
know how to sympathize with sons. Farewell."
I could give many other curious specimens of human
nature. But enough. I only add in the language of
one of our passengers, that " that ship was the queerest
world that I ever jumped into."

PART FOURTH.
1871-6. — EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS. CONCLUSION.

1871.
ARTICLE I.
Thanksgiving Dinner.

(Written when living alone in her cottage home at Honolulu, her daughter
Mrs. Mary Benfield having gone to North Carolina for her husband's health.)
Honolulu, December 23.
My dear Daughter Persis:
From different pens I have a full view of
your thanksgiving dinner. Now I will give you a de
scription of mine. Opposite where I sat, your father's
accustomed place, there was a quart glass tumbler that
was filled with flowers for him. On the right there were
three common-sized tumblers of flowers, each one for a
child. On the left, four little tumblers, with opening
lilies, each one for a grandchild. These, all surrounded
with evergreens, were for my family that had passed to
the summer land. Those, still in the flesh, were repre
sented by piles of the old blue China plates, family by
family, placed across the upper end of the table, the
numbers of plates in each pile corresponding with the
number- of members in the family it represented, making
in all nineteen plates.
272

1871-2. 273
A native boy sat at the other end of the table.
There were no dishes of food along the middle, but my
plate and his, with two large circles of small plates, were
replenished with baked beef, sweet and Irish potatoes,
bread, biscuit, milk, cucumbers, apples, bananas, and
guava preserves; to which were added from Oakland,
dried apples stewed, and preserved cherries.
I enjoyed my Thanksgiving dinner. In my youth,
I separated myself from my native home and friends
there, and with a beautiful staff, passed over to this then
heathen land. Now I have large investments in two
countries and in two worlds. What though for a point
of time I am detached from what are still mine, there is
a glowing future, when I shall, in a higher sense than I
have ever yet experienced, enjoy my acquisitions.
Your loving Mother.

ARTICLE II.
Grandmothers' Tea Party.
(From the " Friend," of Honolulu.)
THE RARE privilege was afforded us on the 28th
of Aug. (1872) of being present at a gathering of
grandmothers in honor of Mrs Betsy H. Judd, who com
pleted on that day her ninetieth year. One of her grand
daughters, Mrs. Laura Dickson, wishing to honor the
occasion, devised the highly appropriate plan of inviting
all the foreign grandmothers in Honolulu to a Tea Party
at her residence. The weather was most propitious, and
the occasion such as enlisted the gathering of such an

274 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
assembly as would reflect the highest honor upon any
Christian community in the most favored part of the
world. Most fortunately we entered when between
thirty and forty ladies, a little past middle age, with a
few verging onward to the period of the " sere and yel
low leaf," were seated at the tables sumptuously spread
with the good things of this life. These ladies were
served by a company of their daughters and others, in
the fresh season of young womanhood. When all were
thus gathered,' the venerable Mrs. Thurston invoked the
Divine blessing in the following touching language: —
"Our Father, who art in heaven, we thank Thee
that Thou dost satisfy us with long life. Enable us to
yield fruit in old age. May our last days be emphatical
ly our best days. Bless this social interview. Bless to
our use this food. Make it a feast of love. While we
tarry till Thou come, may we day by day be preparing,
so as to be unclothed, that mortality may be swallowed
up of life. For Jesus sake. Amen."
While the ladies were seated at the tables, Mrs.
Thurston arose and read the following address: —
"I remember the time when at this metropolis of
our little world, the highest perfection of the female pic
ture of a family would be a mother standing with an
infant in her arms, and a toddling child by her side,
hanging on to her skirts. Now I open my eyes to be
hold a venerable company of forty grandmothers, in
cluding four great-grandmothers. This leads me to in
vite your attention for a few minutes to the origin and
increase of foreign female society on Hawaii.
In 1820 the first foreign ladies reached these shores

1872. 275
that were ever seen by the eyes of natives. They were
seven in number, including one mother with five children.
That company had only liberty to come on shore and
stay one year. What circumspection, what power of
endurance they were called upon to exercise! The ladies
were a rare curiosity to the nation; the children more so.
To turn from scenes of pressing their own children be
neath the sod with their own heels, or, if allowed to live,
to go entirely naked, — then to behold our children
dressed with shirts, pants and coats, with dresses and
neck-attire, with stockings and shoes, with hats and bon
nets, they were delighted — they were fascinated with
them, as much as our children would be with a fresh im
portation of London dolls. Kalaimoku, a great warrior,
who put down the rebellion in favor of idols, who sus
tained the position of prime minister of the nation, and
was called the Iron Cable, passed by educated men and
chose little Daniel Chamberlain, five years old, to be his
teacher in learning the English alphabet. When Mrs.
Chamberlain started to go to church with her family, by
the time she got there, she was as destitute of children
as young married ladies. One queen would secure a
child, another a second, and so on. We had ten queens
in those days.
A deputation from the London Missionary Society
was providentially brought to us. ¦ They were thirty
years ahead of us in a knowledge of the experience of
missionary labors. They awoke us from a dream of se
curity. Their advice, after being months in our family,
was gratuitous and full. "Let Mr. Chamberlain take
his six children, go home with them, and train them up
for God. He never can do it here. As society now is,

276 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
to come in contact with natives or foreigners would be
moral death." Our own missionaries too said, "Go.''
Thus they did their missionary work up quick, and re
turned to their native land. But the winning influence
they exerted over the minds of natives in causing the
Mission so quickly to become the acknowledged teachers
of the nation, will never be appreciated in this life.
During successive years, several other families, par
ents and children retired, and their places were filled
with new recruits. Some nine or a dozen children in
early childhood were torn from the arms of their parents,
and sent across the waters for education. A returned
missionary lady from the East said to me: "A child left
in the streets in America would have a better education
than in the best family in a heathen land. One divine
among us who had a regard to the sacredness of the
family institution, thought that these human clippings
went to make a family look like a cocoanut tree. An
other, fourteen years after the commencement of the
Mission, with all the ardency of his nature hoped, that no
daughter would ever remain in this land up to the age
qf her fifteenth year. But the good hand of our God
was upon us. Punahou school rose up to bless our land.
It worked together for good that some of our children
were there educated, that some were sent to America,
and some trained in private families. The Cousins' So
ciety is a monument of glory to the American mission
aries. The instructions given to the nation had its
natural result. A standard was raised of what was right.
Vice fled from the open face of day to dens and secret
places. When a white man died in former times, a line in

1872. 277
his yard was drawn around his dwelling. Everything
within that line went to the king, even down to a pewter
spoon. The natural heirs were stripped of everything.
So all the land belonged to the king, and could not be
come alienated from him. He could at an hour's warn
ing dispossess any subject of his home. Thus we lived
for twenty-seven years.
Kamehameha III., who was emphatically the Father
of his country, gave to his people salutary written laws.
He put land, too, into the hands of his subjects, to be
come theirs, their heirs and assigns forever. Then it was
that grandmothers migrated to this land from abroad,
and mothers here became so by ordinary generation.
Then it was that our sons and daughters were retained
by the side of their parents. It was good to bring
woman here when gross darkness was upon the people.
It was good to bring, grandmothers here when the light
began to shine. It was very good to plant children on
Hawaiian soil — sons to become the sinews of the land
and daughters to become corner-stones, polished after,
the similitude of a palace.
This first conspicuous "Grandmothers' Tea Party" is
to congratulate her, who in our whole little realm stands
pre-eminent in age. With physical and mental powers in
good preservation, she this day completes the count of
ninety years. She is able to look down and see her house
sustained by grandchildren, seven pillars all in the prime
of life; and around their tables olive plants are clustered,
like lilies by the wrater brooks.
Peace be to grandmothers, who have children and
grandchildren to lead them down the slope of life, over
green fields, and beside the still waters. Peace be to

278 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
grandmothers, whose lines are fallen to them, in pleasant
places, having a goodly heritage, a heritage enlightened
by the beams of the sun of righteousness and blessed
with a knowledge of his salvation."
Respecting this gathering of grandmothers, the fol
lowing statistics may prove interesting to Our readers.
At the tables were seated 27 grandmothers and three
great-grandmothers, representing 155 children, 221
grandchildren, and 20 great-grandchildren. Twelve
grandmothers residing in Honolulu were not present. It
is a noteworthy fact that among these grandmothers,
there were 21 widows, indicating that long life is the
portion of the female, rather than of the male sex, at the
Sandwich Islands.

ARTICLE III.
Battle-fields of Life. Life Alone
I HAVE been reflecting in regard to those going forth
to the fierce battlefields of life. To me the most noble
and sublime spectacle ever witnessed in our world
is a person standing up in righteousness and triumphing
over accumulated sharp and heavy trials. I constantly
pray for such with my firmest faith, that as their day is,
so their strength may be.
I depend on a native to prepare my food and wait
on me. I commune with the secrets and mysteries of
solitude. Every Saturday night, I pay off all services
rendered through the week. I expect death to creep
over me in just such circumstances as it happens. I have

1874. 279
written a letter to the undertaker, anticipating directions.
I am not prepared for sickness. It would be very incon
venient. It is said to be a sin. I try to avoid it. Other
houses are visited, and there is such a commotion, — doc
tors in counsel, nurses, watches, and all Honolulu awake
and active in expressions or acts of sympathy. The storm
is tempered to the shorn lamb.

ARTICLE IV.
To Mrs. Persis G. Taylor, on her return to California, having given her
mother a helping visit of four months.
Honolulu, January 11, 1874.
My dear Daughter Persis:
You have accomplished your mission. Go,
return to your husband and your children. Give my
love and gratitude to each one of them for encouraging
and aiding you to cross the ocean to visit your lone
mother. I was blessed in having you come. I am
blessed in seeing you return to the center of a circle,
bound to you by the strongest ties of nature. You have
reached the period when a clustered family begin to scat
ter. You are in the noontide of life, subject to its
struggles. Your aged mother has reached the calm and
quiet of even-tide. It is not dark. The western sky is
lighted up with golden hues. I wait the summons to
pass to highei scenes. It is easy to linger. It will be
easy to go. In all God's universe, 1 occupy, now and
ever, just the niche that he assigns me.

280 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
I have been vividly reminded of your childhood's
years. Could I then have divined what you would be to
me in 1873 ? May your children be to you what you
have so lovingly been to
Your affectionate and grateful Mother.

ARTICLE V.
Death of a Grandson— Robert Thurston, aged 19 years.
Honolulu, April 28th, 1874.
My dear Children and Grandchildren:
I address you all as one. But let me write
your names. Let me count my treasures. Persis, Mr.
Taylor, Lucy, Mary, Henry, James, and Eddie, — Sarah,
Lorrin, and Helen, — Mary, Marcus, Asa, Lily, and Clara,
— Thomas, and Alice.
Of my own loved ones, still mine, but who have
passed beyond the veil, there is your honored father, —
Lucy and Asa, — Edwin and Frank, — Ed, Mary, and Eric,
— George and Robert.
In what I have written, the tale is told; for Robert
has passed to higher scenes.
April 4th, Saturday. — The ball of his right foot
became exceedingly painful. It was considered a stone
bruise, the result of fishing in the water barefoot. For a
whole week his sufferings were intense. He was scarce
ly able to eat or sleep.
April 8th, Wednesday. — The doctor was sent for.
He entered into the same ideas that had been entertained,

1874. 281
of its being a stone bruise, and continued poultices, or
dering them to be made of flax seed, and changed once
in two hours. He lanced it Wednesday and Friday
without relief.
April 11th, Saturday. — Doctor visited him five
times. April 12th, Sunday. — Doctor was up before break
fast. Again at noon. Again in the afternoon bringing
another doctor with him as counsel. He called Robert's
attention, if possible, to trace back his steps to the point
where his foot received a hurt. Thus quickened, his
recollection reached the timo, when going into the water,
he stepped on a pieco of coral, but it was a thing too in
significant to receive attention. 'The counsel at once
gave an expressive look to the family physician. It was
the first moment that the idea of poison had dawned up
on the mind. He had once lost a patient when poison
had been communicated in the same manner. One whole
week had now elapsed since his sufferings commenced.
It is now supposed that he was poisoned by a small shell
fish, a species of annelides, which attaches itself to coral
rocks when in the sea. Natives are frequently wounded
in this w xy, and unless prompt remedies are applied, it
of iei proves fatal. They usually burn the wound with
a c jal of fire, or apply the leaves of a weed, — but physi
cians generally cauterize it with nitrate of silver. This
is the first instance of a foreigner having been poisoned
in this way that we have known.
Toward night, a friend rode up to my door to say
that the doctors thought Robert could not live. That
night I did not close my eyes in sleep, till after three in
the morning. Every relative tie, every inferior consid
eration, was absorbed in his securing eternal life. It

282 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
was a night to be remembered. Deep solitude, and si
lence, and darkness reigned. With my dying son, I
approached very near to the Savior. I laid him with
entire trust, fully into his compassionate arms, with one
request, only one, in that I would not be denied. Make
him a pure spirit, to glorify God, and enjoy him forever.
April 13th, Monday. — The doctor remarked that in
a hundred chances, he had but one of living. At eve
ning twilight, his aunt gently revealed to him that he
would likely soon leave them. The idea seemed to enter
his very soul. He quivered all over. Then closed his
eyes and lay for a time. After which, he conversed with
his aunt. He said he "longed to be a christian but he
didn't know how." He asked her to pray with him.
She felt that God was there, and sought for spiritual
blessings with great fervor; When she ended, he said,
"Amen." He inquired if he should be likely to live a
week, and received for answer, that he would probably
die before morning.
When the doctor came in the evening, he was quick
ly informed by an outsider that Robert had been told of
his danger. The doctor was greatly annoyed. He said
in his very weak state,:it was enough to snap the thread
of life, and to ninety-nine cases out of one hundred pa
tients, it would be an injury. On entering the sick
room, Robert said to him, "I want to know how I am.
Tell me the truth. I am not afraid to die." The doctor
told him not to worry, to be calm in his mind, and spoke
to him words of encouragement. When he returned to
the parlor, he told the family that Robert's pulse was
in an improved state.

1874. 283
April 14th and 15th, Tuesday and Wednesday.
— Doctor said that Robert liad. one chance in seventy-
five for life. His pulse was better, one hundred and
twenty in a minute. It had been one hundred and
fifty, and on so fast that they could not be counted.
He had had considerable fever, was very weak, and felt
"so tired." He said to his watcher: "They told me night
before last that I might die before morning, and I pre
pared for it." He asked a friend: "How am I?" He re
plied: "You are very sick." He folded his hands, closed
his eyes, and for some time appeared to be in prayer.
April 16th and 17th, Thursday and Friday. —
His breathing — every breath was a gasp — was somewhat
relieved, the swelling in his chest, abdomen, and leg,
somewhat diminished. He ate more, slept more, and was
stronger. It was sweetly sad to see how he longed for
the presence of his mother, absent on another island.
Although the schooner to bring her was not expected till
Saturday, he often asked if she had come, and often sent
his brother to see whether the schooner was in sight.
The feelings he expressed respecting his spiritual
state, were, "that he longed to be a christian; but Christ
seemed a great way off. He was afraid he did not be
lieve in him. He did not know how. He could not get
the hang of it." Intelligent, discriminating christians
thought his will was subdued, and that his safety did
not depend upon the comfort he received. With me it
required neither his testimony nor theirs to enable me to
lay trustingly into the hands of the Savior my heart's
treasure, My consolation through the sacred page came
, directly from Him.
Once Robert said: "Dear aunt, I know what suffer
ing is " Yet, inexperienced as he had hitherto been in

284 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
that school, not a single repining word ever dropped
from his lips. But he often said, "lam so tired." Un
der this severe discipline, a softening touch had been
given to his character. All along he was humble, docile,
patient, loving, and so unceasingly attentive, in the midst
of sufferings, to preface his requests with please, and close
kind aots with thank you, and in his seasons of delirium
so perfectly pure in every sentence, and in every word,
that the spirit he breathed on that sick-bed, was very
beautiful. Having spent Friday there, with the setting sun I
returned to my own home. In the edge of the evening,
a friend called to say, "We think he is going." Through
the darkness of the night, we silently pressed our way
to the chamber of death.
On entering, there lay our own Robert, speechless
and unobservant. Even in such circumstances, the beau-
' ty and the aspect of the youth, ripening into manhood
were ill concealed. It was previous to this, within about
two hours of his release, he said: "Dear aunt, help me to
hold my breath." Some time had elapsed after that,
when he shouted, as if answering to a call, "I'm coming,
I'm coming." They were his last words. The dying
one now experienced one, then another short but severe
paroxysm of pain. It was the shattering of the body to
allow the soul to walk forth in its immortality. Then
life quietly ebbed away. No sound broke upon the still
ness of that hour, save the repetition of select stanzas
from precious hymns.
Robert was no longer there. In the midnight hour
I returned to my home. I entered the dark solitary
abode, where I had five nights kept vigils for Robert,

1874. 285
while he lay between life and death. My prayers for
him were now entirely ended. Then, instead of allowing
grief and sadness to be my guests, I invited thanksgiv
ing to abide with me. I had only to express my grati
tude, ere the channel became deeper .and deeper, broader
and broader. I was so borne along over the space of
nineteen years, to the time when the spark of life was
first lighted up, and so borne upward that it formed one
of the green spots in my life, where memory will ever
love to linger.
Under this visitation, among friends and the com
munity, there was one pulsation of sympathy and aid. —
Was Jesus, in his infinite power, wisdom, and love,
less kind, — even though he called three widows to lay
their son and grandson, their hope and strength, on the
altar, an offering without blemish ?
What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter. Your loving mother and grandmother, Lucy 67. Thurston.

ARTICLE VI.
Marriage of a Granddaughter in California. Self-Support.
Honolulu, July, 1874.
My dear Granddaughter Mary:
I revert to the time when I was first introduced to
a little toddling girl in her second year. During these
succeeding years she has been growing into womanhood,
I have been domesticated with her for months and
months together in various places. And now, on the eve

286 . Life of Lucy G. Tlmrston.
of her wedding, she comes with her cozy letter, and
spreads before her distant grandmother, her very self,
her surroundings, her prospects, and her aspirations, just
as if she indeed belonged to me. How your freedom,
affection, and confidence warms and melts a heart en
crusted with age and solitude! With ease and simplicity
you introduce "Charlie" as your new-found husband, and
my new-found grandson. I accept and place him with
Mary in my heart of hearts. God Almighty bless you
both, and may you together walk before him in truth
and love. I thank you ever so much for your photo
graphs. I put them into a large frame, wholly devoted
to our family. It was very interesting receiving samples
of your dresses. I pronounce your trousseau to be quite
modest and economic. But the best of all is that you
have learned self-support.
I yesterday read an impressive piece respecting a
daughter of affluence. She was above doing or learning
anything belonging to the labors of life. Her youth,
and prime, and wealth had all passed away. Incapable
of effort, crushed with the responsibility of sustaining
herself, she fell, with eyes weakened by weeping, from
the high eminence to which riches raised her, to the low
est strata of honest society, the poor and shiftless,
while the daughters of her poor and despised neighbor,
the washerwoman, were made wise under the teachings
of stern necessity, qualified themselves for earth's duties,
and rose to posts of usefulness and emolument.
Your loving grandmother, '. Lucy 67. Thurston.

ARTICLE VII.
To Miss M. A. Chamberlain, Corresponding Secretary of Misson Children's
Society.
Honolulu, September 2nd, 1874.
From your own hand I received the twenty-second
annual report of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Socie
ty. There I learn officially that they have admitted by
a single vote, as honorary members, all the surviving
fathers and mothers of this Mission, and likewise placed
upon this list the names of those who have departed this
life. Such a loving act touches the heart. I thank them
for myself. I thank them for the living. I thank them
for the dead.
In contemplating this society, my mind runs back to
other years, when the eldest children of this Mission
were grouped bsneath parental guidance, shut in by a
dark horizon. Without schools, without a future sphere,
without a parental foothold in the nation. The Alpha
and the Omega of their promised privileges lay in the
homes of their unassisted and overtasked parents.
Thus peculiarly situated, the ladies of the Mission
formed a Maternal Association. At the yearly gather
ing of the General Meeting, it continued to hold its
sessions. In a marvellous manner, light, liberty, and
privileges became the inheritance of our children.
In 1852 the Mission Children's Society was organ
ized. It may be that one organization was the upshot
of the other. Be that as it may, a power for good
changed hands. A rapid stride was made in the right 287

288 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
direction. Children increased in number, age, strength,
and action. Their circle was extended by alliances of
marriage and of friendship.
In a less, but somewhat similar ratio, parents have
declined. And now with them, in the day when the
keepers of the house tremble, and the grinders cease be
cause they are few, and those that look out of the win
dows be darkened; — or the silver cord has been loosed,
and the golden bowl broken, — now it is that loving
hearts and strong hands, in the full tide of prosperity,
have beckoned the living to soft green seats in their own
enclosure, and so registered the names of all, all, as to
have them held in honored remembrance.
I only add, that by this reverential and hallowed
act, the Society encircle their own brow with a halo of
glory Lucy 67. Thurston.

ARTICLE VIII.
Advice on Entering Married Life. To a Granddaughter in California.
Honolulu, October 12th, 1874.
My dear Lucy:
And have you, my inexperienced granddaughter,
launched forth on the sea of matrimony ? And in so do
ing, waved your hand to your grandmother to send you
a chart that will guide you happily over the unknown
waves of life ? Now in the vicinity of eighty years, with
all its prolonged experience and broad observation, could
I begin anew to measure off human existence, it seems

1874. '¦*¦ ¦- - 289
to me I should reach forth to a far nobler life than I
now look back upon. But I can only measurably give
this off to another.
A new generation begins life anew, fresh and empty,
and their impress of character is largely derived from
their own observation and experience.
Of all the institutions of earth, marriage stands pre
eminent, inasmuch as it was founded by God himself.
The happiness flowing from it, in compairison with all
human organizations, is as precious stones to granite.
I rejoice that my oldest grandchild, who of the
fourth generation bears the name of Lucy, has found
the one in whom her heart can trust. God Almighty,
before whom your ancestors walked, bless you, bless your
husband, and make you blessings to each other. It is
very beautiful to have two lives mingle and flow into
one, producing a union of hearts. The delight of con
jugal love consists in this, that the will of one is that of
the other. When I was twenty-four years of age, I became a
wife. God chose for me. I received my husband as
from His hand, United, through untried and varied
scenes, we traveled life's pathway together for forty-
eight years. On entering this relation, I sought from
the Bible to know its duties, To me they were clearly
defined by the Author of our being, and the Author of
this great institution. Wives, love, submit to, obey, and
reverence your husbands. I never felt it a servile lot.
I was lifted up into a higher sphere of grace and dignity.
But these duties of the wife are to be placed in conjunc
tion with those of the husband. Such is the dictate of a
God of Order, of Wisdom, of Beneficence. Husbands,

290 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
love your wives, even as Christ loved the church, and
gave himself for it. What wife but would feel it her
delight and glory to throw herself with docility and con
fidence on a love so tender, beautiful, wonderful, and
unchanging? Not angels, but human pairs are brought together.
As they are possessed with the frailties of our nature,
they should begin life's pathway with this motto, " Bear
and Forbear,"
I once knew a man and his wife. They were pro
fessors of religion, and admitted into the upper circles
of society. Their house, table, and wardrobe all bespoke
in a high degree, the cultivation and enjoyment of
order and good taste. Their bearing toward each other
in public was charming. No lack of attentions. Such
was the general appearance to the outside world, to their
neighbors even. Yet in one thing between that pair, will
was pitted againt tcill. Each individual thought, "I
am all right, but the other is all wrong." Neither would
yield. In the bosom of each was a chaldron, always
heated, sometimes boiling over. There was a skeleton
in their house which remained until the first funeral
came off.
Some married people speak of the defects and the
faults of their partners to a third person. Others there
are who keep their tongues pure from such utterances.
That is well. If there is a burden, let it be given to the
Savior. How many, even of the pious and cultivated, care
lessly mar their dearest interests! How many seem not
to realize that conjugal love is a plant, liable to be
dwarfed by rude touches; but tenderly cherished, in-

1874. 291
creases in growth, beauty, and fragrance. Take for
instance: It was a little thing. How little? The husband,
wife, and several children were grouped around a table,
all listening to every utterance. The wife, addressing
me, said: "My husband's instincts are more promi
nently developed for his children, than for his wife."
Then she looked him full in the face and broadly smiled,
as if she thought a good joke had slipped off her tongue,
and wondered how he would take it. He, like a wise
man, answered not. By this I would illustrate, how 1 rep
robate, in the highest degree, little touches of that nature.
A gentleman who rose to eminence in his profes
sion, alluding to his wife, said: "In talk, I have it by
the pailful how to do right; but I had rather see it ex
hibited in the life." A wife should never try to be a
second conscience to her husband, reminding him con
tinually of his short-comings. The tendency is to drift
him away from her, from his home, and from duty
I once knew one, who brought home a new mother
to his orphan children. She was a lady of culture and
principle. How her husband cherished her! How she
revered him! How devoted she was to his children, as if
they were her very own!
May you, in Being introduced to a new name, to new
friends, and to a new iield of action, become the light of
you husband's house, the center of home, that sacred
spot of love and harmony, of comfort, quiet, and ease,
that wealth alone cannot give, nor poverty take away.
Your loving grandmother, Lucy 67. Thurston.

ARTICLE IX.
To Mrs. Benlield, in North Carolina.
Honolulu, November 12th.
My dear Daughter Mary:
I have received your letters giving accounts of a
a birth and death in your little family. And you have
lived through it all. How you have been called alone in
the darkness, and in the storm, to walk a thorny path
way! And how the departed one must have suffered!
But it is a blessed path that leads to a blessed death.
And the little girl, my seventeenth grandchild. You
incidently gave me a peep of her, cheering the suffering
one with her "tiny smiles." I am glad that in my mind
she is so pleasantly photographed.
At present I have the aid of a school-boy, two hours
in the morning and two hours in the afternoon. I am
quite alone at night. My heart yearns for loving com
panionship. As I was once your mother, so I now wish you to
become mine. I wish to set my house in order, and to
die in my own family. On your entering my home, I
wish the responsibilities of the table and house to fall
into your hands absolutely, I retaining my bedroom and
study as ever. Then I will trust to you, as you once
trusted to me. Let the children be to the house what
flowers are to the garden. While I remain, I live in you
and in them, and you all live in me. When I pass away
you will be my memorial.
In 1823 we separated from the Mission family at

1874. 293
Honolulu, and branched out to form a station at Kailua.
With two babes of two years and two months old, we
were closely packed five days and nights in a crowded
native vessel. After reaching Kailua, I often said with
the utmost sincerity: "Never ask me again to go upon
the ocean. Let me live and die here." So much for the
value of sentimental feelings, after having suffered to
extremity. Since that lime, in visiting America, I have
been around Cape Horn, as many times over the way be
tween this and California, and more than a hundred on
these seas that separate our group of Islands.
I have just received a large photograph of your
father. ,1 have put it in a frame and encircled it in the
same frame with small photographs of his family who
are with him in the world of spirits. Including the
whole circle, there were four cut off in the prime of life,
sustaining parental responsibilities, three in the bloom
and vigor of youth between sixteen and nineteen, and
three children between sixteen months and five years of
age. My Savior, how can I give expression to my grati
tude that my dear departed ones have found rest in thee ?
AH, all, I trust, have attained to that better land. How
pleasant, how rich the memories of having such a family
in heaven! In another large frame, your mother's large photo
graph is in the center, surrounded by the living members
of our family.

ARTICLE X.
Death of a Grandchild Five Months Old.
Honolulu, December 29th, 1874.
My dear Daughter Mary:
And so little Ida was born, a daughter of earth, thus
early to take her flight to happier climes. I, too, had
learned to love her, and everywhere she follows me with
an expressive smile. Beloved child! She will be reared
by redeemed ones advanced in knowledge, with more
than a mother's love. As her faculties develop, she
will learn of them her birth-place, who her mother is,
and with what brothers and sisters her earth life was
gr ouped. I think of her as becoming a bright mister
ing spirit, often commissioned to be your guardian angel,
to help you to bear the burdens of life, and to lead you
to that heavenly rest to which she has attained. Blessed
mother! I congratulate you in having such an angel
child as little Ida. What a precious offering to make to
God! It may have ten thousand instructors in Heaven,
but you will be its parents. To have a child in Heaven
is worth all the sickness, sorrow, and toil it has cost you.
Your sympathizing Mother.

294

ARTICLE XI.
Spring Succeeds Winter,
(After an absence of more than two years, Mrs. Mary Benfield and three
children returned to her mother's home in Honolulu, having laid her husband
and infant daughter to rest beneath the pine trees of their retreat in North Caro
lina. The widowed daughter again became the stay and support of her aged
mother.) Honolulu, August, 1875.
The two years and a half in which, in my family, I
have been like a cocoanut tree, stripped of every leaf, is
past. By the union of the remnants of three generations,
the solitary one is again set in a family. The pattering
of small feet, and the music of little voices is again
heard. A faithful staff is placed by my side on which
to lean, and I linger on the border land toward the set
ting sun.
During this past season of discipline, I accepted my
lot, and my feelings assimilated to my circumstances.
Fear became a stranger to my bosom. In the long black
night, I enjoyed the music of nature, and felt the sub
limity of deep solitude.
I am blest. I have entered my eighty-first year. I
have food, raiment and home convenient for me, and my
latter days are those of peace. Lucy 67. Thurston.

295 '

ARTICLE XII.
To the Readers of the Preceding Pages
In the spring of 1876, Mrs, Thurston was suddenly
attacked with a heart disease, which in a few weeks con
fined her to the house. Though in daily expectation of
a fatal termination, her life was prolonged, with frequent
recurring spasms of pain and extreme distress for breath,
till six weary months were fulfilled. During all this
time she was compelled to sit upright in her chair by
day and by night. Defended by a cap, veil, and gloves,
Or a lace canopy from the annoyance of mosquitoes, she
patiently lingered through her protracted sufferings
sometimes compelled by extremity of weariness to cry,
'O, Lord, how long?" Faithful friends cheered her
painful pathway to the grave. Amid these distresses,
she completed her selection of papers to be published af
ter her death.
Her sudden release was thus announced in a letter
from her daughter, Mrs. Benfield, dated Honolulu, Octo
ber 14, 1876.—
" What a joyful reunion that must have been, when
yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock, our suffering mother
rejoined the husband of her youth in the ' Happy Land.'
Without a word of farewell, she suddenly left her chair
of suffering, and the loving watches at her side, and
obeyed the Voice that called: " It is enough. Come up
higher." She has been laid to rest in the same grave
with our father."
"Her children rise up and call her Blessed."
Persis G. Taylor.
Nordhoff, California, March, 1880.
296

ARTICLE XIII
The Life and Last Days of Lucy G. Thurston, the Last of the Pioneer
Missionaries. *
(A Memorial Discourse by Rev. Walter Frear, Preached October 22d, 1876, in
FortKSt: GhuiSeh, Honolulu.)
Mark x : 29-3*0. And Jesus answered atid said, Verily I say
unto you, There is no man that hath left his house, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for
my sake, and the gospel's,
But he shall receive an hundred-fold now in tfhis time, Houses,
and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children^ and lands,
with persecutions j and in the world to come, eternal life. '
I have selected these words in memoriam of Mrs.
Lucy Goodale Thurston, because they were much in her
mind in the last weeks of her life, and because she
realized that they had. been remarkably fulfilled to her.
The varied experiences, in view of which she appropri
ated to herself these words of her Saviour, were vivid in
her memory. Her thoughts went back over the past a
good deal. She thought of the old home in Mailborough,
Massachusetts, where she was born on the 29th of this
month, 1795. She thought of the large circle of friends;
of the father, and of the eight or nine brothers and sis
ters, and of the numerous respectable and godly uncles
and aunts and cousins that she had left, and of all the
pleasant associations that she had forsaken; and then
her thoughts would dwell on the portion that she had
received on these far-off islands, and the grateful feeling
would arise that it had been far better for her that she
had left all. For some months, and I might say years,
she had been living quite largely in her reminiscences. 297

298 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
Her pen had been busy with them. The scenes of earlier
times were before her mind daily. She lived over again
the experiences through which she had passed to an un
usual degree; so that it was with more than an ordinary
significance that she with clear remembrance, and in di
rect reference to all that she had lost and gained, suf
fered and enjoyed, opened her Bible a few weeks ago,
and pointing with her finger to this passage, said to me,
"This has all been true in my case."
Let us see how true it has been.
It was in a literal sense that she left houses and
friends and country for Christ's sake. She, at the time,
had no thought of the mild healthful breezes of Hawaii,
that now invite so many from the colder climate of the
States. She had no thought of the grand mountains and
volcanoes that now attract the tourist, and are counted
among the wonders of the earth. There was no antici
pation of the delightful homes and genial society that in
late years have given to these islands a charm. She left
a land and home to which she was greatly endeajred, to
go by long and dangerous voyage, to one of the most re
mote and least known parts of the earth, to a people in
the greatest of heathenish darkness, a people among
whom life was cheap, and that offered human sacrifices,
and had fearful regulations of tabu, and were naked sav
ages. She and all on board the brig Thaddeus, as Dr.
Anderson says, "Expected a protracted and perilous
conflict with pagan rites, human sacrifices and bloody
altars; for no intimation had been received that the idols
and altars of superstition had been overthrown." We
can also readily imagine with what a grave appreciation

1876. 299
and consciousness of the magnitude of the sacred mis
sion, she gave herself to be a missionary. I doubt if
ever a missionary surrendered home and friends, to take
up so great and critical a work for Christ, with a deeper
sense of what we might call the ideal proprieties of so
high a calling. It was in a spirit far from all levity, and
in which human loves had but a second place while
Christ had the first, that she was not disobedient unto
the heavenly call. It w'as in a seriousness and heroism
that takes one's life in his hands that she left the com
forts of a pleasant home, expecting a rude hut to be her
habitation, and that what had been necessaries of life
were henceforth to be to her Juxuri.es. In place of the
refinements of society, she was to come in contact with
gross ignorance, disgusting vices, brutish drunkenness
and all unnamable immoralities. Thus she forsook all.
Among other things in leaving all for Christ and the
Gospel's sake, she at that time gave up the thought of a
long life. Her stronger brothers and sister were around
her. She was thought to be the frailest of them all.
She had already had premonition of early disease in the
lungs, with attacks of hemorrhage. Her doubt was,
whether she could endure the tropical heats and expos
ures to which she expected to be subjected. It was
thought that amid the hardships and privations there she
would find an early grave. . When speaking of this pas
sage of scripture and its fulfillment to her, she said to me,
" all at home thought that Lucy would be the first to
die." She herself thought so. They all had no other
thought, than 'that in that heathen land her life would
go first. They bade her farewell, as one whom they

300 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
never expected to see again on earth. She would be in
heaven long before the rest of them. " But," said she,
"here I am still, spared the longest of them all. All
those brothers and sisters are gone before me. Not one
of them is left." Thus she gave her life to Christ, ex
pecting that the giving of it would shorten it, and he
has given her more years than would have been hers if
she had kept her life. She found the words of Christ
true, that "he that loseth his life for my sake shall find
it." She thought of this lengthening of her days as one
of the ways in which the hundred-fold had been given
to her. She felt confident that long ago she would have
been in her grave had she staid in the old New England
home. But as it is, she has been spared to outlive by a
day the 57th anniversary of her marriage, and to almost
complete her 81st year. And instead of never looking
upon the faces of the home friends, in the ordering of
Providence she has been permitted twice to visit the
land of her birth. She has doubled Cape Horn five
times, has traveled over 90,000 miles by sea, has been
through perils and sicknesses, and prevailing diseases,
and yet God has suffered her to be the last to die on
these islands, of all that worthy pioneer band who sailed
in the brig Thaddeus on the 23d of October, 1819, and
landed in the following April at Kailua.
Again, among the things that she forsook for Christ
and the Gospel's sake, was any cherished ambition that
she might have had, any thought of being known, es
teemed and honored among her acquaintances, or of
having a name and a place in the world. Those were
first days in the missionary work. Honor had not come

1870. 301
upon those who had gone to carry the lamp of life into
the regions of darkness. The missionary cross had not
yet been garlanded in the popular esteem. The work
had not yet taken to itself other aspects than that of
self-sacrifice for the sake of those perishing in ignorance
and sin. To come at that time to these dark islands was
the conscious giving up of personal culture, and of place
in society, and of influence in the progressive develop
ment of one's own country. It was going out to un
known ends of the earth, to spend one's days in humblest
work of teaching a gross and degraded people; to have
one's faith and patience tried, and to lay one's body at
last among heathen bones, instead of in the old village
church-yard. But how true it is that God has given her
more than all that she gave up in this respect. Her
name is a familiar name to a large part of the best peo
ple in America. She is known and held in honor over a
large part of the Christian world. She has a place in
the hearts of thousands who probably would never have
heard her name had she not left society and kindred for
Christ's sake. She has received more than a hundred
fold in friends. Her influence has been far more widely
extended. She has a noble place in the grand history of
missions. She has a high niche in missionary fame.
And is there any fame better, or more to be desired on
earth, than that which now belongs to such heroes of the
cross ? Does not a true missionary receive a wider regard
and a higher place in the thoughts and love of the chris
tian world than would have been his if he had stayed in
his native land ? There may be still some who think it a
pity that any one of culture and of promise should throw
himself away, by abandoning prospective positions of in-

302 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
fluence at home, to be a humble missionary in out-of-the-
way pagan lands. But God gives, in honor and esteem,
to his faithful ones, manifold more than all they surren
der. Mrs. Thurston thought not of this at the time, nor
did she speak of it in connection with the. passage of
scripture, but we may speak of it for her. She did, how
ever, think and speak of the many friends, the christian
brothers and sisters, that God had given her in mission
ary life. She thought gratefully of the interest that had
been taken in her, of the favours that had been done to
her, of the kindnesses and assistance that had been gen
erously given, and of all that God had put into the heart
of others to do for her. She felt that she had not been
left friendless, but that the promise in this respect had
been fulfilled, that the hundred-fold had been given, that
more hands had ministered to her in her last sickness
than she could have expected had she never left all for
heathen shores.
But in a yet higher respect has it been better for
Mrs. Thurston that she left home and friends for Christ.
I mean in her usefulness. God can give us few great
blessings that will add more happiness to life than to put
it in our power to be really useful. That which adds to
our usefulness adds to the good of our life. Much has
been added to Mrs. Thurston in this respect. In the
days of her strength she was a faithful worker, and the
good that she has been permitted to do has doubtless
been a hundred-fold more than she would have done in
New England. Among her first pupils were Kings and
Queens, whose influence soon led the people generally to
desire gospel instruction: She was the educator of some

1876. 303
of the first minds in the nation. Judge Ii, who became
such an honor to his race, was early selected by the King
to be instructed by Mr. and Mrs. Thurston, and he was
» long their diligent scholar, receiving much of his solid
worth and finish from them. She endured hardiness as a
good soldier in that earnest fight to secure a hold for the
gospel on Hawaii. She stood firm while others failed.
She suffered, passed through exceeding great trials,, per
severed and was brave, as some others were not. She
had a full share in those trials, and burdens, and hard
ships, and dangers through which the mission was
brought to a success, and a heathen people christianized.
How much greater is the work that she has heen permit
ted to do, than if she had stayed in her native land!
How many more inquiring souls has she directed to
Christ; how much more has she done in preparing the
way for the Coming of Christ's kingdom! It has been
granted to her to fulfil a great and useful ministry; and
will there not be more stars in her crown of rejoicing,
than if she had not left all for Christ's sake ? Has not
even her present life been more full of the satisfactions
that come frOm a noble christian usefulness?
It may be said of her also that in giving up all for
Christ, she has at no time wished to take back any part
of the gift. She has never turned her look regretfullly
hack to her first consecration to the missionary life. And
by this I do not mean simply that she did not leave the
field through disappointment, or as thinking it too hard ;
or that she has never been sorry that she became a mis
sionary; but I mean that she has never taken back the
original surrender in which she gave up the world to be
a missionary of the cross. She has hot departed from

304 Life of Lucy G. Thurston.
the missionary spirit with which she left home. Having
left houses and lands for Ohrists sake, the desire for
these has never come back into her The fashions and
riches of this world have not reoccupied her thoughts
She did not again come to measure men and things by
the standards of the world nor to seek that which is
coveted by the world. She thought of herself as a mis
sionary unto the end. She never aspired to wear any
other character, or to appear bet ore the world in any
other light. Naturally she had strong desires. She en
joyed life. She was hopeful. She had a strong mind,
and a strong self-will. As she said to, me the day before
her death, she had a great deal of human nature. She
had those traits and qualities that would have enabled
her to take hold of the wcj Id and be prominent in it.
But she never again turned toward the world to covet it.
To be as a missionaiy, and to do that which was becom
ing in a missionary, to suffer, if need be, and be tr"e to
her calling, was her thought to the last.
Among the mercies also in which she saw God's gra
cious dealings with her, was his sparing her to do last
things. By degrees during the last six years there has
been growing in her the inclination and the feeling of
duty encouraged by othersj to leave behind her some
reminiscences of earlier missionary days — a view of the
work as seen from the inside, and that by the mothers^
instead of the fathers. A mass of material was in hand
for such a work. Her pen had ever been a good deal in
her hand, and she had from the first carefully treasured
her letters and sketches, all of them written in her quaint
and pleasing style, bearing the impress of originality, and
showing her own individuality in every sentence. When

1876. 305
her last sickness fell upon her so suddenly, she felt that
it was her last. Her strong desire was, that she might
survive until she could collate and arrange this material.
And so hourly, day after day, and sometimes by night,
as she sat in her chair, now writing and dictating,
she busied herself as she had strength, with this her last
work. She cared to be spared for nothing else. God
gave her her desire, enabling her to leave her material so
that it could be readily finished in satisfactory shape for
the press. At length she came to the time about three
months ago when she felt that her work was done, and
that she was ready to be taken. In her former sickness
es she had clung to life. She had seemed to baffle tin-
power of diseases by the sheer force of her will to live.
She had held to life feeling that there were responsibili
ties and work that sin could not yet lay down. She had
braved the surgeon's knife, and had risen up out of pros
trations, beneath which most persons would probably
have succumbed. But in her last sickness, she felt that
she had finished her course, and that she was ready to be
offered. She waited day and night in great physical
discomfort, and wondered that she was still kept in life,
and almost feared that months more of suffering were
appointed to her. A few hours and even minutes befort-
her death, the end seemed no neai er to her than it did a
month or two before. But God at last took her quickly
out of her distresses, into the rest for which she was
longing. In the last few weeks of her life she also came
to feel that God was sparing yet a little for a purpose,
especially that she might learn more of the fullness of
Christ, and come more into the peace that passes under
standing, and have wrought in her more of the gentler

:'00 Life of Lucy 67. Thurston.
graces. Months ago, and in fact for years, the experien
ces beyond this life, what it is to die, and just what will
be immediately after death, and just What the resurrec
tion is, were themes that interested her and occupied her
thoughts a good deal. She thought and reasoned and
loved to talk about them. She has often in years as well
as months past opened up conversation in regard to
them. But in the last few weeks she has wanted to know
more about the present indwelling of Christ, and how
much his promise of peace included. She became, we
might almost say, an anxious inquirer in this direction.
The week before her death, as ¦ she asked question after
question about the peace of Christ in the soul, she told
me that she felt, that she had yet very much to
learn. The most earnest conversation I ever had with her
was the day before her death. I had hardly taken my
seat at her side before she began with an inquiry that
came right from her heart. Repeating Christ's words —
"Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear
my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him and
sup with with him, and he with me." — she asked, with a
manifest interest, and a childlike spirit of inquiry, what
it was to open the door, and how she could do it more
fully, that Jesus might come in more, and sup with her.
She sought for direction in receiving the Savior in great
er fulness to her heart.
Her faith had been strong and firm in Christ. Her hope
had all along been anchored within the veil. She had
trusted fully in the God of her salvation. She had
not doubted his love or care of the crown of life
that he had for her. She not only had a mind of unu
sual strength but also the courage of faith to an unusual

1876. 307
degree. She had been strong to do, to bear, tc suffer for
Christ. The elements of strength had always been prom
inent m her character. She did not like foibles. She
was naturally commanding in her qualities, and perhaps
somewhat in her temperament; and so long as she could
work, these strong traits had their easy and ]ojful play
in her life. But now when all her work was done, and
she cruld only sit and be patient, is was as a change of
life to her. It wa3 as it were, a trial of faith in a new
direction. New lessons seemed to be coming to her to be
learned. She realized more deeply the importance of
receiving from Christ, as well as doing for him. She
had been patient under responsibility; and now with
some chafing of spirit it may be, she was seeking to learn
to be patient without any responsibility pressing on her.
She would sit at Jesus' feet and learn of him. The
sanctifying love of Christ pervading her nature is what
she thought upon and desired. The gentleness and
childlike submissiveness of the christian spirit seemed to
her graces more difficult to exercise and be filled with,
than the hardier and braver virtues But these also she
was learning as last lessons, deeply and blessedly, in the
very hours when her Saviour came and received her to
himself. Her life surely impresses upon us all the great truth,
that Christ will deal well by those who make sacrifices
for Him, and that His promise of the hundred-fold in
this life to those who leave all for him, is a sure promise.
It is a promise on which no one of us need fear to go out
in self-denying service to Christ. The life of Mrs.
Thurston leaves to her children and to her grandehildrea
and to us all, the confiimation of this promise, as a rich
legacy.

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