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•
[From Ihe AmeriCl\D Church M.... iooary negist.er. New York'
October, 1868.)
A (:ypress-BollA'h.
BY REV. F. S. RISING.
I
On the 11th day of March, 1~8, in the
city of Honolulu, the Rev. Asa Thurston fell
asleep. He closed his eyes upon the bright
sunlight of his dear Hawaii 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 mission.
ary labor, and went hence to serve his Lord
day and night in the heavenly temple. Near
his E'artbly home the ever.surging Pacific,
emblem of eternity, beat upon the shifting
8ands. Now he listens to the steady dasn of
Ihe endless ages at the ftlet oC the Ancient of
Days. He walks no longer under the fierce
heat of
, bllt in the genial
the Sun of
from our
gaze, we
, write
this me
IlS 01\8 who glorified
his divine Saviottr, Ilnd 'in 'whom the grace
of God was magnified.
I
HIS
HEROrS~I.
He sailed out of Boston harbor in the brig'
Thaddeus in October, 1819. His face was
set toward the Sandwich Islands. The Duff
had carried the Gospel light 10 the Society
group ill (he South Pacific; but in the north
deep da r/,ness brooded. Out oC it rose the
dealb-cry of Cook.
Imagination easily
sl<etched (he horrors of the land where a savage club laid low the English navigator. A
Hawa iian lad, brought by a sea-captain to
ew Haven, lold of the idolalry of hiS countrymen, and besought some to hasten thither
with the good new' of God. IoWw~Bing- Htrllm
ham, Asa Thurston, and fil'e laymen, with
their wives, beard this boy';; tOUfhing appeaJ,
and in allSlVer girded themselves for their
grand venture of falth. Foreign" ;ssion8
... ber
were not then popular. The chilly
dal, when the sa ils of the Thaddeus were
furled, typified the coldness of the Christian
heart toward the hea then world. But these
pioneers were horn herMs. Thurston , by his
physical strength and courage, had won,
}ears beCore, at Yale College, the much.
prized staff of" bully." With a moml cour.
age and strength more SUblime, he and his
companions kissed their brides. and led them
from Ihe hymeneal altar to dwell in mid.
orean amid savag-c i landers. Our hearts
beat quick a~ we l~ecnll.the heroism of those
young men and women putting America be.
hind them to ''lin n natiol1 to Christ. The
American Board of Commi~sioners for For.
eign Missions seut them out. For the results of (heir work the Lord be praised!
/
-
ROYAL J{AILUA.
•
It was Thurston's lot to labor at Kailua,~ 0-the island of Hawaii. What a pansh for a
novice to handle! It was a filthy village of
thatched huts, built upon beds of indurated
lava, on which the fervent sun poured his
furnace-heat every day in every year. It
nestled amid a grove of cocoanut treps, and
reached down to the shore, whither came
rolling in the white-crested billows. Behind
it rose the lofty volcanic peak of Hualalai.
Standing 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
do.wn 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 terrific
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!
Tben Kailua was, at the time of Thurston's landing, the residence of the king. He
was a profligate, and the royal city was the
fountain of the kingdom·s pollution. Here
the talm had been broken and the idols destroyed, that there might be no check to iniQuit. The ruins of heflth~ temples were
everywhere about, heart-sickening to behold.
fl nd heathen vices were enthroned in every
hut and . stalked abroad in every village.
Men, WOlllen and child ren were like the volcanoes. Raging fires of wickedness within
l.roke out ever in desolating flows . In a
thatched hut in the midst of this physical
desolateness and moral degradation, Thurst'On and his wife found their earliest Hawaiian home. Amid such scenes their first-born
came to them. Here the Go~pel was first
pl'eached for the regeneration of Hawaii nei
and the salvation of mllny thousand souls.
HARE DEVOTION.
When nearly half II century had pas~ed,
partial paralysis compelled thl! heroic T!-'urst'On to rest from his toil. He was no 1011,;"r
young. His locks were gray, and grand.children made more happy his home. During th is long pPriod he did not once leave the
Islands. Others carne lind went, but he remained the tireless evangelist. Tropical
heat did not abate his vigor. Long journeys
011 foot over lava tracts did not exhaust his
st.rength. The hardness and wickedness of
the heathen heart did not discourage hillJ .
Preaching in season and out of season did
not weary him. The lov
f Christ COIlstrained him, and he did not pause in his
labor until hiS body cried out, "It is enough."
THE VE:-IERABLE PIONEER.
•
During these fifty vear~ he bore 0 u active
part in all the .rem kable changes which
God wrought anlOll the Hawaiians. The
Idng and the common people alike felt his
influence. His huge chltlr~h building, within
a stone's throw of the royal residence, attested this. When thc capital was removed
to Honohlu, he did not follow tile king, but
tbe common people still heard him gladly.
We eRn imagine the grateful joy of his soul I
as, year by year, he saw the heathell people
become Christian and the obsolute de~potism
changed into a constitutional monarchy.
It was our privilege to spelld a few days
under his hospitable roof after paralysis had
disabled him . We can not soon forget his
venerable form, crowned with flowillg ~ilver
locks, hi:! gentle, modest spirit, his earnestness of soul, his simple faith, his calm expectation of the future. The king rnightwell
bow before him. and the young do him reverence, as one of the fathers of the kingdom.
W hen he landed, Karnehflmeha n. was a
hnlf-clad savage, dwelling in a filrhy hilt,
rioting in degradation. When he went
hence, Kamehameha V. re~ided in a stone
palace within sound of the church-g-oing bell,
with every appliance of modern civllization
and Christianity about him. Let unbelieving
anti half-hearted Christian mell sneer at Foreign l\li siolls. jf they will. One life like
that of Aga Thurstoll, t>o sublime, so selfsacrificing, so sur.cessful, fill' olltshines any
diilllJond t.hattbey can bring fro II I t.hcir wines.
I
~!,,=-7Jf"'NJ
. Rift"'"
8~1 9Pi.e.£. After
paralysis came upon him, he went to California in quest of health. There, thougll nearly
eighty years of age, he first saw a railroad
and telegraph. The lVorld had been busy
with its invention::; while he was absorbed ill
his chosen work. When he raturned to
Honolulu, to await th· J,ord's :SUIlIlIiOIlS, he
must. have llIu:,;ed
tl!i£erior facilitv
ror mIssionary wor - IV Ie the ord gives III
our day.
Young men! ponder the life of Asa Thun:ton. Emulate his faith and zeal. U unumbered millions call to YOll for the bread of
life. The Gospel is in }'our hands as a
power. Go forth and wield it in the midst
of the nations.
.
Q",p sp\l(I,IJ Q9WP91il US fA
TO CHRISTIAN WOMEN.
\Ve may be pardoned one word of reference to Asa Thurston':; widow. :She shared
his trials, went with him in his long missionary tours on foot, and equaled him in heroism. She taught the Hawaiiau men to iove
their wives and their Sa\'iour; the Hawaiian women to fear God and honor their husbands; the Hawaiian child ren to obey the
Lord and their parents. :So she carried into
the huts of that <.lark lanu tbose blessed
words-Love, Virtue, Home, Jesus, Heaven.
i\lallY an Hawaiian household to-day blesses
God for the g-ifts sent bv her.. She nolV
awaits her Lord's cal "and we have ventured
up~ her retirement that we may appeal to
mot ers, wives amilli rers to how forth such
- - - - - - mIssIonary spiril as hers. CIHistian women!
do not keep ba k your husbands, brothers
and sons. Do uht stay at horne yourselves.
Make speed to 611 the world with the glory
of Emmanuel.
I
FUNERA
D4:·lh'."'"d Mnl'ch 12....
\VJU. 011 tbe occ"Nioli
,by R..~y. Eli CorI.. · Hcu.h of Rev.
AI!ut '('bu"""l" ......... uft
"IUt"'jell" l . . iolleel·
i\Jill.!!liou ...·ics '0 t"'~~ UU"'ll'ih,jll t.ln ... h,.
-r-
" Tile hO:1ry heftd is It
wn of glory, if it be found
in the way of righteousness. "-PROV. xvi: 31.,
No 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 mis~ion
which has been the best gift of the ori'e race
to the other. Forty-eight years ago this very
month, on the 31st at. arch, 1820, the deceased reached the spores of Hawaii with
the pioneer mission<Il:If;l~ sent out by the
American Board to r yangelize these then
benighted and barbarous islands. 'fhis day
of his burial is just one month le~s than
forty-eight years from the day when he and
the still surviving companion of his earthly
pilgrimage (who has cared for him so tenderly during the closing years of his life)
were stationed at Kailua, the ancient residence of the Hawaiian kings. And there,
for more than forty years, he cont,inued to
reside and to labor as the hOOflred 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 fo secure the good will of
those highest in authority; and when th~
word of thfl king was law and his will \e
absolute. But, as is ever the case with .1(
faithful minister, his influence was great~ b
and h is usefulness most apparent among th \
masses of the common 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 lire. Indeed I
know not that in the entire history of missions a like instance is recorded of one remaining so long upon ·the field :and at a single post, during the life lillie of'a whole generation, without revisiting the .home of his
childhood or visiting any other land. Only
when advancing age and
ted strokes of
paralysis had rend
of service; only
lost its run.
and his
begun to gi ve a
consent to res
em
spend
his city.
time of his
to our chilvencr'\bl f .
•
and that beniguant
ntenance, u perfect '
picture of the patr1a
and prophets of I
olden times not SUOII
ed from the mem- I
ory. InJill1cy with it 'b~~~ing beauty and
its fragrance of a new 11'(\1' is lovely in its
gentleness and innocence. Youth with its
vigor of ripening ambitions and n.aturing
powers is interesting indeed; but no sight
on earth is Illore impressil"e than a beautiful
. .
old age.
In his case the ~utward appearance was
but the truthful
011 0/ the inward
life; a calm nnd
repose of faith;
no sollcitude; a
a rest in Jesus
sublime quietude
ich felt no fear.
The hoary head
a crown of glory.
if it be found in t
of righteousness.
But he died not of old age. With marvelous
physical powers, per ps unsurpassed in his I
Jay by those of any 0 er resident upon these I
Islands, whether natil!e or foreigner, he might
isease, have surVived
but for the attacks 0
a century. The bra and nervous system
were first to giv~ 'ay fore his hearing was
impaired. his ey eCIl'£e dim, or his natural
force abated. That 1>'e1l compacted and well
proportioned frame seemed too strong to be
torn down even when the mind had ceased ·
to maintain a logical succession of thougbts,
and his conversation, a strange mixture of
Hawaiian, English and Latin, had for the
most part cea
coherent.
Those of
were permitted to visit
him near the
life cannot soon forget
tbose more lucid
when for a little
the soul reasserted its power over the tongue,
and with indescribable pathos and earneet- I
ness he exclaimed, ., 1\1y love for Jesus is
very great." Nor can I soon forget tbat
responsive smile with which he gave u~sent
to what was said of the preciousness of Christ
to tbe believer's soul, when his tongue could
no longer give utterance to his thoughts, nnd
his eyes were already glassy with the film of
death.
Governed by principle, and not by impulse,
in his habits of devotion, he persisted in leading at family prayers as a
in his own
frame senhousehold, till be could no
at to the last
tences correctly; and
day of his life,
him more restomission of the
less and uneasy
regular family devotions at the appointed
houl', nor did anything soothe and comfort
him so much as prayer,
Though remarkably taciturn all through
life, yet he was haT({ly less remarlm.ble for 1\
quiet humor which \\"'as kept in subjection to
bis Christian dignity, while it. did much to
make him ngreeuble in social life. and to
make him buoyant in spirit under all the
trials of missiOll3rv
And this cheerful
ess charactertemper and Christiao
ntry was lost
ized him to tbe la
upon him even
y of the past
became a blank.
ot recognize
hi!' family or his
His peculiarly
jned voice,
even when age k. ~iorm~wl~at shattered it,
I
I
-----------------~
-
.
---
-
~--~---
nor the congregahis singing out
the general erwas greatly
improved by that
voice of manly
power, yet of
y sweetness, to which
we shall listen, in the service of song, never
morc. Alas. one more praying voice is silenced, one more loving heart is cold, oue
more tongue so eloquent in praise is sliU.
But though the organs of Iltterance fail to
co mmunicate his thoughts and feelings to
mortal ears, who can tell the higher ble£sedness of that intimate communion he bolds
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 Treed 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 :loon be a
buried crown: but how far are it beauty
and excellence tran5cended by that ('rown of
glory which he wears who already reigns
with 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, under Christ, the faithful shepherd and bishop of their souls. What
a debt of gratitude do the vast congregation
\vorshiping in this sanctwuy owe to the God
of all grace for the services of the departeo.
Their t.eloved pastor, whose absence to.day
;s so much regretted, could speak eloquently
to his people of his personal mdebtedness to
him whom be greatly honored. and tenderly
loved as a spiritual father. For it was to the
blessing of God upon a sermon prearhed by
Father Thurston that he ascribed that personal interest in religion which resulted in
his conversion. So is the life of the deceased
reproduced not only in the missionary life of
his own son laboring upon another island of
this group, nor yet alone in the lives of many
natives ~tilllivjng who mourn for him as for
I a father, but with redoubled power and energy is it reproduced in the ministry of hi:n
who now occupies 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
and ano-els COIltemplate it. W
of honor and usefulness as even
itted to see it.
Wbat an
pioneers of
Christian missions
to the waste
places of the earth to
the standard of
the C1"O~S among the
tribes, the
thought that they 100
permitted to
witness the fruit of th.elr toil in a renovated
-~
~
----~-
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natIon, III a convertl.! peopl'l, Tii'""'i\lwathen
tribe liberated and liften. up by the power of
the go~pel, What a life dev d to the tern. I
poral and eternal well lX-i
f tholl. ands
upon thousands wbo ha" Ii d and died
under his honored minis • What It life,
compa~sjng in its span the entire hI tory of
Chris tiau ci\·ilizatioll in these isll1nds of the
I
sea.
Yet what is this to
at unending life of
glory and blessedness upon which he has en.
tered. The days of the years of his pilgrim.
age have Deen oar SCore years; but that
heavenly life IS
t£' by larger cycles.
and its sllcces ive
s:aha'u be made more
and more illustrious r
hiaher j<l.)'s and
more distingui, hed s~ices, H~a,"en i ' not
llIere reception of kD~ dge and absorption
of bli;.s; it is holiness in action, There
is fullness of joy, becau~e perfection of love.
There nre pleasures fore\'ermore, because
spiritual employments in which the soul can
never grow weary. ' With renewed zeal and
umiTlng- patience let us labor, that we to()
mlfy 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."
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[From Ihe AmeriCl\D Church M.... iooary negist.er. New York'
October, 1868.)
A (:ypress-BollA'h.
BY REV. F. S. RISING.
I
On the 11th day of March, 1~8, in the
city of Honolulu, the Rev. Asa Thurston fell
asleep. He closed his eyes upon the bright
sunlight of his dear Hawaii 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 mission.
ary labor, and went hence to serve his Lord
day and night in the heavenly temple. Near
his E'artbly home the ever.surging Pacific,
emblem of eternity, beat upon the shifting
8ands. Now he listens to the steady dasn of
Ihe endless ages at the ftlet oC the Ancient of
Days. He walks no longer under the fierce
heat of
, bllt in the genial
the Sun of
from our
gaze, we
, write
this me
IlS 01\8 who glorified
his divine Saviottr, Ilnd 'in 'whom the grace
of God was magnified.
I
HIS
HEROrS~I.
He sailed out of Boston harbor in the brig'
Thaddeus in October, 1819. His face was
set toward the Sandwich Islands. The Duff
had carried the Gospel light 10 the Society
group ill (he South Pacific; but in the north
deep da r/,ness brooded. Out oC it rose the
dealb-cry of Cook.
Imagination easily
sl<etched (he horrors of the land where a savage club laid low the English navigator. A
Hawa iian lad, brought by a sea-captain to
ew Haven, lold of the idolalry of hiS countrymen, and besought some to hasten thither
with the good new' of God. IoWw~Bing- Htrllm
ham, Asa Thurston, and fil'e laymen, with
their wives, beard this boy';; tOUfhing appeaJ,
and in allSlVer girded themselves for their
grand venture of falth. Foreign" ;ssion8
... ber
were not then popular. The chilly
dal, when the sa ils of the Thaddeus were
furled, typified the coldness of the Christian
heart toward the hea then world. But these
pioneers were horn herMs. Thurston , by his
physical strength and courage, had won,
}ears beCore, at Yale College, the much.
prized staff of" bully." With a moml cour.
age and strength more SUblime, he and his
companions kissed their brides. and led them
from Ihe hymeneal altar to dwell in mid.
orean amid savag-c i landers. Our hearts
beat quick a~ we l~ecnll.the heroism of those
young men and women putting America be.
hind them to ''lin n natiol1 to Christ. The
American Board of Commi~sioners for For.
eign Missions seut them out. For the results of (heir work the Lord be praised!
/
-
ROYAL J{AILUA.
•
It was Thurston's lot to labor at Kailua,~ 0-the island of Hawaii. What a pansh for a
novice to handle! It was a filthy village of
thatched huts, built upon beds of indurated
lava, on which the fervent sun poured his
furnace-heat every day in every year. It
nestled amid a grove of cocoanut treps, and
reached down to the shore, whither came
rolling in the white-crested billows. Behind
it rose the lofty volcanic peak of Hualalai.
Standing 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
do.wn 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 terrific
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!
Tben Kailua was, at the time of Thurston's landing, the residence of the king. He
was a profligate, and the royal city was the
fountain of the kingdom·s pollution. Here
the talm had been broken and the idols destroyed, that there might be no check to iniQuit. The ruins of heflth~ temples were
everywhere about, heart-sickening to behold.
fl nd heathen vices were enthroned in every
hut and . stalked abroad in every village.
Men, WOlllen and child ren were like the volcanoes. Raging fires of wickedness within
l.roke out ever in desolating flows . In a
thatched hut in the midst of this physical
desolateness and moral degradation, Thurst'On and his wife found their earliest Hawaiian home. Amid such scenes their first-born
came to them. Here the Go~pel was first
pl'eached for the regeneration of Hawaii nei
and the salvation of mllny thousand souls.
HARE DEVOTION.
When nearly half II century had pas~ed,
partial paralysis compelled thl! heroic T!-'urst'On to rest from his toil. He was no 1011,;"r
young. His locks were gray, and grand.children made more happy his home. During th is long pPriod he did not once leave the
Islands. Others carne lind went, but he remained the tireless evangelist. Tropical
heat did not abate his vigor. Long journeys
011 foot over lava tracts did not exhaust his
st.rength. The hardness and wickedness of
the heathen heart did not discourage hillJ .
Preaching in season and out of season did
not weary him. The lov
f Christ COIlstrained him, and he did not pause in his
labor until hiS body cried out, "It is enough."
THE VE:-IERABLE PIONEER.
•
During these fifty vear~ he bore 0 u active
part in all the .rem kable changes which
God wrought anlOll the Hawaiians. The
Idng and the common people alike felt his
influence. His huge chltlr~h building, within
a stone's throw of the royal residence, attested this. When thc capital was removed
to Honohlu, he did not follow tile king, but
tbe common people still heard him gladly.
We eRn imagine the grateful joy of his soul I
as, year by year, he saw the heathell people
become Christian and the obsolute de~potism
changed into a constitutional monarchy.
It was our privilege to spelld a few days
under his hospitable roof after paralysis had
disabled him . We can not soon forget his
venerable form, crowned with flowillg ~ilver
locks, hi:! gentle, modest spirit, his earnestness of soul, his simple faith, his calm expectation of the future. The king rnightwell
bow before him. and the young do him reverence, as one of the fathers of the kingdom.
W hen he landed, Karnehflmeha n. was a
hnlf-clad savage, dwelling in a filrhy hilt,
rioting in degradation. When he went
hence, Kamehameha V. re~ided in a stone
palace within sound of the church-g-oing bell,
with every appliance of modern civllization
and Christianity about him. Let unbelieving
anti half-hearted Christian mell sneer at Foreign l\li siolls. jf they will. One life like
that of Aga Thurstoll, t>o sublime, so selfsacrificing, so sur.cessful, fill' olltshines any
diilllJond t.hattbey can bring fro II I t.hcir wines.
I
~!,,=-7Jf"'NJ
. Rift"'"
8~1 9Pi.e.£. After
paralysis came upon him, he went to California in quest of health. There, thougll nearly
eighty years of age, he first saw a railroad
and telegraph. The lVorld had been busy
with its invention::; while he was absorbed ill
his chosen work. When he raturned to
Honolulu, to await th· J,ord's :SUIlIlIiOIlS, he
must. have llIu:,;ed
tl!i£erior facilitv
ror mIssionary wor - IV Ie the ord gives III
our day.
Young men! ponder the life of Asa Thun:ton. Emulate his faith and zeal. U unumbered millions call to YOll for the bread of
life. The Gospel is in }'our hands as a
power. Go forth and wield it in the midst
of the nations.
.
Q",p sp\l(I,IJ Q9WP91il US fA
TO CHRISTIAN WOMEN.
\Ve may be pardoned one word of reference to Asa Thurston':; widow. :She shared
his trials, went with him in his long missionary tours on foot, and equaled him in heroism. She taught the Hawaiiau men to iove
their wives and their Sa\'iour; the Hawaiian women to fear God and honor their husbands; the Hawaiian child ren to obey the
Lord and their parents. :So she carried into
the huts of that <.lark lanu tbose blessed
words-Love, Virtue, Home, Jesus, Heaven.
i\lallY an Hawaiian household to-day blesses
God for the g-ifts sent bv her.. She nolV
awaits her Lord's cal "and we have ventured
up~ her retirement that we may appeal to
mot ers, wives amilli rers to how forth such
- - - - - - mIssIonary spiril as hers. CIHistian women!
do not keep ba k your husbands, brothers
and sons. Do uht stay at horne yourselves.
Make speed to 611 the world with the glory
of Emmanuel.
I
FUNERA
D4:·lh'."'"d Mnl'ch 12....
\VJU. 011 tbe occ"Nioli
,by R..~y. Eli CorI.. · Hcu.h of Rev.
AI!ut '('bu"""l" ......... uft
"IUt"'jell" l . . iolleel·
i\Jill.!!liou ...·ics '0 t"'~~ UU"'ll'ih,jll t.ln ... h,.
-r-
" Tile hO:1ry heftd is It
wn of glory, if it be found
in the way of righteousness. "-PROV. xvi: 31.,
No 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 mis~ion
which has been the best gift of the ori'e race
to the other. Forty-eight years ago this very
month, on the 31st at. arch, 1820, the deceased reached the spores of Hawaii with
the pioneer mission<Il:If;l~ sent out by the
American Board to r yangelize these then
benighted and barbarous islands. 'fhis day
of his burial is just one month le~s than
forty-eight years from the day when he and
the still surviving companion of his earthly
pilgrimage (who has cared for him so tenderly during the closing years of his life)
were stationed at Kailua, the ancient residence of the Hawaiian kings. And there,
for more than forty years, he cont,inued to
reside and to labor as the hOOflred 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 fo secure the good will of
those highest in authority; and when th~
word of thfl king was law and his will \e
absolute. But, as is ever the case with .1(
faithful minister, his influence was great~ b
and h is usefulness most apparent among th \
masses of the common 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 lire. Indeed I
know not that in the entire history of missions a like instance is recorded of one remaining so long upon ·the field :and at a single post, during the life lillie of'a whole generation, without revisiting the .home of his
childhood or visiting any other land. Only
when advancing age and
ted strokes of
paralysis had rend
of service; only
lost its run.
and his
begun to gi ve a
consent to res
em
spend
his city.
time of his
to our chilvencr'\bl f .
•
and that beniguant
ntenance, u perfect '
picture of the patr1a
and prophets of I
olden times not SUOII
ed from the mem- I
ory. InJill1cy with it 'b~~~ing beauty and
its fragrance of a new 11'(\1' is lovely in its
gentleness and innocence. Youth with its
vigor of ripening ambitions and n.aturing
powers is interesting indeed; but no sight
on earth is Illore impressil"e than a beautiful
. .
old age.
In his case the ~utward appearance was
but the truthful
011 0/ the inward
life; a calm nnd
repose of faith;
no sollcitude; a
a rest in Jesus
sublime quietude
ich felt no fear.
The hoary head
a crown of glory.
if it be found in t
of righteousness.
But he died not of old age. With marvelous
physical powers, per ps unsurpassed in his I
Jay by those of any 0 er resident upon these I
Islands, whether natil!e or foreigner, he might
isease, have surVived
but for the attacks 0
a century. The bra and nervous system
were first to giv~ 'ay fore his hearing was
impaired. his ey eCIl'£e dim, or his natural
force abated. That 1>'e1l compacted and well
proportioned frame seemed too strong to be
torn down even when the mind had ceased ·
to maintain a logical succession of thougbts,
and his conversation, a strange mixture of
Hawaiian, English and Latin, had for the
most part cea
coherent.
Those of
were permitted to visit
him near the
life cannot soon forget
tbose more lucid
when for a little
the soul reasserted its power over the tongue,
and with indescribable pathos and earneet- I
ness he exclaimed, ., 1\1y love for Jesus is
very great." Nor can I soon forget tbat
responsive smile with which he gave u~sent
to what was said of the preciousness of Christ
to tbe believer's soul, when his tongue could
no longer give utterance to his thoughts, nnd
his eyes were already glassy with the film of
death.
Governed by principle, and not by impulse,
in his habits of devotion, he persisted in leading at family prayers as a
in his own
frame senhousehold, till be could no
at to the last
tences correctly; and
day of his life,
him more restomission of the
less and uneasy
regular family devotions at the appointed
houl', nor did anything soothe and comfort
him so much as prayer,
Though remarkably taciturn all through
life, yet he was haT({ly less remarlm.ble for 1\
quiet humor which \\"'as kept in subjection to
bis Christian dignity, while it. did much to
make him ngreeuble in social life. and to
make him buoyant in spirit under all the
trials of missiOll3rv
And this cheerful
ess charactertemper and Christiao
ntry was lost
ized him to tbe la
upon him even
y of the past
became a blank.
ot recognize
hi!' family or his
His peculiarly
jned voice,
even when age k. ~iorm~wl~at shattered it,
I
I
-----------------~
-
.
---
-
~--~---
nor the congregahis singing out
the general erwas greatly
improved by that
voice of manly
power, yet of
y sweetness, to which
we shall listen, in the service of song, never
morc. Alas. one more praying voice is silenced, one more loving heart is cold, oue
more tongue so eloquent in praise is sliU.
But though the organs of Iltterance fail to
co mmunicate his thoughts and feelings to
mortal ears, who can tell the higher ble£sedness of that intimate communion he bolds
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 Treed 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 :loon be a
buried crown: but how far are it beauty
and excellence tran5cended by that ('rown of
glory which he wears who already reigns
with 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, under Christ, the faithful shepherd and bishop of their souls. What
a debt of gratitude do the vast congregation
\vorshiping in this sanctwuy owe to the God
of all grace for the services of the departeo.
Their t.eloved pastor, whose absence to.day
;s so much regretted, could speak eloquently
to his people of his personal mdebtedness to
him whom be greatly honored. and tenderly
loved as a spiritual father. For it was to the
blessing of God upon a sermon prearhed by
Father Thurston that he ascribed that personal interest in religion which resulted in
his conversion. So is the life of the deceased
reproduced not only in the missionary life of
his own son laboring upon another island of
this group, nor yet alone in the lives of many
natives ~tilllivjng who mourn for him as for
I a father, but with redoubled power and energy is it reproduced in the ministry of hi:n
who now occupies 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
and ano-els COIltemplate it. W
of honor and usefulness as even
itted to see it.
Wbat an
pioneers of
Christian missions
to the waste
places of the earth to
the standard of
the C1"O~S among the
tribes, the
thought that they 100
permitted to
witness the fruit of th.elr toil in a renovated
-~
~
----~-
nJ"","Y'" lIV
~
I
I
J
;31:3:
•
natIon, III a convertl.! peopl'l, Tii'""'i\lwathen
tribe liberated and liften. up by the power of
the go~pel, What a life dev d to the tern. I
poral and eternal well lX-i
f tholl. ands
upon thousands wbo ha" Ii d and died
under his honored minis • What It life,
compa~sjng in its span the entire hI tory of
Chris tiau ci\·ilizatioll in these isll1nds of the
I
sea.
Yet what is this to
at unending life of
glory and blessedness upon which he has en.
tered. The days of the years of his pilgrim.
age have Deen oar SCore years; but that
heavenly life IS
t£' by larger cycles.
and its sllcces ive
s:aha'u be made more
and more illustrious r
hiaher j<l.)'s and
more distingui, hed s~ices, H~a,"en i ' not
llIere reception of kD~ dge and absorption
of bli;.s; it is holiness in action, There
is fullness of joy, becau~e perfection of love.
There nre pleasures fore\'ermore, because
spiritual employments in which the soul can
never grow weary. ' With renewed zeal and
umiTlng- patience let us labor, that we to()
mlfy 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."