Mr. Stewart, also a missionary, but more recently settled here than Bengham, is a judicious and well-informed man, and would remedy many of the evils incident to the present state of affairs; but Bengham, who has usurped the absolute control of the spiritual administration, will have every thing accommodated to his whims. Stewart therefore, finding himself unable to follow the course prescribed by his active zeal and strong understanding, for the benefit of the islanders, proposes to leave the country. That Bengham's private views may not be too easily penetrated, religion is made the cloak of all his designs, and the greatest activity and strictness prevail in its propagation, and in the maintenance of church discipline. The inhabitants of every house or hut in Hanaruro are compelled by authority to an almost endless routine of prayers; and even the often dishonest intentions of the foreign settlers must be concealed under the veil of devotion. The streets, formerly so full of life and animation, are now deserted; games of all kinds, even the most innocent, are sternly prohibited; singing is a punishable offence; and the consummate profligacy of attempting to dance would certainly find no mercy. On Sundays, no cooking is permitted, nor must even a fire be kindled: nothing, in short, must be done; the whole day is devoted to prayer, with how much real piety may be easily imagined. Some of the royal attendants, on their return from London, at first opposed these regulations, and maintained that the English, though good Christians, submit to no such restraint. Kahumanna, however, infatuated by her counsellor, will hear of no opposition; and as her power extends to life and death, those who would willingly resist are compelled to bend under the iron sceptre of this arbitrary old woman.