John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brotherPaton, John Gibson
Religion
John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides, volume 2 (of 3) : $b An autobiography edited by his brother
Paton, John Gibson
Missionaries -- Vanuatu -- Biography; Paton, John Gibson, 1824-1907
“This must not continue. Are you to permit one young fool to defy us
all, and break up the Lord’s work on Aniwa? If you cannot righteously
punish him, I will shut myself up in my House and withdraw from all
attempts to teach or help you, till the Vessel comes, and then I can
leave the Island.”
Now that they had begun really to love us, and to be anxious to learn
more, this was always my most powerful argument. We retired into the
Mission House. The people surrounded our doors and windows and pleaded
with us. After long silence, we replied,—
“You know our resolution. It is for you now to decide. Either you must
control that foolish young man, or we must go!”
Much speech-making, as usual, followed. The people resolved to seize
and punish Youwili; but he fled, and had hid himself in the bush.
Coming to me, the Chief said,—
“It is left to you to say what shall be Youwili’s punishment. Shall we
kill him?”
I replied firmly, “Certainly not! Only for murder can life be lawfully
taken away.”
“What then?” they continued. “Shall we burn his houses and destroy his
plantations?”
I answered, “No.”
“Shall we bind him and beat him?”
“No.”
“Shall we place him in a canoe, thrust him out to sea, and let him
drown or escape as he may?”
“No! by no means.”
“Then, Missi,” said they, “these are our ways of punishing. What other
punishment remains that Youwili cares for?”
I replied, “Make him with his own hands, and alone, put up a new fence,
and restore all that he has destroyed; and make him promise publicly
that he will cease all evil conduct towards us. That will satisfy me.”
This idea of punishment seemed to tickle them greatly. The Chiefs
reported our words to the Assembly; and the Natives laughed and
cheered, as if it were a capital joke! They cried aloud,—
“It is good! It is good! Obey the word of the Missi.”
After considerable hunting, the young Chief was found. They brought him
to the Assembly and scolded him severely and told him their sentence.
He was surprised by the nature of the punishment, and cowed by the
determination of the people.
“To-morrow,” said he, “I will fully repair the fence. Never again will
I oppose the Missi. His word is good.”
By daybreak next morning Youwili was diligently repairing what he had
broken down, and before evening he had everything made right, better
than it was before. While he toiled away, some fellows of his own rank
twitted him, saying,—
“Youwili, you found it easier to cut down Missi’s fence than to repair
it again. You will not repeat that in a hurry!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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