American literature -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Sunday schools -- United States -- Periodicals
A FEW years ago I copied from a marble slab, imbedded in the earth upon
a grave in a quiet country cemetery at Cornwall, Ct., the following
inscription:
HENRY OBOOKIAH OF OWHYEE,
DIED FEBRUARY 17, 1818, AGED 26.
His arrival in this country gave rise to the Foreign Mission School
of which he was a worthy member. He was once an idolator and designed
for a Pagan priest; but by the grace of God, and by the prayers and
instructions of pious friends, he became a Christian. He was eminent
for piety and missionary zeal; was almost prepared to return to his
native island to preach the Gospel when God called him. In his last
moments he wept and prayed for his "Ow-hy-hee," but was submissive to
the will of God and died without fear, with a heavenly smile on his
face and glory in his soul.
This remarkable young man was early made an orphan by the cruel
massacre of both father and mother during a fearful struggle of two
parties for the control of his native island, Hawaii. His younger
brother was also slain while the boy of our sketch was endeavoring
to save him by carrying him upon his back in his flight. Obookiah
was taken prisoner and made a member of the family of the man who
had murdered his parents. After a year or two he was discovered by
an uncle, and his release from the hands of his enemy secured. His
uncle was a priest and he entered upon the work of preparing his young
nephew for the same service. This preparation was very different from
the preparation of young men in Christian lands for the work of the
Gospel ministry. One part of his duty was to learn and to repeat long
prayers; sometimes he was forced to spend the greater part of the night
in repeating these prayers in the temple before the idols. But Henry
was not happy; he had seen his parents and little brother cruelly
murdered, and thoughts of the terrible scene and of his own lonely
and orphaned condition preyed upon his mind continually. But he had
passed through still another sad experience. Before peace was restored
in the island he was again taken prisoner together with his father's
sister. He succeeded in making his escape the very day which had been
appointed for his death. His aunt was killed by the enemy, and this
made him feel more sad and lonely than before, and he resolved to leave
the island, hoping that if he should succeed in getting away from the
place where everything reminded him of his loss he might find peace if
not happiness; and this is how he was to be brought under Christian
influences in Christian America. He sailed with Captain Britnall and
landed in New York in the year 1809. He remained for some time in the
family of his friend the captain, at New Haven. And here he became
acquainted with several of the students in Yale College, who were at
once interested in this young foreigner, and from one of these friends
he learned to read and write.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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