everyone over 12 years of age who lands on these islands to spend more than thirty days. These fees form a fund for the support of any sick stranger at the Queen's Hospital.17
The remainder of this very long letter reviews the maelstrom into which he had been drawn within days, not to say, hours, following disembarkation. The local church workers had saved their concerns!
Charles Hyde had been reared in the narrow cultural pattern of Puritan New England, educated in a small Christian college, trained in strongly orthodox seminaries, and had now arrived in a mixed social confusion utterly foreign to anything he had ever known. The people in the top echelon of the American Board, even though they had visited the islands, and had visits and letters from their missionaries in the islands, could not prepare him for Honolulu.
But here he was! It was June 1, 1877 and he was facing at the age of forty-five, his second career; twenty-two years in Hawaii.
NOTES
1. Charles M. Hyde, sermon, "The Prime Motive in our Missionary Enterprises," Central Union Church, June 10, 1888 (The Friend, July 1888).
2. Obookiah is the phonetic English version of the way he pronounced his name as understood upon his arrival in Hartford. Years later, when Hawaiian speech was reduced to writing, his name was corrected to Opukahaia.
3. The first company arrived in Kailua, Hawaii, April 4, 1820.
4. Henry Knight Hyde, op. cit., p. 30.
5. haole, foreigner, largely applied to Caucasians.
6. John Erdman essay, After the Early Mission, What? Social Science Association, Honolulu, Oct. 4, 1937.
7. Henry Knight Hyde, op. cit., pp. 29.
8. Letter Hyde to the Rev. E. K. Alden, ABCFM, July 31, 1888.
9. Letter Hyde to the Rev. Judson Smith, ABCFM, Apr. 5, 1890.
10. ABCFM, Annual Report, Hartford 1876, Oct. 3-6, 1876.
11. The Theological Institute was renamed the North Pacific Missionary Institute after Hyde's arrival.
12. Letter Hyde to the Rev. N. G. Clark, ABCFM, Jan. 16, 1877.
13. Letter Hyde to Alden, Mar. 13.
14. Letter Hyde to Prof. W. H. Green, Princeton Theol. Sem., Mar. 15.
15. Letters Hyde to Clark, May 1, 14, 23.
16. Ibid., June 19.
17. Ibid.
Chapter 5
LODGING AND LANGUAGE THE NEW WORLD
THE GENERAL religious, economic, and social fabric of the Kingdom of Hawaii at the time of the arrival of the Hyde family was summarized by son Henry Hyde:
Landing in Honolulu in June 1877, the hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. S. N. Castle was thrown open to them and here their first impressions of Hawaiian life were received. The reciprocity treaty with the United States had but lately gone into effect. Under its provisions Hawaiian sugar was to be allowed free entry into American ports and an enormous and profitable market was thus opened for what was already the largest product of the islands. The stimulus thus afforded to the leading industry of the community gave a bright promise for its commercial future.
As yet it had not begun to effect the changes in the city which in the two succeeding decades practically transformed it. The social life of the community was delightfully simple, although the seeming unconventionally was often strictly limited by the rules of local etiquette.
The predominant element in business and social affairs being composed largely of the descendants of the missionary fathers and mothers there was a strict regard for the observance of religion's requirements . . . This created a distinctly religious atmosphere as well as a power to be reckoned with in connection with important undertakings. The majority of the foreign element was thus by birth and training disposed to entertain kindly feelings for the Hawaiians, not attempting to exploit them for their own advantage. . . The natives themselves for the most part cherished no ill-will against their white brethren . . . due in part to the wisdom displayed by Dr. Judd and his associates, who, when called upon to assist in the establishment of a civilized form of government, had been keen enough and loyal enough to their adopted land to maintain the native rulers and officials in their positions. No carpet-bagging schemes could be alleged against them; and the Hawaiians, thus upheld as the nominal rulers of the land at least, were not subjected to the indignities so often concomitant with the advance of Anglo-Saxon civilization.
They had been fearfully reduced in numbers since Capt. Cook's visit, when he estimated the population to be some four hundred thousand. The ravages of disease had practically decimated their numbers and they seemed unable to hold their ground in the midst of their new conditions. Superstition was alarmingly rife amongst them and to counteract this, together with its attendant train of fears, a fresh infusion of moral and intellectual courage was needed. Their simple wants were easily satisfied, for a day's wages would ordinarily suffice to provide for the family needs for a week. To arouse them from apathy, the sure fore-runner of decay, they must gain a new appreciation of the value of labor and education.1
The number of engagements that were crowded into Dr. Hyde's calendar was incredible. On his first Sunday he preached at Kawaiahao, the great Hawaiian church, with his sermon translated into Hawaiian. In the afternoon he attended a prayer meeting aboard the missionary sailing vessel, Morning Star, shortly under way for Micronesia. That evening he preached at the Bethel, the original church for foreigners in Hawaii. The congregation was made up in part of visiting seamen.
Beginning June 5 the Hawaiian Evangelical Association held its annual meeting, its fourteenth since the changeover in 1863. Hyde had several "instant" memberships—election to the board of directors and appointment to four standing committees: foreign missions, publication, education and appropriations from the American Board. He also headed the list of preachers for home evangelization.
The Theological Seminary, the school he was to direct, stood in a compound in the general vicinity of Kawaiahao Church, Kawaiahao Female Seminary, the residences of the Cookes and Pogues and the Depository of the ABCFM. He drew a rough sketch of the area as one page in a June 19 letter to Clark in Boston.2
One other instant affiliation was effected; on June 23 Punahou School elected him as trustee. "The following trustees were elected by ballot. In place of E. H. Allen, resigned, Hon. A. F. Judd. In place of Revs. Mr. Frear and Pogue, whose terms expired this month, were elected Rev. W. Frear and Dr. C. M. Hyde."3 The minutes also speak of his assignment to the Education Committee of Punahou School a few days before election as a trustee.4
He did not have much time to enjoy the beauties of the Honolulu countryside. He was there to do church work and he plunged into it. The Theological Seminary, his basic mission in the islands, was renamed the North Pacific Missionary Institute.
Pastoral service in the Brimfield and Haverhill churches, preceded by experience as tutor, school teacher and school board member, had shown him the practical power of closely linking education and religion in evangelistic endeavors. Because of this, and the fact that it permeated his thinking all the rest of his life, excerpts are introduced here of some observations he made at the Hilo Boys Boarding School's jubilee:
. . . The Apostles . . . give this Gospel of God's grace its world-wide and lasting triumph by systematic teaching. An evident fact in the progress of Christian missions is that the teacher's platform occupies a position of coordinate importance with the pulpit of the preacher. In this Sandwich Islands Mission the School preceded the Church. As soon as a few of the natives had learned the art and mystery of written language they began at once to teach others the little knowledge they had acquired. In a short time the whole nation was at school.
But it was soon found that the meager attainments of these first teachers must be supplanted by wider knowledge and better skill, if education was to make any further progress. The old mustang methods of mental nurture must give place to the careful and orderly arrangements characteristic of organized and settled