Show TRAVELS LETTER NO thursday july irth together with elder edwin C dibble I 1 spent the day at the honolulu library perusing files of newspapers and other periodicals which were published at honolulu at ai an early day I 1 was successful in finding several items of historical imbor tance connected with our missionary labors upon the islands and particularly correct data in regard to the arrival an i departure of elders which have generally been noted in the newspapers though not always from the time the american elders left in 1858 and till the arrival of apostles ezra T benson and lorenzo snow and other oiher elders in 1864 but little is known ot of the progress or status of missionary work on the hawaiian islands hence I 1 made a special I 1 effort to find if the papers contained anything about the mormons cormons during that period B by this means I 1 learned that captain walter M gibson gibeon arrived at honolulu june aoth 1861 accompanied by his daughter and in the pacific commercial advertiser ot of october xyth 1861 a weekly paper published at honolulu I 1 round found the follow ing editorial which elder dibble copied in the interest of history REVIVAL OF MORMONISM A modern knight errant in the field while stopping stop pine tor lor a day or two last week at manawas Ma kawas east maui rumors reached us that a grand filibustering private ering or some other mysterious iou scheme was on foot at wailuku Wail uku which ties ies in full view on the opposite side of the valley some sixteen miles distant soon other reports came in that a secession flag was nying flying there that meetings were daily held with closed doors or rather that the building in which the meetings nee tings were held was guarded against interlopers interlope rs that persons were being enlisted for secret service etc these reports were hardly credible yet hearing bearing them reiterated we hastened over to wailuku to learn their truth or falsity reaching Kal ului we found they were generally believed and we were assured by persons who had seen it that a strange ensign supposed to be a feces sion flag had been displayed at wailuku Wail uku this flag part ol of the story rather stirred up our loyal blood and McClel lans soldiers never longed tor for a shot at the rebels more than did we for a glimpse of the supposed secession bunting la in compa company iny with J D havekost esq the worthy tax collector of wailuku Wail uku we re mounted our horses and spurred them up in double quick time on arriving in the village we found that a mormon meeting was in session and that no less important personage than walter M K gibson was presiding pres icing over it the captain gibson whom most of our honolulu readers will remember in company with mr charles gray of honolulu we immediately proceeded to the he mormon meeting house which is located a few hundred yards south of the protestant church As soon as our approach was observed there was a busy stir among the nat ves lounging about and a general stampede for the entrance but with the salutation aloha we pushed burway our way through the door which had become filled ailed with natives hough houg we met with no resistance from ahem them in in our entry walking up to the table which was at the farther end of the building we found captain gibson and mr H B eddy seated behind it whom we accosted and took a seat beside them this building holds perhaps persons and immediately after our entry the natives crowded in ull till it was densely filled mostly with men there being but three or buur women present on expressing our surprise to captain gibson at finding him here he replied that he was equally surprised with his present position we then asked if there was any foundation tor for the report that we had hirard heard that he was a mormon without directly answering the question asked he answered that he had come here as the friend of a poor and despised class i of our population that his sympathies were with them that this was a mormon gathering and that the audience consisted of delegates from the mormon churches throughout the group some having come from each of the islands kauai oahu bahu molokai lavai maui and hawaii and we may here say that during a residence of twelve years on these island lande is we have never met in any assemblage so many intelligent natives whose appearance and faces bespoke a superiority over the masses we were not aware there were a hundred mor mons on the group we stated to captain gibson that we were surprised that tie did not during his bis stay of two months in honolulu divulge the tact fact that he came here as a Mur marmor and not as we had supposed simply as a traveler on his way to china and the fast east indies as he had in conversations ve rations given us to understand he replied that he bad not purposely made any concealment that there were gentlemen in honolulu who knew the tact fact naming mr bates mr damou adamou and mr wyllie we said that we did not believe that either of them or any one else knew it he then went on to give us a chapter in his history how in crossing the continent he arrived in salt lake and was there taken seriously ill that during his sickness brigham young sent fur for him received him into his house nursed him and paid him the kindest attention during his stay of six months in utah the result of his bis sojourn there was a change of views regarding the mormons Mor Mr mons and their religion as a system of social polity on which latter point he be had much to say and express ed his belief that no other system was so s well adapted to the hawaiians Hawaii ans in c common with other polynesian races we ve may here add that during our conversation neither neither captain gibson nor mr eddy admitted that they were members of 0 the mormon church and we have since been informed by dr lou long aku united 0 cited states consul at lahaina La baina that mr r eddy distinctly denied to him that they were mormons cormons Mor mons on the table was a considerable amount of silver coin which as we learned from the natives was obtained by selling to them some blanks which also jay on the table and which we understand were printed at the government press in honolulu these blanks are filled out to constitute consi tute elders or other officers or members of the mormon church on leaving the church captain gibson expressed a wish to see us again and as we were to return in the morning by steamer to honolulu we promised to call at his bis dwelling in in the evening which e did in n company with J D havekost ae sq arriving r riving at the house we fou found rv the principal room filled with natives native men and women the latter seated 0 on one side and singing a mormon song to a lively tune which ended with a thorns chorus these women of whom there were a dozen or so were from kauai and sung very well indeed we have have seldom heard better native singing around the centre table was seated captain gibson miss gibson and mr eddy who acted as secretary by all whom we welcomed in the singing being ended we stated to captain cadrain gibson that we had come to make in aries mr ies and wished to ask asic a question which he might perhaps consider im pertinent via viz whether he was authorized by brigham young or the church in utah to come here and reorganize the cormons mormons Mor mons he replied that bethought he thought we had no right to ask that question and did not answer it we then asked it he had satisfied the natives that he had such authority he said that i if f he had not done so they would not havi hav assembled sem bled A long discussion then ensued aued regarding the merits of mormon ism ism and we the plans of the leaders of that church the principal plan which captain gibson warmly advocates is the removal of the mormons cormons to the is land of papua or new guinea which lies just north of australia separated front from that continent by the straits of forres papua contains an area ot of about square miles and ad from one to two hundred thousand inhabitants of whom very little is known captain gibson stated that he had v visited lanai and though he thought the missionaries who had selected that island had made a mistake in such selection yet they intended to retain and occupy it and he thought it could sustain a population of at least persons but as he hoped the sect would number at the end of 0 two years from this at least 1000 persons some larger island molokai Molok di or maui would perhaps be occupied indeed he thou thought 9 ht that wailuku afforded an admirable site for such a thriving therivin th rivin and industrious population as the MD monstad mons had bad ever proved themselves and if we would pay a visit to the place in tour four months from this we should find a new church erected aud and a fine residence lor for himself where he would beable be able to entertain his visitors litt in becoming style so long as the mot mor mons imons were left alone and not interfered with all would be quiet but should the catholics protestants or any party attempt to interfere with them they would assert their rights we here expressed a wish to make some inquiries which he be might deem offensive but hoped he would pardon our inquisitiveness as rumors were afloat the truth of which must be either admitted or contradicted at first we desired to know whether he had come to the islands with any secession or private ering scheme in view or had bad sought bought to enlist any persons for privateer ing this report he distinctly and firmly denied and said that from whatever source it had bad arisen there was no truth in it we assured him that it was be lieveld by some of the most intelligent persons in honolulu and lahaina Laha iua and if untrue should be contradicted we then enquired whether a secession flag had not been raised and displayed at the metting meeting in in the valley held on the ach of october to this captain gibson his daughter and mr eddy all answered together that the th re was not the shadow of truth in that report and if we wished to see the flig which was raised there they would send for it which was done it was a white flag about five by three feet in size with a daubie circle in the centre eight stars representing the eight islands ot the group surrounding the word ola salvation and the circle occupied by the initials signifying the church of jesus christ of latter latier day joints hawaiian islands we then asked whether there was any foundation for the report that they had surveyed the harbor of kahului Kah ului harbors harbon on molokai and harbors on kauai this captain gibson also denied and said that the only harbor that they had taken soundings in was one on kauai tor for the purpose of seeing whether a small ship which they were building could enter it but found it too shallow for that purpose we remarked that the survey ot of the harbor on kauai was sufficient to give rise to the report referred to on the other hand we are informed by persons residing at kahului Kah ului that soundings have bem taken at mr eddys eddyth in siance stance in the harbor and on the reef at kahului Kah ului but this as stated before is denied we next asked whether an oath of secrecy or allegiance had not been exacted from those natives who entered the secret meetings held in the evening this report was also denied in toto on the other hand we were assured by a native whose brother was admitted at ai the meeting that he was only admitted after taking an oath of secrecy which oath was exacted irom from everyone every one who ente entered enterer reI the lodge lode and lor for that reason he refused to state what transpired at it aleong mong the natives it was reported that the subject of discussion was a defalcation in the funds of the mormon church while others report that the civil war i in america was talked over but there is no good ground fur for crediting either report the house may have been guarded against the admission of outsiders as the natives say wab the th case captain gibson stated that he had no animosity against the protestant refigio or missionaries but against the spread of the catholic laith faith or rather against of the french influence at the islands he was op opposed opp posea oseo he believed that the french would subjugate this race if they could and on that account he opposed them although his mother was a catholic and he was early taught to venerate that church he himself believed in no creed or sect whatever we took the occasion toasa to ask whether his admiration of brigham young and the mormon religion arose from the favors shown to him while in utah or from an examination of 0 the doctrines of mormonism he replied that he had bad not studied their doctrines or books but had bad become convinced that the system ot of social po ity practiced by them was the best to be found on the globe we concluded there was some truth in the remark made by mr havekost to captain gibson you are no more a murmon mormon than I 1 am the doctrine of polygamy coming up we enquired concerning its woi wot kings kinis so far as he had observed it well then we suppose you wil teach it to the natives on no he replied we shall teach nothing contrary to the la laws Ws but where the mormon church is supreme as in utah they preach and practice it well then when all our islanders are and become mormons cormons Mor mons and they control the government and legi legislature lature Ia ture we wc may expect polygamy gamy here perhaps so we asked whether he held out to the natives the hope generally entertained by mormons cormons of emigrating to some particular locality or country he said no though the cormons mormons ns generally embrace that as a part of their belief he assured us m st positively that he intended nothing against the existing government but that they were loyal and obedient to the laws we enquired the number of native mormons cormons now on the islands and learned that advices advises from the churches i that they were as follows on kauai about on oahu bahu on molokai maui ana haual 1400 on hawaii making a total of they furm formerly etly numbered numo ered but this is the number who now class themselves as mormons cormons Mor mons at the meeting on oil the esth there were several baptized and captain gibson thinks that at the end of two years there will not be less than mormons cormons in the group our interview having lasted over two hours we retired after listening to 10 the ginging of a hymn in hawaiian which appeared to be the words when I 1 can read my title c ear etc sung to a revival melody which which was very well performed while elder dibble was copying the foregoing I 1 made an effort to secure the Y M C A hall for the p purpose u ose ot of delivering a historical ina and grigious legious ligi ous lecture on utah and the mormons cormons Mor mons but the rev in charge a methodist minis ter after having consulted with others in relation to the propriety of granting such a request informed me that they had decided not to let me have it the reason assigned for this was the great prejudice existing in the minds ot the people against the mormons cormons Mor mons on which account he thought scarcely a corporals carp orals guard would attend on asking as to ah the e cause of this extraordinary pre judice j udice he said the career ot walter M gibson on chese these islands is sufficient reason A long conversation ensued but I 1 did not get the hall 1 I however succeeded in securing the salvation army quarters or the delivery of my proposed lecture in the evening we some native saints ANDREW JENSON HONOLULU oahu bahu hawaiian islands july irth 1895 f LETTER NO y friday july lath As asa a further reward rewald from our searches in in the honolulu library yesterday we found the follow y ing historical letter published as an edi tor al in the pacific Comm mercial ad r vertiner ver tiser of october 1861 MORE ABOUT THE MORMONS 4 LETTER |