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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 
 A H. Ri'K
 
 9' ? *
 
 MOULTON OF TONGA
 
 JAMES EGAN MOULTON.
 
 BY 
 
 J. EGAN MOULTON 
 
 WITH THE COOPERATION OP 
 
 W. FIDDIAN MOULTON 
 
 FOREWORD BY 
 
 DR. RICHARD G. MOULTON 
 
 xonfton 
 THE EPWORTH 
 
 J. ALFRED SHARP
 
 First Edition, rgti
 
 PREFACE 
 
 IN sending forth this sketch of the career of Dr. 
 Egan Moulton of Tonga some explanation is due 
 to the reader with respect to the two names which 
 appear on the title-page. It is to my cousin's pietas 
 that the book is due, and his was the gathering of 
 the material and the writing of the original MS. But 
 every one knows the difficulties besetting the publica- 
 tion of books at the present time, and when the 
 MS. came to hand it was evident that it would 
 involve a volume of such proportions as would 
 endanger an effective sale, especially in view of the 
 fact that the subject of the memoir had been dead 
 for a dozen years. There was nothing to be done 
 but to condense it, which in some parts meant re- 
 writing the book. That has been my share in the 
 enterprise, undertaken, let it be understood, with my 
 cousin's full consent. But the material, the arrange- 
 ment, and the estimates are his; and even if I had 
 desired to alter them which I certainly did not I 
 should not have felt justified in doing so. 
 
 Dr. Egan Moulton's brother, Lord Moulton of 
 Bank, had promised to write a Foreword, which he 
 would have done con amore, for he had an un- 
 bounded admiration for his brother's gifts and 
 character. His sudden death left that page unwritten ; 
 but I am grateful to the sole surviving member of 
 that gifted band' of brothers, Dr. R. G. Moulton, 
 for taking up the task. 
 
 W, FIDDIAN MOULTON. 
 
 5
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 FOREWORD 9 
 
 I. EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION .... 13 
 
 II. THE LAND AND PEOPLE 35 
 
 III. THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE: 
 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM . . 44 
 
 IV. THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE: 
 
 TUBOU COLLEGE SPEECH-DAY ... <fl 
 
 V. THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE: 
 
 THE REGIME 67 
 
 VI. THE GREAT CALAMITY: 
 
 THE VISIT TO ENGLAND .... 89 
 
 VII. THE GREAT CALAMITY: 
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM . . 95 
 
 VIII. THE AFTERMATH 13! 
 
 IX. LIFE'S EVENTIDE 149 
 
 X. EPILOGUE 155
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 I HAVE been asked to write a few words of 
 introduction to this sketch, and I do so gladly. But 
 in reality no "Foreword is necessary: this memoir is 
 one of the kind that explain themselves. I have 
 myself always had a distaste for the traditional 
 biography, which is made by elaborating unrelated 
 facts before they get forgotten. The true biography 
 presents facts in perspective, until the whole 
 crystallizes into a unit of impressions. Those who 
 read this sketch cannot fail to feel, as they read, a 
 clear personality and an impressive life-work. 
 
 The personality was singularly attractive. Indeed, 
 I have been accustomed to say privately, what I 
 suppose one must not say in public of a brother, 
 that Egan Moulton was the most interesting man 
 I have ever met. The first impression he gave was 
 of a man who had travelled; and travelling, for 
 conversational purposes, is measured not by geo- 
 graphical miles, but by the variety of human nature 
 encountered, and the power of entering into this 
 variety. My brother had an alert instinct for catch- 
 ing the exact point of view of everybody he met, 
 and drawing him out at his best. I believe, in spite 
 of the social prejudice to the contrary, that most 
 men talk best when they are talking 'shop.' People 
 of very ordinary powers, when drawn into genial 
 converse with Dr. Moulton, were thus kept at their 
 brightest, and were astonished to find how interesting 
 
 9
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 they could become. And of course my brother had 
 a varied and attractive life of his own with which 
 he could reciprocate. 
 
 For somewhat similar reasons Dr. Moulton was a 
 great preacher. What I have in mind was not 
 great exegesis, or even an unusual oratorical appeal, 
 though in equipment of this kind there was nothing 
 lacking. But the ' sermon/ or ' lecture/ has its 
 own place among the varied forms of literature, and 
 calls for its own special talent. Egan Moulton had a 
 selective instinct for the unusual, the individual point 
 of view, which escapes men of more methodical 
 studies; such a point of view once taken, light was 
 brought to bear upon it from all sides until the whole 
 field of view seemed to glow. Merely to read out 
 the text would set the whole congregation sermon- 
 making. Or, I have known Dr. Moulton announce 
 that his text lay between the conclusion of a par- 
 ticular chapter and the commencement of the next: 
 we were shown what was left out of the Bible, and 
 a basis was found for the difference of scale between 
 sacred and secular. The sermon over, it would be 
 found that the Sunday-school scholar and the chance 
 Doctor of Divinity present had been equally attracted. 
 
 As to work, it would be life-work enough to 
 remember Egan Moulton as a missionary bringing 
 the gospel to a remote civilization. But in reality 
 the work was more than that of the missionary in 
 the ordinary sense. It is a common error to think 
 of a missionary, in comparison with the pastor at 
 home, as having a task of elementary education. 
 But to a thinker like Dr. Moulton evangelization could 
 never be separated from culture; sanctification and 
 edification must go together. The remoteness of 
 the civilization meant so much more of originality in 
 
 10
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 the educational work; again and again, as the sketch 
 that follows shows, culture had to construct its own 
 tools. Thus the crown of my brother's life was his 
 work on the Bible. This was not what is ordinarily 
 understood by translation : the Bible had already been 
 translated into the Tongan language. What was 
 wanted was the enlargement of the Tongan language 
 to make it adequate to Biblical literature. When 
 I heard my brother speak of this part of his work 
 I was always carried back mentally to the mediaeval 
 centuries, when precisely similar work was being 
 done for the great languages of Europe, when Dante 
 and his contemporaries were, not writing their great 
 poems, but preparing the raw Italian to be a vehicle 
 of the poetry that was coming. Egan Moulton 
 consciously set himself to do similar work for Tongan 
 civilization. There was a native literature; often 
 inspired poetically, however debased in matter: my 
 brother studied this native literature, watching for 
 new connotations of words, or rhythmic possibilities 
 for the native poet of the future. Only in such 
 enlarged language could the prophetic literature of 
 Scripture find adequate expression. Here we have 
 philologic work of the highest order, in comparison 
 with which the philological work that sometimes 
 brings academic degrees may seem cheap. 
 
 Whether in the common round, or in the more 
 unusual work of education, it was inevitable that there 
 should be a strong bond of tenderness between the 
 Tongan people and the champion of their civiliza- 
 tion among the nations. A! life-work done under 
 these conditions might seem idyllic. But it was an 
 idyll that was suddenly transformed into a tragedy, 
 a tragedy in which only at the last moment was 
 the end overruled for good. This strange story is
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 well told, and told with great restraint, in the pages 
 that follow. It brings home to us how individual 
 wrong-doing may spread the widest disaster, until the 
 clock of time has to be put back, and we find 
 ourselves facing something like the days of primitive 
 persecution. It is better to dwell on the other side 
 of the picture; how, in the counsels of providence, 
 Egan Moulton was permitted to live until the shadow 
 was rolled away; until the evil was disavowed by its 
 own authors, and there could follow a peaceful even- 
 tide, with the work founded by the father carried on 
 by his son. 
 
 The purpose of sketches like the present is not 
 what would be ordinarily described as the History 
 of Missions. It is more nearly the Romance of 
 Missions: the purpose of bringing home to every 
 Christian reader single aspects of the great mission 
 work 'in all their picturesqueness. In such a series 
 no one would omit a situation so singular as that here 
 described, and a life-work so devoted. For such a 
 life only one epitaph is adequate : this missionary will 
 be for ever known as MOULTON OF TONGA. 
 
 R. G. M. 
 
 IB
 
 MOULTON OF TONGA 
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 MOULTON of Tonga' is not intended to be a 
 biography in the ordinary sense of the term. 
 Its author has buc striven to lay before his readers 
 the story of the life of one who, he ventures to think, 
 might have risen to eminence in the educational 
 sphere under more attractive conditions, but who, 
 hearing the imperative call of God for workers in 
 the mission field, was obedient to the same, regard- 
 less of the cost. He never doubted that it was 
 God's finger which pointed that way, and it is 
 unnecessary to say that he never regretted his choice. 
 The present volume is an attempt to sketch the 
 actual working-out of that call in the career of the 
 one whose name it bears. 
 
 James Egan Moulton was one of that devoted band 
 of servants of God who have thought it no poverty 
 to leave home, and the mother country, and bright 
 worldly prospects in order to give the service of a 
 lifetime for the enlightenment of dark-skinned peoples. 
 It was not his lot to go out to struggle against a 
 savage environment, and therefore his career as a 
 missionary does not present a record of thrilling 
 adventure and hair-breadth escapes. Had the con- 
 dition of the islands to which he was sent called 
 for that kind of struggle, he would never have 
 
 13 B
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 flinched, for he had in him all the characteristics 
 which go to make the missionary martyr. But there 
 was no necessity. 
 
 When he landed in Tonga in May 1865 he found 
 there what had recently been a heathen race, but which 
 was emerging from the darkness of savagery into the 
 glorious light of Christianity a result due, under the 
 providence of God, to the indefatigable efforts of a 
 handful of devoted men. Indeed, by the time he 
 arrived on the scene the group of islands had become 
 nominally Christian, under the rule of their warrior 
 sovereign King George, who had himself embraced 
 the new faith and had been baptize.l. 
 
 It might be thought that, since the pioneering work 
 had been so efficiently done, the initial spur to a 
 keen missionary mind would have been dulled. But 
 if a religious work is to be consolidated the en- 
 lightenment of the heart must be followed by a 
 similar work upon the mind; and the darkness 
 of ignorance is as inveterate a foe of the gospel 
 as the benighted heart that dwells in the defilements 
 of savagery. In 1855 the far-sighted Tongan King 
 had realized the uselessness of a moral without a 
 corresponding intellectual development; and, quot- 
 ing from Hosea, he had cried, ' My people are des- 
 troyed for lack of knowledge.' That this was no 
 passing fancy is proved by the fact that, ten years 
 later, hearing from a European missionary concern- 
 ing the work of a young man from England, who 
 was at the head of the teaching staff of the Wesleyan 
 Educational Institution on the Parrarnatta River (after- 
 wards known so well as Newington College), he made 
 a special application to the Conference for him by 
 name. The Conference complied with the request 
 and sent the man the Moulton of this memoir.
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 James Egan Moulton came into this world under 
 influences which counted for much. His father, 
 after whom he was named, was the second son of 
 the Rev. William Moulton, who had married the 
 elder of the two daughters of Dr. James Egan. Dr. 
 Egan was assistant-master at the Academy presided 
 over by Mr. John Bakewell of Greenwich; and there 
 grew up an attachment between him and the head 
 master's daughter, who was distinguished for her 
 ' remarkable knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.' 
 John Bakewell is noted as the author of the well- 
 known hymn, ' Hail, Thou once despised Jesus ! ' He 
 had been a preacher of the gospel in his native 
 county of Derbyshire before he had identified himself 
 with John Wesley, of whom he became an intimate 
 friend. The great evangelist, who was often Mr. 
 Bakewell's guest at Greenwich, detected the evident 
 attachment between the clever Irish scholar and the 
 equally remarkable daughter of his host, and urged 
 his friend to hand over the school to them so that 
 he himself might be free to preach the gospel without 
 any conflicting claims upon his time and energy. He 
 complied, and the gifted couple were united in 
 matrimony by Wesley himself. It is much to be 
 regretted that hardly any records of the Bakewell 
 family remain, for he was a preacher for over 
 fifty years, and the record of his experiences would 
 shed much light not only upon the growth of the 
 Methodist Church but also the social and religious 
 history of the people. But his humble disposition 
 shrank from the idea of the publicity of the printed 
 page; and he extracted from his grand-daughter, who 
 wished to record his life and work, a promise that 
 she would refrain from such a course. 
 
 It was with such a bias as this, towards the 
 
 15
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 gospel and culture alike, that the James Egan Moul- 
 ton of Tongan association came into the world at 
 North Shields in 1841. His father was a man of 
 so methodical a turn of mind in the discharge of 
 his duties as Chairman of the District, that he was 
 known as ' arrangements Moulton ' ; but he was 
 something more than an efficient administrator. Dr. 
 Benjamin Gregory, who knew him well, said of 
 him that ' his cheerfulness was radiant, and most 
 healthily catching; and being broadly built and 
 blessed with a steady flow of spirits he seemed 
 likely to enjoy a long and energetic ministerial career. 
 He was a thorough Methodist preacher, lively, 
 spiritual, energetic, indefatigable.' He was very pro- 
 ficient in mathematics, as well as in Latin, Greek, and 
 Hebrew. He had gone to Kingswood at the early age 
 of eight; and his scholastic attainments there were 
 so great that his name appears in the school records 
 as the winner of the gold medal and head of the 
 school. His stay at school was extended beyond the 
 normal tenure by a year, and at fifteen(l) he was 
 installed as one of the assistant masters. That he 
 excelled in the inherited and somewhat rare gift of 
 imparting knowledge may be gleaned from the tradi- 
 tion, handed down by a distinguished contemporary, 
 that the boys would rather do sums with him than 
 play games! Whether that be a literal fact or not 
 it is unquestionably true that he had a singular 
 teaching power, which, in very different forms, re- 
 appeared in his four distinguished sons William 
 Fiddian, Head Master of the Leys School, Cambridge, 
 and famous Greek Testament scholar; John Fletcher, 
 Senior Wrangler at Cambridge and now Lord Moul- 
 ton of Bank, G.C.B., F.R.S. 1 ; Richard Green, until 
 
 1 Lord Moulton has died since these pages went to press. 
 16
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 lately Professor of Literary Interpretation in the 
 University of Chicago, and now retired in England; 
 and James Egan, the subject of the present volume, 
 the only one of the brothers whose course of life did 
 not make possible the acquisition of a university 
 degree, but who manifested an ability in no respect 
 less than that of the others, though totally unlike. 
 
 As a child he was delicate, and it was not until 
 he had reached his teens that his physical constitu- 
 tion became at all robust; and even then, his great 
 enemy of after years asthma which harassed him 
 to the very last, had already made its appearance. 
 Only a few fragments remain concerning his early 
 days, but, as was the case with his brothers, the 
 influence of the home was the most potent factor in 
 his boyhood. The story of his education in the 
 elementary rules of arithmetic and algebra by his 
 father while in the act of shaving is quite in keeping 
 with other stories of that father's power of doing 
 three things at once hearing one son construe his 
 Latin, guiding another in the intricacies of Greek 
 grammar while he himself was wrestling with the 
 addition of figures in some official schedule I 
 
 And while the influence of the father was great, 
 that of the mother was perhaps greater still. 
 Catherine Fiddian was the daughter of Samuel 
 Fiddian, a brass founder in Birmingham, and her 
 attainments afford a striking parallel to those of Maria 
 Bakewell already referred to. Intellectually strong, 
 and with a spiritual nature of a very high type, she 
 was in every sense an ideal partner. Her remarkable 
 foresight, moreover, in relation to current topics, as 
 well as the courage with which she expressed her 
 opinions, made her count outside her home as well 
 as inside, and even members of Parliament were to
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 be found seeking her advice. She was a martyr 
 to headaches a characteristic repeated in at least 
 two of her sons; and when she was thus laid aside 
 Egan would take the younger children out of the 
 house into the fields to ensure greater quiet for the 
 sufferer; when in the fields he would tell them 
 vivid stories either delved out of books or produced 
 by his own imaginative faculty, which even in those 
 days was great. It was his joy in after life to 
 reflect that he had been able thus to minister to 
 his mother's relief; nor were these acts of filial 
 love without their grateful acknowledgement. 
 
 As a minister's son he naturally went, as his father 
 had gone, to Kingswood School, though he went at 
 eleven years of age while his father had gone at 
 eight ! He remained there four years, Henry Jefferson 
 being head master throughout the period. He had 
 a curious difficulty in mastering Euclid, and his 
 failure in this field was responsible for his being 
 placed in a lower form than he would otherwise 
 have entered. In other subjects he was far ahead of 
 his class-mates, but the haze that hovered around 
 the first four propositions was persistent and depress- 
 ing, and Mr. Jefferson said to him one day, ' Well, 
 Moulton, if you do not do better in Euclid I shall 
 have to alter my opinion of you.' But light dawned 
 at last, and in a somewhat unconventional fashion; 
 for he who had learnt arithmetic and algebra from 
 his father while shaving, suddenly entered into an 
 understanding of Euclid while in his bath! The 
 rationale of the fourth proposition broke like a flash 
 upon his hitherto beclouded mind. It became as 
 clear as daylight, and from that day Euclid ceased 
 to trouble him. His mind grew apace, and he rose 
 rapidly to a high place in the school : and it was 
 
 18
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 not any intellectual defects which stood in the way 
 of his passing on to the university. 
 
 Before leaving his schooldays two matters call for 
 mention in view of his future career. The first is 
 that it was while at school that he conquered his 
 painful propensity to stammering. It was a very 
 real handicap "when at school, and no one needs 
 to be told that his schoolfellows subjected him to a 
 persecution that knew little pity. But he refused to 
 be discouraged, and he made determined effort to 
 conquer the impediment. With characteristic strength 
 of will he offered to the great amusement of the 
 boys to recite at one of the school concerts. They 
 attempted to dissuade him with a volley of mimicry; 
 but it was all to no purpose. He persisted, and the 
 recitation was given with credit, to the surprise of 
 all. But the incident affords an interesting fore- 
 taste of the resoluteness and strength of will that 
 conquered so many difficulties in the Tongan period. 
 In the second place, when Mr. Jefferson offered 
 to take a Hebrew class in out-of-school hours, Egan 
 Moulton joined it. The importance of this depar- 
 ture cannot be over-rated in view of the work he was 
 called upon to do. The greatest of all his efforts 
 for the island race the Revision of the Tongan 
 Bible would have lost much of its worth had he 
 not been able to translate from the original 
 Hebrew, as well as the Greek, into the vernacular 
 of the islands. 
 
 On leaving school the way opened for him to go 
 to C'astle Donington in Derbyshire, where his uncle, 
 Mr. Joseph Moulton, kept a chemist's shop. To 
 him he was apprenticed for four years another price- 
 less preparation for his as yet unknown future, when 
 he was to be charged with manifold responsibilities 
 
 19.
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 for healing not only souls but bodies. The sojourn at 
 Castle Donington, moreover, was fruitful in other 
 directions as .well. His uncle was a man of parts 
 and piety, who, as he was wont to admit, had made 
 the vital mistake of his life in resisting the call of 
 God to the Christian ministry, for he realized that 
 thereby he had limited the sphere of his usefulness. 
 Whether he was correct in his estimate or not, he was 
 a man who had the qualities which would have 
 made him an ideal pastor. He was evangelical to 
 the backbone, and loved the house of God. He 
 was perhaps at his best in the old-fashioned class- 
 meeting, and his nephew Egan often testified to 
 the spiritual education which he received through 
 that channel. Neither did it stop there, for in 
 future years theological students in another hemis- 
 phere would bear witness to the spiritual uplift which 
 they received when, as their tutor, he led them in 
 class. 
 
 It was in this small sphere that the latent strength 
 of his character began to manifest itself, as well 
 as that versatility which was so marked a feature 
 of his public work throughout life. At Castle Donington 
 the charge of the musical service at the chapel was 
 entrusted to him and he was both organist and 
 choirmaster; and any one who knows anything about 
 choirs and their ways knows perfectly well that they 
 are capable of harmony or otherwise! For one 
 special occasion, when anthems had been carefully 
 prepared, the members of the choir formed a con- 
 spiracy to abstain from singing in the morning 
 anthem, the ground being that one of the chief 
 singers took unbrage at the solo being entrusted to 
 another! When the time for the anthem came and 
 the chord was struck, which was to have been the 
 
 20
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 signal for the soprano to lead off with the theme, 
 followed by the other principals, there was no 
 response. Then for the first time did it dawn upon 
 him that there was something amiss; but nothing 
 daunted he led off himself in his powerful baritone. 
 By this time conscience was troubling the other 
 principals, with the result that when their turn 
 arrived, one after another they came in at their 
 proper place, and the tout ensemble was so great a 
 success that no one in the congregation guessed what 
 had transpired in the singing-gallery! 
 
 But it was in connexion with foreign missions that 
 James Egan Moulton achieved his most outstanding 
 success at Castle Donington. The annual foreign 
 missionary meeting was a red-letter day there, as 
 it was wont to be in so many of our smaller places; 
 and for two years in succession two young men of 
 conspicuous ability and acknowledged oratorical 
 powers were invited speakers most acceptable to 
 the people with Mr. Moulton to bring up the rear. 
 Strange to say, for some unaccountable reason, on 
 both occasions those two speakers, who throughout 
 the year uniformly delighted their hearers, utterly 
 failed. They floundered about for a while, and then 
 sat down with the consciousness of having had a 
 bad time, while the less gifted speaker, handicapped 
 by his infirmity, raised the audience to a high pitch 
 of enthusiasm. Stranger still was the fact that on 
 the latter occasion he chose as his subject, ' King 
 George of Tonga,' when, as yet, no thought of enter- 
 ing the ministry had entered his head, still less the 
 thought of that particular field. As he was leaving 
 the building on the later occasion an old man, placing 
 his hands on his head, said, ' Young man, th' Lord 
 manes tha to be a missionary.' So it seemed and 
 
 21
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 so it eventually turned out, but as yet no such 
 thought had framed itself in his mind, and the stam- 
 mering tongue seemed to be a fatal bar. At last 
 he took the matter in earnest prayer to Him with 
 whom nothing is impossible. ' O Lord ! ' he cried, 
 ' I am perfectly willing to work for Thee, but oh ! 
 remove this impediment ! ' It was a petition be- 
 gotten in agony of soul; and then and there it 
 was answered. The impediment disappeared, and 
 no one who knew him in after life would ever 
 have imagined that he had been a stutterer. But, 
 more than that, the wonderful release from his dis- 
 ability decided for him, once and for all, his life's 
 work, and stamped upon his innermost soul that 
 reliance upon the power of God to help in every 
 emergency and extremity, which so markedly charac- 
 terized him in his later days of stress and storm. 
 The way now seemed clear for him to move along 
 the line which had of late been ever present with 
 him, and he placed before the Superintendent of the 
 circuit the matter of his desire to offer himself as 
 a candidate for the ministry. He was kindly re- 
 ceived by him, and all encouragement was given. 
 He acquitted himself with credit in his trial sermon, 
 and also in his examination before the Quarterly 
 Meeting. But there was one member of that meeting 
 who, for some reason that never transpired, had a 
 strong prejudice against him and strove hard to 
 bias others against him, with the result that there was 
 a small majority against his candidature going for- 
 ward. Those who voted thus acknowledged after- 
 wards that they could not explain why they acted 
 thus : they were probably swayed by the sheer force 
 of another's prejudice rather than by any convictions 
 of their own: but the result was the same, what- 
 
 22
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 ever the motive, and it spelled ' rejection.' But he 
 was not depressed. He had obeyed what he felt 
 to be a call, and had offered himself. If that offer 
 was not accepted by Him to whom it was made, 
 the responsibility was not his but God's, and his 
 mind was vat ease on the matter. But as the days 
 went on the old conviction returned with greater 
 force than ever, and certain changes in his business 
 arrangements removed some of the difficulties which 
 had baulked him before. 
 
 At the very time of his rejection by the Castle 
 Donington Quarterly Meeting the head of a shipping 
 firm in North Shields his birthplace wrote to him, 
 knowing nothing of what had transpired, offering 
 him an appointment in the office. The offer was 
 accepted, and Castle Donington with all its hallowed 
 associations was left behind. 
 
 Under the new conditions he showed marked ability 
 both in handling figures and in dealing with diffi- 
 cult and delicate situations, the nature of which 
 cannot be dwelt upon here. Suffice it to say that 
 his services were requisitioned as secretary of a 
 shipping association, in and around the district, and 
 his capacity was widely recognized. Fortune seemed 
 to smile upon him to so great a degree that busi- 
 ness experts prophesied for him a rapid rise to 
 wealth. But this was not to be, for to him there 
 was a higher ambition than the attainment of com- 
 mercial success, and that was the work of the Chris- 
 tian ministry. To the ordinary eye it was a ' great 
 refusal,' but to him it was a call of God, a con- 
 viction which contrary circumstances could not crush : 
 and to the surprise of all who knew him he turned 
 his back on the chances of commercial prosperity and 
 offered himself once more as a candidate for the 
 
 23
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 Wesleyan Methodist ministry, in spite of the mis- 
 givings of the Superintendent, who told him he could 
 do better service as a layman than a minister, because 
 his commercial prospects were so exceptionally good. 
 But no amount of reconsideration could alter his 
 purpose, and the minister soon came to recognize 
 that this was a deep-seated conviction, and he showed 
 him the utmost cordiality and sympathy. 
 
 Opposition came, however, and from a most extra- 
 ordinary quarter as it would appear to us to-day. 
 According to the ruling of the Conference it was 
 permissible for a Quarterly Meeting to send forward 
 only one candidate at a time. No trace of such a 
 rule is to be found in Dr. Simon's Summary of Metho- 
 dist Law, and if it was ever operative it was prob- 
 ably only in view of some special glut of candi- 
 dates, and has lapsed since. But it was put forward 
 as an obstacle to his candidature, as there were 
 already two others in the field; and they possessed 
 the added advantage not only of priority of offer 
 but priority of examination in consequence of their 
 names commencing with earlier letters than his! 
 But unforeseen developments took place before the 
 Quarterly Meeting was held. The first candidate, 
 for some reason or other, decided, of his own 
 free will, to retire from so trying an ordeal. As 
 for the second, suspicions had been aroused in the 
 minds of some of the brethren that his extraordinary 
 pulpit achievements were not his own work, but were 
 memorized from the sermons of some half-forgotten 
 master of the art of preaching. An exhaustive search 
 was made, and it was discovered that the suspicion 
 was only too well founded. Possessed of a mar- 
 vellous memory, he had appropriated the master- 
 pieces of a preacher whose sermons had fallen into 
 
 24
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 almost complete oblivion; and trusting to that ob- 
 livion had palmed the sermons off as his own. When 
 he was accused of this act of deceit, he made full 
 confession; and there was an end of the second 
 candidate. This strange elimination of rivals left 
 Mr. Moulton as the only candidate. He was unani- 
 mously accepted, and passed on to the next stage: 
 and the Camborne Conference of 1862, which or- 
 dained William Fiddian Moulton, the eldest of the 
 four brothers, accepted the second brother as a 
 candidate. 
 
 His offer was for foreign work, and he was put 
 down on the ' stations ' for China. But at that very 
 time King Thakombau of Fiji, desirous of obtain- 
 ing missionaries for his group of islands over which 
 the gospel dawn had just begun to break, sent an 
 urgent request for two men, and emphasized the 
 earnestness of the appeal by forwarding their passage- 
 money. Thus Mr. Moulton's appointment came to 
 be changed from China to Fiji: and learning that 
 the Rev. R. B. Lyth, a lately returned missionary 
 from those islands, was residing at Woodbridge, he 
 asked if he might have the privilege of residing 
 with him for a short time so as to acquire some 
 knowledge of the language used by the people 
 amongst whom he was called to labour. With him 
 he remained for six months, and made such progress 
 that he prepared and wrote a sermon in the 
 Fijian tongue during his voyage out to Australia, 
 which commenced in February 1863. 
 
 Like many a missionary who has sacrificed sacred 
 home ties in order to preach the gospel in less 
 favoured lands, his decision to go abroad involved 
 parting from the lady whom he was ultimately to 
 make his wife. Miss Emma Knight was the daughter 
 
 25
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 of Mr. James Knight of Newark, a fine specimen of 
 old-time Methodism. The youngest son of a farmer, 
 when only fourteen years old he was articled by 
 his father to a firm of solicitors in Newark, and in 
 that office he served with ability and faithfulness for 
 sixty years. Throughout that period he was closely 
 identified with every branch of church life. He was 
 the most conspicuous figure in the Barnby Gate 
 Chapel, and as a local preacher was highly respected 
 throughout the circuit. He filled almost every office 
 in the church, and when he passed away at the 
 ripe age of ninety-two he left behind him a noble 
 record of service. In this he has been worthily 
 followed by his son, Mr. W. E. Knight, who has 
 served his town and his church with conspicuous 
 devotion. The Wesleyan associations were still 
 further strengthened by the fact that Mr. James 
 Knight's wife was an Eggleston another family with 
 long Methodist antecedents and her brother, the 
 Rev. John Eggleston, was identified with the first 
 Australasian Conference of 1855, ultimately becom- 
 ing Missionary Secretary and President. 
 
 The journey out to Australia in those days was a 
 lengthy and weary business; and although the 
 Merrie England was as fine a type of sailing vessel 
 as could be found, thirteen weeks had to be spent on 
 shipboard. But the diary which Mr. Moulton kept 
 and sent home is full of interest despite the inevitable 
 lack of variety in respect of topic. He always mani- 
 fested a wholesome knack of making much out of 
 little, which is a real asset under conditions of 
 monotony. With most of the passengers, moreover, 
 he felt perfectly at home; but, as always happens on 
 shipboard and off there were one or two who 
 contrived to make themselves generally disagreeable. 
 
 26
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 Conspicuous among these was a young officer who 
 flung sneers at religion and rode the high military 
 horse, as if in no other profession was manliness or 
 courage to be found, least of all in the ministerial 
 ranks. But he had mistaken his man; for when 
 his petty persecution became insufferable Mr. 
 Moulton challenged him to a friendly combat in 
 respect of acts of daring which, at any rate to the 
 uninitiated, seemed full of danger. One of these was 
 a race round the taffrails of the ship, whilst another 
 was the mounting of the rigging and climbing to the 
 top of the main mast, descending on the other side. 
 In both of these contests the military man was 
 beaten, to his great chagrin. 
 
 But it must not be imagined that such diversions 
 occupied the bulk of the time for this missionary 
 aspirant on his voyage. There were subjects to be 
 mastered, which meant hours of withdrawal and of 
 application; and hence he might have been found 
 any morning high up in the cross-trees of one of 
 the masts, with limbs so interlocked in the frame- 
 work that dislodgement was well-nigh impossible, and 
 far away from the hum of voices. He was also deeply 
 interested in the science of navigation, and was often 
 found in the captain's cabin working out for the 
 first mate the calculations for the day as to the 
 ship's position. 
 
 His arrival in Australia at the end of June 1863 
 served to meet a serious difficulty from which the 
 Methodist Church was suffering at the moment. It 
 had previously been decided to establish a con- 
 nexional college, and a suitable building had been 
 obtained on an excellent site on the Parra- 
 matta River, about twelve miles from Sydney. 
 Further, the Conference appointed the Rev. J. A. 
 
 27
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 Manton, a saintly and scholarly man, as the Presi- 
 dent, but there was no head master available. 
 Application had been made to England on the 
 matter, but communications were so slow that there 
 was still a gap when Mr. Moulton arrived. As he 
 had all the requisite qualifications he was appointed 
 to the post, pending further developments. So to 
 Newington College he went, and we read in his diary 
 the laconic entry, ' Went to Newington College and 
 commenced that institution July 1863.' It is inter- 
 esting to note that less than a dozen years later 
 his brother William went to Cambridge and com- 
 menced that institution known as The Leys School, 
 which has so much in common with Newington. 
 Though under the Methodist Conference, both schools 
 have opened their door to boys of other communions ; 
 and this fact has unquestionably borne happy fruit in 
 wider co-operation in the world outside. 
 
 The testimony of those who were trained under 
 him points to a genius for making study interesting, 
 which is reminiscent of his father's earlier days. We 
 do not hear of any Australian boy so exemplary in 
 character as rather to prefer to work sums with Mr. 
 Moulton than to play games, but we do learn that his 
 methods were so efficient that an inspector, who 
 visited the school only a few months after Mr. 
 Moulton commenced his work, placed on record his 
 verdict that the boys had learned more in six months 
 there than boys in ordinary schools learned in two 
 years. One secret of his success undoubtedly was his 
 capacity to identify himself with the boys in all their 
 pursuits. During school hours he insisted upon 
 earnest hard work, but as soon as the hands of 
 the clock pointed to play-time he would pick up 
 the smallest boy, join in the rush to the play- 
 
 28
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 ground, and, in spite of his self-imposed handicap, 
 strive for the coveted honour of reaching it first. 
 This energy both in play and in work exercised a 
 powerful influence over his boys, and constituted a 
 standing appeal to them for strenuousness and 
 earnestness of endeavour; while in the social circle 
 and at the supper-table his gifts for music and for 
 conversation made him a welcome member of any 
 group, whether of boys or adults. 
 
 One episode of the Newington period deserves 
 mention in detail because of one self-revealing 
 characteristic. It was at this time that he had one 
 of his narrow escapes from drowning. His own 
 record is as follows: 'October 8, 1863. Delivered 
 this day, by the mercy of God, through the instru- 
 mentality of Andrew Howison and Robert McKeown, 
 from death by drowning at Haslam's Creek. Sank 
 twice, one of the boys says three times. Was kept 
 by God in perfect peace. Presence of mind the 
 whole time. Hallelujah ! ' The following letter, by 
 one concerned, sets out the whole story, and brings 
 to the front an interesting psychological phenomenon. 
 The writer was the Rev. R. McKeown, Rector of 
 St. Mary's, Waverley. 
 
 WAVERLEY, 
 
 October 14, 1911. 
 
 I am 'glad that something is to be done for 
 the memory of Dr. Moulton. It is worth perpetuat- 
 ing. ... It is very good of you to speak so 
 kindly of my performance at Haslam's Creek, but 
 really the ' heroic ' was elsewhere. I made a dash 
 for Mr. Moulton when I saw him sink. 
 He seized me first, and we sank together several 
 times. He said afterwards that he felt he was 
 29 C
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 drowning me, and he let me go. I swam ashore 
 and Howison tackled the job, with the same results. 
 Then three of us joined hands in a life line and 
 got both ashore. You will understand that we 
 were now on the wrong side of the Creek and 
 hadn't even a costume. Howison was exhausted, 
 so I took him on my back, and offered to do 
 the same for Mr. Moulton. But, notwithstanding 
 all he had been through he insisted on making 
 another effort to swim if I could fasten a rope 
 round him and go ahead. The rope saved disaster. 
 The heroism, as you will see, was with the 
 master and with Howison. The one thing fixed 
 in my mind when struggling in the water was 
 that a drowning man never lets go, and that I 
 was doomed. My surprise was great when I found 
 myself free, and my admiration greater when I 
 knew how the liberation had come. 
 
 We cannot pass from Newington College without 
 a reference to his influence upon the Divinity students, 
 for the Newington of that day was not only a public 
 school but it had its recognized place in the training 
 of candidates for the Methodist ministry. The in- 
 fluence which was potent with the schoolboy in the 
 things of the secular curriculum became more potent 
 still when he was face to face with the eternal 
 truths of the gospel; and he loved to use his 
 remarkable voice and his equally remarkable memory 
 in unfolding to students the richness of our inheri- 
 tance in Christian song. It goes without saying that 
 such a tutor was singularly approachable, and that 
 budding scholars and inexperienced preachers always 
 found him ready to talk about their work, and help 
 them in their perplexities. 
 
 3.0
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 This manysided ministry counted for all the more 
 because, although in theory he was only head master 
 of the school, he was in fact president of the College 
 as well. The Rev. J. A. Manton, the president, was, 
 as has been noted already, the type of a perfect 
 English gentleman, and was both a saint and a 
 scholar. But he was far from robust, and after a 
 few months of happy co-operation, during which a 
 strong bond of affection was formed between the 
 man of ripe experience and the youthful enthusiast, 
 Mr. Moulton found himself in sole command on 
 Mr. Manton's death in September, 1864. But he was 
 ably seconded by his colleague, Mr. Johnstone, and 
 Mrs Manton, with her choice and wholesome spirit, 
 was an asset so long as she remained at Newington. 
 The result was unqualified success for the school. The 
 numbers so rapidly increased that the limit of ac- 
 commodation for boarders was rapidly reached, and 
 there were fifty applications for the first vacancy. 
 The educational standard was high, as is shown by 
 the report of the inspector already quoted; the 
 moral tone was very good; and indeed the success 
 was so conspicuous that earnest efforts were made to 
 keep him in the colony. But he was a missionary 
 to his finger-tips, and nothing could turn him from 
 his determination to go to the mission field as soon 
 as conditions were favourable. 
 
 One condition became favourable very shortly, to 
 the joy of Mr. Moulton and another! When he 
 had landed in Sydney the previous year the fact 
 of his being unmarried had been a difficulty in the 
 way of his proceeding to the Fijian Islands, and 
 thus a factor in his being diverted to Newington. 
 Reference has already been made to his engage- 
 ment to Miss Knight of Newark; and no more 
 
 31
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 need be said than that time and distance had left 
 their mutual regard unaltered, and in the latter part 
 of 1864 she sailed on the La Hague for Sydney. 
 It was hard of course for her to leave home under 
 any circumstances : it was harder and more bitter 
 to find herself in Sydney looking in vain to find 
 the one face she sought! What happened exactly 
 no one knows, except that some one had blundered, 
 and that while Miss Knight was eating her heart 
 out in the harbour, Mr. Moulton was waiting in 
 breathless excitement for the message telling him 
 of the expected arrival of the ship a message that 
 never came until after its arrival. But a kind 
 friend, the Rev. R. Sellers, came on board and was 
 the first to welcome her. He took her on shore, 
 and placed her under the care of Mrs. J. Cowlishaw, 
 at whose house she spent her first night in Sydney. 
 On December 23 they were married in Wesley 
 Church, Melbourne, by the Rev. John Eggleston, 
 the uncle of both the bride and the bridegroom. 
 
 They returned to Sydney to await, as they thought, 
 their definite appointment to Fiji at the next Con- 
 ference. It must not be thought that leaving Newing- 
 ton College was a light task to Mr. Moulton. He 
 loved the work, and there was no doubt whatever 
 as to his success in that field. From a worldly, 
 social point of view the post was, moreover, a most 
 desirable one; and it is a high tribute to their 
 character that these two young people chose to 
 go forth to all the privations and perils of pioneer 
 work among island peoples when they might have 
 done useful service for their church under condi- 
 tions so much more congenial. 
 
 But Fiji was not to be his destination, any more 
 than China, for which he had originally been put 
 
 32
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 down. Amid the delicate and perplexing operations 
 of ' stationing ' a letter reached the President begging 
 that the Conference would send Mr. Moulton to 
 Tonga for the purpose of setting up an educational 
 establishment there, ' for the young chiefs of my 
 land.' The request bore the seal and signature of 
 King George Tubou of Tonga; and the directness of 
 the document lay in the fact of the specified name 
 of the choice. 
 
 King George had, ten years previously, realized 
 that ignorance was the most direct clog to a nation's 
 progress, and with pathetic insistence he had applied 
 Hosea's words, ' My people are destroyed for lack 
 of knowledge.' One of the European missionaries 
 resident there at the time must have heard of the 
 young Newington head master and his work, and 
 have suggested his name to the intelligent monarch. 
 When the matter was placed before Conference it 
 was unanimously decided to accede to the request; 
 and on the final draft of the Stations there appeared 
 the entry : ' Tonga : James Egan Moulton.' Turning 
 his back on Fiji, and burying for ever the manu- 
 script of that Fijian sermon, so carefully prepared 
 on his way out, Mr. Moulton and his wife embarked 
 in the Ocean on May 2, 1865, for that very group 
 of islands where the monarch was the ' King George 
 of Tonga' whom he had taken for his theme years 
 before as a young man speaking at a Castle Doning- 
 ton missionary meeting. Strange coincidence ! But 
 after all, was it a coincidence ? Probably not, although 
 there was no conscious association between the two, 
 so far as Mr. Moulton was concerned. 
 
 The voyage was a very protracted and dangerous 
 one. When nearing Tonga the vessel was caught 
 in a terrific storm which seemed to threaten the 
 
 33
 
 EARLY LIFE AND PREPARATION 
 
 existence of the craft and its passengers. Eventually 
 they cast anchor in Nukualofa Harbour on the 
 thirtieth of May. It was with great relief that they 
 heard the grating of the keel of the ship's boat 
 on the sandy beach, but the unconventional method 
 by which his young bride was transferred to the shore 
 in the arms of a dusky native was somewhat dis- 
 concerting to the young husband. They found a 
 very warm reception waiting for them, led by the 
 Rev. J. Whewell, and their hearts were filled with 
 thankfulness for preserving mercies, and joyous antici- 
 pation of useful service. 
 
 34
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 BURIED away in the Pacific Ocean, far from the 
 ken of civilized man, a mere cluster of tiny 
 specks, standing between 18 deg. and 23 deg. south 
 latitude, and 173 deg. and 176 deg. west longitude, 
 lies a group of islands marked on the map as the 
 Friendly Islands, but now more generally known as 
 Tonga, from the largest. In them are contained 
 more than a hundred and fifty islands, of which 
 fifteen rise to a considerable height, thirty-five are 
 moderately elevated, and the remainder low. There 
 are three principal groups Tonga or Tongatabu, 
 with its elevated, picturesque and fertile adjunct, Eua, 
 situated to the South; Ha'abai, an archipelago of 
 islands, of which Lifuka is the centre and capital; 
 and Ha'afuluhao (better known as Vava'u, from its 
 largest island) in the north. Taking a direct line 
 from Eua to Vava'u, the group proper covers a 
 distance of, probably, no more than 200 miles, and 
 contains but about 200 square miles of land. There 
 are two other small, but very interesting, islands 
 lying outside this area; Niua Fo'ou (Boscawen), the 
 asylum of the dreaded Tongan Vikings, and Niua 
 Tobutabu (Keppel's), with its mystical fish, whose 
 very rare appearance, if seen by the human eye, was 
 the harbinger of good both in a northerly direc- 
 tion, more or less; while Pylstaart Island limits the 
 extent of the Tongan Kingdom to the south. 
 
 Generally speaking the character of the land of 
 
 35
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 this group is not atollic, but owes its existence to 
 subsidence causes. Not far away to the south of 
 Tongatabu the H.M.S. Penguin, the surveying ship, 
 discovered in 1898 the deepest ocean-depth then 
 known. 1 It is interesting also to observe that, on 
 the western fringe of this group, runs a chain of one 
 of the greatest volcanic ranges in the world. Its soil 
 is most prolific and every tropical fruit has its true 
 home here. Its climate, however, though superior 
 to any other of the islands of the Pacific, is humid 
 and enervating, and especially trying between the 
 months of December and March, the hurricane season. 
 But unlike the majority of other islands in these 
 seas, it is absolutely immune from the ravages of 
 malaria. From April and on to September, fanned 
 by the pleasing trade-winds, life is very enjoyable in 
 this respect, and particularly so in Tongatabu. A 
 passing visitor cannot but be struck with the luxuriant 
 growth, the exquisite variety and blaze of colour 
 of trees and flowering shrubs, the graceful wave of 
 the abounding and beneficent cocoanut palm, to- 
 gether with the glittering sheen of the sea, the blue of 
 the cloudless sky, the never-ending line of the white 
 stretches of sand fringing the shores and, at low tide, 
 foamed-tossed reefs. 
 
 And the people that looked with inquisitive eye 
 upon their new missionary? Well-made, strongly 
 built, some tall of stature but mostly of full medium 
 height, pleasing in form and feature, light of heart 
 with, apparently, few cares to distress; both men and 
 women showing a dignified gait and carriage and 
 a quiet courtesy of manner when accosted. How 
 unlike all this to the idea in vogue of a cannibal 
 people and heathen nation 1 And the thought upper- 
 
 1 Since then Japanese waters have won this distinction. 
 36
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 most in the mind must at once be, ' Whence this 
 people, with such marked characteristics of their 
 own?' 
 
 For how long the Tongan had been in possession 
 of his home in the Pacific before his emergence from 
 obscurity it is impossible to conjecture. The first 
 notice of his existence appears in an entry in the 
 journal of that famous explorer, Abel Tasman, who 
 touched at Tongatabu in 1643. He saw there, it 
 seems, no weapons of warfare; so, apparently, the 
 people lived in comparative peace with each other 
 and had not as yet caught the infection of cruelty 
 and bloodshed which afterwards characterized them 
 and for which their association with the Fijians 
 at a later period is held responsible. But earlier 
 than even Tasman it appears that Schouten and 
 Lemaire, with their high-pooped Dutch ships, an- 
 chored off Niua Tobutabu (Keppels) and repulsed 
 an attack made upon them by the natives. A hundred 
 and twenty-four years after Tasman, in 1767, Wallis 
 also touched, but only for one day, at the same 
 island. But these navigators do not seem to have 
 done more than pay a passing visit. 
 
 The credit, therefore, for having first obtained any 
 adequate knowledge of these islands and people must 
 rest with Captain Cook, who in 1773 brought up at 
 the western end of the main island, at Hihifo, and 
 anchored in what was afterwards known as Maria 
 Bay. He is responsible for the name of the whole 
 group, The Friendly Islands, in the very choice of 
 which this wary and intrepid navigator only showed 
 himself the prey of a misguided judgement. It is 
 well known how that, behind all their simulated show 
 of friendliness, they had even then formed a plot to 
 club him. In 1777 he paid a second visit; and the 
 
 37.
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 survey work that he did, and the comparatively 
 accurate soundings that he took and recorded, are a 
 marvel to all, considering the naturally imperfect 
 character of the instruments at his disposal at that 
 early age, and constitute a crowning proof of his 
 ability. 
 
 But the ultimate results of his first visit had a 
 much higher issue than that for which his exploration 
 was planned. We are told that the primary purpose 
 of Cook's first embarkation from England was in the 
 interests of science to view the approaching transit 
 of Venus at Tahiti under more favourable condi-- 
 tions than the atmosphere of the homeland afforded. 
 In the providence of God like the search for the 
 lost asses of Kish it was made the medium of the 
 greatest of spiritual results. It subsequently led to 
 the outpouring of the gospel rays upon the darkness 
 of that island and the Christianization of the whole 
 of the peoples inhabiting the group. But we are 
 anticipating. Let us ask again, ' Whence came they ' 
 and ' where was their original habitat ? ' 
 
 The question is more .easily asked than answered, 
 for the solution is wrapped in mystery. Ethnologi- 
 cally, it is stated, there is a wide difference between 
 the Fijian and the Tongan. The former belong to 
 the great Melanesian family. The latter, some have 
 insisted, should be regarded as Malayan and, while, 
 without doubt, there is the sprinkling of that race 
 in the Tongan feature and cast, yet such a classi- 
 fication does not meet with the approval of the 
 expert; and hence for want of a better, they have 
 been termed Polynesians. On the other hand some 
 have earmarked them with the title of Malayo-Foly- 
 nesians. The latest and it certainly can lay claim 
 to ingenuity with a fair degree of justice is that of 
 
 38
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 Sawaiori (SAmoa, HAwaii, MaORI) a delineation, 
 coined for the purpose, combining a syllable from 
 each of the outstanding peoples. 
 
 As regards the peopling of Tonga, there seems 
 no reason to doubt that their previous resting-place, 
 immediately prior to their present abode, was Samoa. 
 The same may be, most probably, said of the Maoris 
 of New Zealand, who may well have drifted there 
 from Savai'i (Samoa). The Samoans, Tongans, and 
 Maoris are brothers and sisters; on that there seems 
 to be a consensus of opinion. Their language is very 
 closely allied and, in other respects, there is a 
 considerable similarity. The very name, Tonga, 
 means ' south ' ; and it does not require a very 
 vivid imagination to draw the conclusion that the 
 name was given with reference to the direction taken 
 from the land they had last left Samoa. Ha'abai, 
 the central group of islands, is only another form of 
 Savai'i. 
 
 But even what has been said does not solve, 
 absolutely, the question of their origin. It is gener- 
 ally acknowledged that in the past they have been 
 great travellers. And the seafaring propensity still 
 strongly characterizes them. They have, in the course 
 of many tenturies, journeyed far, and the com- 
 paratively close proximity of the islands down along 
 the Malay Archipelago would render a journey of 
 considerable magnitude not impracticable. 
 
 But as to their original home ? In the writings 
 of some of the earlier missionaries to Tonga, Mr. 
 West in particular, we read that the resemblances of 
 many of the Tongans to the Hebrew people in 
 features, customs, and practices has left its impres- 
 sion on their minds. The rite of circumcision (still 
 in vogue, by the way), and of the tabu; the offering 
 
 39
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 of the first-fruits; the institution of the priesthood; 
 the division of the year into months, even the inter- 
 calary month being noticed with its distinct position 
 and name recognized these and others, perhaps, 
 that could be mentioned seemed to suggest a pristine 
 connexion with the Hebrew race. To this it might 
 have been added that the Tongans have traditions 
 of the Flood; Maui, one of the gods worshipped, is 
 identical with Noah and one of the Tangaloa family, 
 a mythical hero, is identifiable with Tubal Cain, 
 for he is the great blacksmith. Whence could they 
 have obtained such ideas and preserved such records ? 
 They had no written language, and all history had 
 to be handed down by word of mouth. It seems 
 feasible enough to suppose that the ancestry of the 
 long past had continuously handed down the tradi- 
 tions that they sacredly guarded. 
 
 When, moreover, the Bible was being translated a 
 second time, the translator confined himself to the 
 Hebrew original as the basis of his operations. In 
 the process he was struck, from time to time, with 
 the fact that the Hebrew original and the Tongan 
 equivalent were almost identical. That his view 
 was correct was openly acknowledged by one well 
 fitted to judge, when the matter was referred to him 
 in England, with the further admission that the 
 Tongan possibly was the older form. This seemed 
 to point to the fact that the Tongan was originally 
 of Hebrew extraction, astounding as that statement 
 may appear: for there is scarcely any stronger 
 argument than language with which to determine 
 the racial connexions. The discovery seemed to 
 corroborate the impression long formed by the trans- 
 lator in question that the Tongans originally came 
 from somewhere in the south of Arabia. 
 
 4
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 The religion of the Tongans, as it existed when 
 first known to the civilized world, ' incorporated no 
 abstract principles of belief. It was rather a system 
 of despotism, in which deities, ceremonies, and 
 restrictions, had been indefinitely multiplied, till it 
 presented a chaos of dark superstition, into which 
 the population plunged headlong through slavish fear 
 and ignorance. . . . No spirit of benevolence per- 
 vaded the system. It abounded in punishments for 
 the present life and in dark threatenings for the 
 future. Bulotu, the Tongan Paradise, was reserved 
 only for the spirits of the departed chiefs and per- 
 sons of rank, who became, in turn, the servants of 
 the presiding genius of Bulotu. ... Of the fate 
 of the poor tu'a (commoner) there was no certainty. 
 . . . Savage rites, and deities who delighted in mis- 
 chief and blood; a cruel and rapacious priesthood; 
 a despotic and oppressive government; inhuman 
 faiths and absurd superstitions under these the 
 people were held in abject bondage.' 1 
 
 We cannot here describe in detail the early state 
 and condition of the Tongan people prior to the 
 coming of the gospel, or of the work done by the 
 brave and heroic band of pioneers, who were made 
 noble instruments in God's hands for this work 
 resulting in the pulling down of the strongholds of 
 Satan in these islands. Suffice it to say that a 
 faithful band of missionaries laboured from 1822 
 to 1865, amid countless difficulties and dangers, and 
 experienced the truth of the apostle's insistent declara- 
 tion that the gospel was ' the power of God unto 
 salvation.' The list of their names is a lengthy 
 one, reaching from that of Walter Lawry and 
 John Thomas to the subject of our sketch, and 
 1 West's Polynesia, p. 255, 256. 
 41
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE 
 
 they form inseparable links in a noble chain of 
 heroic deeds. 
 
 It was as a result of their earnest and successful 
 efforts that when Mr. Moulton arrived in these islands 
 he found all traces of heathenism practically gone, 
 and \he men that were once ' possessed with the 
 demons,' were dwelling at peace, worshipping the 
 God of Heaven, with the conscious knowledge of 
 Christ as their Saviour, and holding the full assurance 
 of a life beyond the grave. 
 
 The land was endowed with prolific resources, 
 growing freely all tropical fruits and foods. The 
 cocoanut palm gave a prodigal supply, as did the 
 yam, the staple food of the country, while bananas 
 and kumalas (sweet potatoes) were easily and quickly 
 produced. The people were happy and contented 
 without the urgent demands or corroding cares of 
 the more civilized world: and nature met generously 
 all claims incidental to their native wants. The 
 week had its round of common tasks; for the 
 plantations called for physical labour, vigorous and 
 unrelenting until the yam-seed was planted, and then 
 there were the other pursuits such as house or canoe- 
 building or fishing which claimed their attention. 
 Then Saturday came with its call for providing food 
 for the Sabbath hence its Tongan cognomen of 
 tokonaki or ' preparation ' : so that Sunday, now the 
 Day of Rest, found them diligent in their obedience 
 to the call of the native drum for worship in the 
 House of God. Such were the conditions of the 
 people to whom Mr. Moulton came, happy in their 
 free and easy communal life in a land that God had 
 made for them bountiful in the extreme. 
 
 But in the very generosity of such an en- 
 vironment there is ever to be found a subtle 
 
 42
 
 THE LAND AND PEOPLE * 
 
 menace to the spirit of a newly-born race. The 
 bias of human nature is not easily destroyed, and 
 although they had practically emerged from the 
 darkness of heathenism there was much to be done 
 before they could be regarded as established in 
 their higher standard of living. The ' infant period ' 
 for such an island people is not to be reckoned as 
 a matter of a few brief years : and it is the refusal 
 to take cognizance of this fact that has led so many 
 to hurl their ill-informed criticisms against the work 
 of the missionaries and write them down at once as 
 dismal failures. The keen sighted ruler, King George 
 of Tonga, intelligent far beyond his age, grasped this 
 central truth, and it led, as we have stated, to his 
 urgent request for Mr. Moulton to take up the task 
 of supplying the much-needed want the intellectual 
 uplift of his people upon the spiritual basis laid. 
 Education of a very elementary nature had been, 
 it is true, initiated in the past, but, useful and necessary 
 though it was, it was felt to be scarcely adequate for 
 raising the intellectual power of a nation. It had 
 served its day. The time had come for a higher 
 standard, and the man had arrived who was to 
 make the experiment. 
 
 43
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM 
 
 SUCH, then, was the state of these islands of the 
 'fronded palm/ when James Egan Moulton 
 and his young bride arrived on May 30, 1865, after 
 the stormy voyage narrated. The people were ripe 
 for intellectual advance and they provided a specially 
 interesting field for the experiment of the mental 
 development of an island-people on the evangelistic 
 basis formed. 
 
 The race upon which such a trial was to be 
 made proved itself to be worthy of the attempt, 
 though the materials were, at this early period, truly 
 raw and uncertain. It was virgin soil, however, 
 which has at once its advantages. It has been 
 shown that the mental capacity was equal to, if 
 not in advance of, the best of the other South Sea 
 Islanders : and certainly the field was distinctly 
 promising. Still, it was only in its embryonic state 
 and much depended upon the teacher himself and 
 his method. 
 
 To the educational enthusiast no more highly 
 interesting problem could be presented than that 
 of adapting European educational methods to meet 
 the needs of the Pacific islander, and few more 
 difficult. But the young missionary was not deterred 
 by the inevitable difficulties of the situation, and he 
 faced it with his natural courage and resourcefulness. 
 
 To teach in a foreign tongue, after the first step 
 of acquiring the language itself has been achieved, 
 
 44
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 there still remain great difficulties in the impart- 
 ing of instruction. The foreign atmosphere of 
 thought and ideas is so totally different that, while 
 one may easily undertake to make oneself under- 
 stood in common parlance, it is quite a different 
 matter to be able to think as they would think and 
 to explain as they would explain. 
 
 To the language then first, as the only possible 
 stepping-stone, Mr. Moulton applied himself with 
 characteristic zeal. The first Sunday, we are told, 
 he read the hymns and lessons. In three months he 
 preached his first sermon. This is index enough 
 of his capacity to learn a new language. The 
 tenacity of his memory in this department came as a 
 great boon to him, and he added to this by employing 
 a native instructor, so that the correct pronunciation 
 was at once readily acquired. Immediate difficulties 
 could be easily remedied by ready application to the 
 Rev. J. Whewell, who had first welcomed him to the 
 work, and in whose hospitable home he and Mrs. 
 Moulton lived for some time until a new house 
 was built, and built to a great extent by himself, 
 for carpenters were few and far between in those days 
 of pioneering mission life. The house was after the 
 Tongan model a long conical roof of thatch 
 supported on huge pillars with base buried a few feet 
 in the ground. The rest was European with its 
 weather-boarded sides, joists and flooring-boards : and 
 this part he carried through with his own hand. The 
 house was soon completed, a building that stood the 
 strain and stress of storm and hurricane for about 
 thirteen years, and finally was wrecked by one of those 
 unfriendly ' blows ' with which mission life is so 
 well acquainted. That it was severely tried a few 
 years before it died this unnatural death, the writer 
 
 45 D
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 has a very distinct reminiscence, when the whole 
 family and what goods were necessary were rapidly 
 transferred, one dark night when the hurricane was 
 at its height, to a small one-roomed European , 
 structure in the College grounds, because the percep- 
 tible movement of the great pillars, on which the 
 whole roof rested, made such a hurried exit 
 imperative. But for twelve years at least before its 
 inmates left it empty to proceed to England, it was 
 the happiest of homes and saw the rapid rise and 
 extraordinary progress of the evolution of the College, 
 in whose grounds it stood. 
 
 As the forty years' commemoration of Tubou 
 College was celebrated in 1906, the actual inauguration 
 of the Institution may be said to date from the year 
 1866. The month was February. Its commencement 
 was small. David Tonga, well-known throughout the 
 Australian Commonwealth as a deputation with his 
 wife Rachel, was the first ' boy ' on the roll. He 
 with a few others formed the nucleus. Of these few, 
 one, though much behind in mental calibre, was, after 
 a time, utilized as a Tutor so that David might have 
 the benefit of additional instruction, the master 
 realizing at a glance that such a step would fully 
 repay him at a later date. Even at the outset, it 
 was to him that difficulties of diction, &c., were 
 referred. The idea would be explained at length, and 
 the quick intellect of the pupil would speedily grasp 
 the meaning, and, as quickly, would provide the 
 correct Tongan equivalent. Thus by slow degrees, 
 after this line-upon-line method, the transition from a 
 civilized mode of thought would be effected : but it 
 can easily be realized that even these small beginnings 
 were only attained by ceaseless and patient application 
 on the part of the teacher. 
 
 46
 
 FRONT VIEW OF TUBOU COLLEGE. 
 
 INTERIOR OF TUBOU COLLEGE
 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM 
 
 From the very first it 1st evident that the 
 purposes of Mr. Moulton aimed at a very high ideal. 
 This finds illustration in the very title that he was 
 led to give to the Educational Institution, of which 
 he was the founder and moving power. Hitherto the 
 modest and common name of Training Institution or 
 Preparatory School had been in vogue, in which young 
 men were engaged in preparing themselves for ser- 
 vice in the Church, in some form or other. The! 
 early missionaries had invariably established schools, 
 as had been stated, but the standard at which they 
 aimed was naturally of a more elementary nature. 
 This was to be no more nor less than a College, a 
 word unknown to this island-race at the time and that 
 needed a full explanatory notice in the pages of the 
 early magazine which was identified with the estab- 
 lishment itself. Church and State, in their many 
 divergent channels of departmental usefulness, were 
 to centre their hopes and expectations upon it. From 
 it the Church would draw its supply of ministers, 
 stewards, officials, and teachers, both for day and Sab- 
 bath schools ; while from it also the Government would 
 seek its clerks, magistrates, and other officials. These 
 aspirations might seem inordinately presumptuous in 
 the days of small things; but, as he said to a 
 veteran missionary who sought to turn him aside, 
 ' he would have these or none.' 
 
 Although, from all accounts, the schools in the 
 early days of Tongan mission history seem to have 
 enjoyed a fairly long life, yet for some years before 
 Mr. Moulton's arrival, such had been their uncer- 
 tain fate that their existence for the space of six 
 months and no longer had almost passed into a bye- 
 word. When, therefore, it was heralded forth to the 
 Tongan world that a College was to be started, 
 
 47
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 sarcasm was at once rife, when the wiseacres, with 
 would-be prophetic insight, would curtly say, ' I sup- 
 pose it will be a matter of six months only in this 
 case also.' 
 
 It was a subject for congratulation that, from the 
 very outset, the king gave his whole-hearted support 
 to the full scheme; for without that support it would 
 have had a hard task to survive the opposition which 
 came from the benighted, in mind and nature. 
 
 While there were no poor people in these lovely 
 islands, there was a distinct margin of difference 
 between the chief and the commoner. So long as 
 they remained in their own sphere of life, there 
 would be no difficulty, for the status of each would 
 be duly recognized. But it was otherwise when 
 each chose to enter the new educational establishment. 
 Outside there was one law for the commoner and 
 another for the chief. Such a system of partiality, 
 however, would be fatal to the discipline of school 
 regulations, which can know no such invidious dis- 
 tinction. New scholars poured in, and as these were 
 mostly from the lower ranks of the people, the diffi- 
 culty of status was not fully realized at first. 
 But one day it came to the ears of Mr. Moulton that 
 the king's grandson was expected soon to enter the 
 College, and the seriousness of the question at once 
 came home to him. He waited on His Majesty, told 
 him of the report that he had heard, and asked him 
 if it were true. It was. ' Well, Tubou, I want it 
 to be clearly understood at the outset that we have 
 only one set of rules in the college for all alike, 
 chief or commoner; if Wellington decides to enter, 
 he must be prepared to abide by its regulations, 
 despite his rank.' 'Certainly, Mr. Moulton,' was 
 the reply. And the grandson entered in due course. 
 
 48
 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM 
 
 That the king was true to his promise was 
 revealed a little later, when, in accordance with the 
 distribution of work, the chief in question was sent to 
 the head master's residence as kitchen boy for the 
 week. By some mischance, he burnt his finger. 
 Soon the outside world heard, with great consterna- 
 tion, of the tragic disaster! The king's attendants 
 came in haste to inform him of the fact, and his 
 deep interest in their story apparently put them of! 
 their guard, for they were led to pour forth at length 
 their hot displeasure at such menial work being 
 imposed upon their favourite. The indignity of it! 
 
 The king listened for some time, and when they 
 had finished he made them to understand very clearly 
 what he thought of their obsequious flattery, and 
 they went away in a chastened frame of mind. This 
 settled at a stroke, once and for all, a vital question of 
 College jurisprudence, and saved it from what might 
 have been a serious cause of weakness, had the deci- 
 sion been less drastic. 
 
 Work such as this constituted a gigantic task for 
 one who 'had scarcely been a year on the new 
 mission field. Among other things there was the 
 creation of school literature. With a few excep- 
 tions all the textbooks had to be written as time 
 permitted, after school lessons were finished. It is 
 during the engrossing work of this period that we 
 come across urgent entreaties from the mission 
 authorities in Sydney for him ' to take things more 
 easily.' And the caution seems to have been needed. 
 
 The mental capacity of the Tongans is remarkably 
 strong, as is generally admitted. It was soon dis- 
 covered that they had a decided aptitude for mathe- 
 matics and history. Their powers of memory were, 
 by their customary training, remarkable. From the 
 
 49
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 very first, mental arithmetic occupied a prominent 
 place in the school curriculum, and those that have 
 been present at some of the speech days will bear 
 testimony to the truth of the assertion that, in this 
 department, they have shown themselves wonderfully 
 proficient. 
 
 The capacity for languages was found to be 
 decidedly weak. Latin and French were attempted 
 in the early days, but soon discontinued, as it was 
 plainly evident that to expect success in these subjects 
 was to court disaster. English is still taught, but 
 we cannot speak with confidence of results being as 
 satisfactory as could be desired. 
 
 How varied was the course of study may be shown 
 by quoting from the ' Second Annual Report.' After 
 chronicling that there had been ' thirteen students 
 entering upon their third year of residence; that five 
 had distinguished themselves and had been placed in 
 the Graduate Class, one acting as assistant tutor,' it 
 goes on to say, ' The subjects for the examination 
 next June are, Euclid (ist and 2nd books); Algebra 
 (to simple equations); Arithmetic (to vulgar fractions 
 and decimals); Mensuration (surfaces and solids); 
 Histories of the ancient monarchies (Egypt, Assyria, 
 Babylon), with outlines of the history of England 
 and France; Religious knowledge (the Life of Christ, 
 history of the Hebrew monarchy; and Evidences of 
 Christianity); also papers on Geography, Grammar, 
 Chemistry and Astronomy.' 
 
 The organization of the college grew slowly and 
 naturally out of the necessities of the case. The 
 observant eye would readily single out the sharper 
 and more apt pupils under his charge, and these 
 would be more speedily advanced to higher classes 
 than those less intellectually gifted. So that from 
 
 50
 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM 
 
 the single class with which they commenced, the 
 college came to be divided into four separate divi- 
 sions or forms the Lower (Koliji Mui), the Middle 
 (Koliji Loto), the Examination Class (Kalasi 'Ahi'ahi), 
 and the Graduate Class (Kau Matematika). The 
 last-named, as the crux of the whole of the scholastic 
 life of the college, needs more than a passing notice. 
 When the raw student entered the door at the end 
 of the Large Hall, that class was the object of his 
 ambition. The glory attached to its attainment fed the 
 flame of his mental enthusiasm during the three 
 years of his school career. It was the corrective to 
 idleness and the inspiration of every department of 
 his work. The title itself is a Tonganized form of 
 our English word mathematics and was chosen by 
 tha originator as an appropriate one from the fact 
 that, in the examination which was held, and which, 
 if successfully passed, entitled the candidate to the 
 distinction distantly analogous to a university degree, 
 special emphasis was laid on the subjects belonging 
 to that department of knowledge, viz. Euclid, Algebra, 
 and Arithmetic. But besides these, they were required 
 to have manipulated satisfactorily two papers in 
 History, and three in Geography (Europe, Oceanica, 
 and physical geography). Fifty per cent, constituted 
 a pass. The class subjected to this test was what 
 was called the Examination Class. The successful 
 student was thereby privileged to wear a trencher, 
 and to have his name recorded in gilt letters on 
 the historic roll on the panelling to the left of the 
 dais (that to the right being restricted to the list 
 of captains), for which he was required to pay a 
 stated sum. He had the sole right, with the tutors, 
 of entry by the side door of the College, and from 
 his ranks were chosen the prefects, a most valuable 
 
 51
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 element, as we shall see later, in the successful 
 management of the institution. 
 
 The baneful system of ' cramming/ unfortunately 
 so prevalent of recent years, was obviated by the fact 
 that there was no higher power to frame a curriculum 
 which seemed to make it a necessity. 'Removes,' 
 generally speaking, were only possible and requisite 
 after a scholastic year, but there was no embargo 
 on promotion before that period where it was 
 warranted by exceptional ability. A unique example 
 of such an exception did occur in the case 
 of a more than brilliant boy, Filimone Tu'itubou, 
 who in a single year took the whole three-years' 
 course. But it is the only instance of its kind in 
 the annals of the College from its inception to the 
 present time. 
 
 By the adoption of such a curriculum any student 
 who had reached a ' Matematika ' status was one 
 who might truly be said to have received a good 
 all-round education. According to the rules laid down 
 by the principal, when a lad had succeeded in passing 
 the examination referred to, he was allowed the 
 privilege of an additional year's education, which 
 was carried on in the class into which he was entitled 
 to enter. After that extension of time had lapsed, he 
 was called upon to give his farewell address and to 
 leave the institution. Present as the writer has been 
 at many of these, in later years more especially, he 
 can witness to the deep emotion with which these 
 students severed their connexion with the College. 
 More often than not, however, the departing student 
 would already have received an appointment to take 
 charge of a government school or become a steward 
 in the church of some village in the country. In 
 some instances, he would be directly requisitioned 
 ' 52
 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM 
 
 by the government as a scribe or clerk all of which 
 appointments were highly coveted, and moreover were 
 a proof that the institution was serving its purpose 
 both in Church and State. 
 
 An interesting and characteristic chapter in the 
 history of Mr. Moulton's early work at the College 
 is that which is concerned with the setting up of 
 the printing-press. Somehow or other every vestige of 
 the books printed by the missionaries thirty years 
 before had vanished, as had the printing-plant, arid 
 he failed in all his attempts to induce the authorities 
 at Sydney to meet for him what they considered 
 to be an unnecessary outlay. But his enthusiasm 
 eventually surmounted every difficulty. He was for- 
 tunate in getting hold of an old printing-press and 
 a quantity of type that was in a state of ' pie.' He 
 had all the varieties carefully sorted and placed in 
 their cases in which laborious work he was much 
 aided by the temper and disposition of the Tongan. 
 He set himself then to learn the technique of printing 
 the manipulation of the ' stick,' the discovery of 
 the due proportions of the ingredients for printers' 
 ink, and a score of other things absolutely new to 
 him. At last his ingenuity and his perseverance 
 conquered : the printing-press was in full swing, and 
 schoolbooks poured out in streams. The compositors 
 found it hard to keep pace with the supply from 
 the study table; and while the missionary was hard 
 at work translating the printer would come to and 
 fro bringing proofs for correction, and taking back 
 again new material to be set up. 
 
 It was only to be expected that the strongly-marked 
 musical tastes and aptitudes of Mr. Moulton should 
 find expression in his work at the College; and many 
 visitors from the outside world were amazed at the 
 
 53
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 results which he obtained in this field, for he who 
 had gone out to the islands when the population was 
 ' perishing for lack of knowledge ' had the joy of 
 conducting the Messiah with a native chorus before 
 he left. The story of his efforts has a somewhat 
 unique interest, from several points of view. When he 
 decided to make chorus-singing an integral part of 
 the College curriculum he naturally fixed upon the 
 Tonic Sol-fa as the best medium to use, and he 
 wrote out a tune in that notation. A choir practice 
 was held, and the tune was duly operated upon: but 
 it was not a success, to say the very least of it. 
 The half-hearted attempts to learn the tune, and 
 the abashed manner in which they hung their heads 
 convinced him that something was wrong, and he 
 was thankful when it came to an end. Calling to 
 him David Tonga, who was his right-hand man for 
 everything in those early days, he asked what was 
 wrong. ' Oh, Mr. Moulton,' was the reply, ' that will 
 never do: it contains all the swear- words in our 
 language ! ' That was final ; and a new method had 
 to be invented to meet the case. The details of the 
 system would take too much space if they were set 
 forth here in full; suffice it to say that it centred 
 in the sequence of Tongan numerals from three to 
 nine inclusive, with the incorporation of the bar-lines, 
 colons, semi-colons, hyphens, &c., which are familiar 
 enough to all Sol-fa singers. The whole plan is an 
 interesting illustration of Mr. Moulton's extraordinary 
 ability in adapting the methods and principles of 
 western education to the requirements of an island 
 population; and it met with a great degree of 
 success. Works by the great masters were scored 
 in this new notation by the indefatigable head master, 
 as well as tunes, canticles, anthems, &c., for current 
 
 54
 
 RISE, GROWTH, AND CURRICULUM 
 
 use. That this acquisition was retained after Mr. 
 Moulton's departure from Tonga is shown by the 
 fact that a few years ago the officers of a cruiser 
 happened to come ashore and visit the College while 
 one of these practices was in progress. After hearing 
 several well-known hymns sung they expressed a wish 
 to hear the method applied to some tune quite new 
 to the students; and the request was readily granted, 
 the choice being left to them. Their choice fell on 
 Dr. Dykes's St. Silvester ('Days and moments quickly 
 flying '), a tune which had never before been heard 
 in the islands. It was rapidly translated into Tongan 
 Sol-fa and written on the blackboard. The key- 
 note was sounded, and to the utter astonishment of 
 the visitors the choir sang the various parts with almost 
 perfect precision at the first attempt. The explana- 
 tion of these remarkable results is to be found in the 
 fact that the system is taught to all students on their 
 entrance into the College, and forms one of their class 
 subjects until they are well on in their course. But 
 even this would probably have failed to achieve its 
 purpose had it not been for the fact that the Tongan 
 has an aptitude for music, above the ordinary degree. 
 These musical developments made yet further de- 
 mands upon the equipment of the printing-rooms. 
 The new Sol-fa necessitated a special fount of type, 
 cast in London, and it very soon became evident that 
 the old ' Albion ' machine was not adequate to deal 
 with the new and varied output, and an up-to-date 
 ' Wharf edale ' was installed, capable of working off 
 a thousand sheets per hour a phenomenon in the 
 Pacific Islands of that day! A College hymn-book, 
 tune-book, and anthem-book soon came into being, 
 a witness to the energy of the head master, as to the 
 receptivity of his flock and the indispensability of 
 
 55
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 the printing-press 1 Climatic conditions always mili- 
 tated against the full effectiveness of this branch 
 of the work; and in course of time fuller advantage 
 was taken of the greater facilities and better work- 
 manship of the English and Australian publishers. 
 But during the critical, formative period of the 
 College's growth its own printing-press played a most 
 important part, and did a work of inestimable value. 
 The same holds good of the binding of the books 
 for College use. 
 
 A telescope was also the treasured possession of 
 the College, which probably had the distinction of 
 installing the first observatory in the network of islands 
 in the Pacific. Of course it was the day of small 
 things, and the instrument which seemed to them 
 so large was actually somewhat insignificant; but it 
 meant much that in the early seventies, in one of the 
 hundreds of islands in that part of the Pacific, there 
 should be found at all a telescope and an enthusi- 
 astic teacher and an equally enthusiastic group of 
 native students. Eventually after contracting various 
 ailments and being finally disestablished by a hurri- 
 cane, it was sold in Sydney with a view to the 
 purchase of a better instrument. The present writer, 
 some years afterwards, found it standing outside the 
 Central Station at Sydney, its owner loudly insisting 
 upon its powers to reveal the surface of the moon, 
 and its extinct volcanoes. But the blase citizens of 
 Sydney never manifested a hundredth part of the 
 interest shown by the islanders as to the wonders of 
 the heavens.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 TUBOU COLLEGE SPEECH-DAY 
 
 EVERY scholastic institution has its gala days, and 
 Tubou College was no exception. The annual 
 Speech-day, moreover, had so many features of in- 
 terest differentiating it from similar occasions in 
 England that it will be worth while to give it special 
 prominence, in that it sheds much light upon the 
 conditions under which educational work was carried 
 on, and the mentality of the people. It was the 
 climax of the scholastic work of the year, and was 
 marked by the distribution of rewards and honours 
 of various kinds ; but it was also an event of national 
 importance. The king presided, and the parliament sus- 
 pended its session in order that the members might 
 be present. How much more so would the parents 
 and relatives of the students roll up in crowds! Let 
 us try to represent the scene. 
 
 Long before dawn the first move is made : and 
 a characteristic move it is! The whole College com- 
 pound is alive with bustling and hilarious students. 
 The ovens are piled with firewood and lit. Stones are 
 heaped on top. Cocoanut and banana leaves strew 
 the ground and are in much evidence. Quickly the 
 required heat is reached. The smouldering remains 
 are then raked out, and the hot stones, which, being 
 heavier, have deposited themselves below, are now 
 skilfully arranged in equal distribution around the 
 crater-like hole, which perhaps may measure from 
 
 57,
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 four to five feet in its largest diameter. On the 
 heated stones are placed pieces of yams of consider- 
 able size, Sweet potatoes, fish, and fowl adroitly 
 wrapped up in banana leaves and tied at the top; 
 whole pigs, Tongan puddings, also encased in the 
 banana fold, &c., &c., all are placed indiscriminately 
 within. Sticks are then placed crosswise over the 
 whole. Broad leaves then bestraddle these, over the 
 whole of which to keep in the heat earth or sand 
 is shovelled. The ' oven ' is then finished and 
 left(!) And no festival is complete without such 
 preliminaries. 
 
 The function proper commences at nine-thirty or 
 ten. The king and chiefs sit in state on the College 
 dai's, supported on either hand by those whose 
 privileged duty it is to accompany him on all such 
 occasions. The Head Master sits near: before him 
 the crowded hall with the College students and staff 
 at the further end. 
 
 A hymn sung, and a prayer offered by one of the 
 senior ministers, open the proceedings. The sight 
 is truly an inspiring one. The spectator from the 
 body of the hall sees on the crowded dais all the 
 highest personages of the nation. Behind the dai's 
 are the College windows, in the centre of which 
 stands a coloured portrait of the king himself; and, 
 below it, the mysterious-looking College crest the 
 hermit-crab with its tail in the acquired shell; while 
 round it, in almost a complete circle, in the form 
 of a scroll, runs a motto, a free translation of which 
 is, ' The Tongan's castle is the mind.' How the lot 
 fell upon this disgraced semi-parasite with its stolen 
 property of a home, might truly appear to be a 
 conundrum, but the originator of it was one who came 
 to be known as being of a decidedly original turn 
 
 58
 
 TUBOU COLLEGE SPEECH-DAY 
 
 of mind ! He saw in this accommodating genius a close 
 analogy to the facility of the trained mind, even of a 
 Tongan, to accommodate itself to new conditions, and 
 to lay hold of and to utilize such conditions with per- 
 manent advantage and benefit to himself and his 
 country. 
 
 The morning session of the Speech-day is ever of 
 a formal nature. The College regalia is worn. The 
 special class, the ' Matematikas/ is distinguished from 
 the others by the wearing of the European dress, 
 trousers and coat and boots an enormity in very 
 truth, as far as the Tongan, or any other islander, is 
 concerned crowned by the College trencher as a 
 head-gear, when outside the precincts. The rest 
 are more comfortably dressed, in the soft shirt, the 
 white loin-cloth, and the blue kummerband all aiding 
 to set off the gracefulness of his figure and tread. 
 
 The first item in the morning's business is the 
 reading out of the class order. The method in 
 vogue in the general class-work is that of taking 
 of places, a method, it may be, now out of date, 
 but found, for all that, exceedingly effective in stimu- 
 lating healthy rivalry among the members of the 
 class. This ' Stone Age ' method has ever worked 
 admirably in Tubou College and suits the Tongan 
 character. 
 
 The lowest class is first called. In a semi-circle in 
 front of the dai's, and in the open space before it, 
 they stand, taking their school order at the commence- 
 ment of the academical year now just closed. Their 
 newly-acquired positions in the respective lessons are 
 then read out seriatim, which they take when 
 announced. Then the climax of interest is reached 
 when the new order, as resultant from their diligent 
 attention to their task throughout the year, is read. 
 
 59
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 The Head Master may sometimes ask for a rough 
 guess as to who had reached the honoured place of 
 Dux of the class. A random shot would often be 
 ventured, but, in any case, hearty commendation 
 would follow 'the announcement of the honoured 
 name. Thus would the names of the whole class 
 be called, one by one, each coming forward and 
 taking his appointed position. This would constitute 
 the new school order for the ensuing year, and rank 
 is not without its stimulating usefulness, even though 
 it be in the lowest class. This mode of procedure 
 characterized the ' reading of the marks ' of every 
 class, with the exception of the Examination Class, 
 whose turn, for obvious reasons, was always postponed 
 until last. 
 
 Such a procedure may be thought to verge some- 
 what on the tedious, but the weariness of such a 
 long-drawn-out process was never felt as an afflic- 
 tion by any, except perhaps members of the Euro- 
 pean community who chanced to be present, and to 
 whom much was not intelligible and for whom there- 
 fore there was no special interest in the proceedings. 
 
 The would-be monotony, however, was often broken 
 by exhibitions of mental calibre, such as the mental 
 arithmetic test (referred to later by Dr. Fison 1 ), by a 
 problem in algebra, by a proposition in Euclid pro- 
 pounded by the students of the highest form, by a 
 chemical experiment occasionally (so is it on record), 
 or by a trigonometrical measurement. 
 
 At last, however, the crucial moment came and the 
 Examination Class was called up. Taking their school 
 order as the other classes had done before them, 
 they awaited, with an anxiety of heart that was 
 plainly revealed in their countenances, the unknown 
 
 *P, 82. 
 
 60
 
 TUBOU COLLEGE SPEECH-DAY 
 
 verdict. The process of reading out the positions 
 acquired in the various subjects throughout the year 
 was kindly dispensed with, the order of the aggre- 
 gated marks being at once announced and taken. 
 The stillness of expectation was intense as the Head 
 Master proceeded to reveal the results of the examina- 
 tion. The subjects taken have already been men- 
 tioned, so that a further repetition is no longer 
 necessary. Often the aggregated maxima would reach 
 a total of 1,200 marks and sometimes as high as 
 2,000 and 50 per cent, was required for a pass. 
 The excitement, when the names of the successful 
 candidates were revealed can hardly be described, 
 and the delirium of joy evinced by the relatives of 
 the student who came out at the top was most 
 demonstrative. A corresponding dejection was mani- 
 fested by those who failed, and they usually sidled 
 away into solitude to nurse their grief. 
 
 The writer remembers the sudden metamorphosis 
 of a student under this ordeal. His name was becom- 
 ing at every call lower down the list of successful 
 candidates, so that, becoming disheartened, he had 
 actually reached the exit door. When, however, he 
 heard the voice from the distant dai's proclaim the 
 good tidings that, after all, he had succeeded, he 
 gave a great bound into the air, turning right about 
 in the act, and, uttering a kind of a war-whoop, he 
 ran forward to join his fortunate fellows. The acme 
 of joy plays havoc sometimes with good manners, but 
 every one fully and freely forgave him all such per- 
 petrations under the peculiar circumstances. 
 
 The Head Master then presented the successful 
 students, one by one, to the chairman, who after 
 congratulating them on their success, would place 
 the coveted trencher the outward and visible mark 
 
 61 E
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 of distinction on the candidate's head, and the writer 
 has seen perhaps more than one recipient bestow an 
 affectionate kiss upon it. 
 
 When they had retired to their seats the chair- 
 man would deliver an address to the assembly, in which 
 he emphatically voiced his appreciation of all that 
 he had seen and heard, stimulating the unsuccessful 
 candidates with words of encouragement. Other 
 speakers would follow, and the proceedings would 
 terminate with a hymn and the Benediction. 
 
 To those who have followed the foregoing account 
 carefully, it will come as no surprise to learn that, 
 by this time, the hands of the clock would be point- 
 ing to half-past two. But time, on occasions like these, 
 is no object of immediate concern in these happy 
 climes, with no time-tabled trams and trains to catch 
 or any other important appointments to be considered. 
 
 Soon the once-crowded hall is empty. The king 
 and specially-privileged chiefs would then be con- 
 ducted to the Head Master's residence in these early 
 years to the Mission House in later days where they 
 would be his guests. We can leave them there en- 
 joying the meal served up in true European style. 
 
 Outside, however, there is a far different state 
 of affairs. The ovens have been quickly uncovered, 
 and baskets upon baskets of cooked food would be 
 brought into the College cricket-ground. The food, 
 when all presented, is then divided out by the master 
 of ceremonies. This is ever a most difficult task 
 considering the large concourse of people who had 
 gathered together from the four quarters of the 
 Tongan globe and who have all to be remembered. 
 But somehow, habit and usage come conveniently into 
 happy requisition and the feat is skilfully and, gener- 
 ally speaking, satisfactorily performed. 
 
 62
 
 TUBOU COLLEGE SPEECH-DAY 
 
 The afternoon or what remains of it after the 
 meal is spent in a free-and-easy manner, generally 
 in a cricket match. The College students themselves, 
 or some of them, have important r61es to play after 
 dark in the entertainment for the visitors, and hence 
 the spare hours are utilized in putting the finishing 
 touches to their preparation. To this entertainment 
 a summons characteristically Tongan is given in due 
 time. It is sounded on two drums, the one a fifth 
 below the other, and each following a sequence of 
 its own, with a most curious effect. But it serves 
 its purpose most effectually in that it brings the 
 guests to the hall from the utmost parts of the 
 island. 
 
 The capacious hall, 120 feet long by 30 feet 
 broad, is packed uncomfortably. There is an air 
 of abandonment about every one. Plainly the form- 
 ality of the morning has been laid aside, and truly 
 the evening in every department is ' free-and-easy.' 
 There is a properly arranged programme, not gener- 
 ally in printed form, though, as an attraction to the 
 members of the European community, the writer 
 remembers having sent out (in later years than this 
 period touches) a batch of printed circulars coupling 
 with the invitation from the ' tutors of Tubou College ' 
 (who were said ' to present their compliments ' and 
 to ' request the pleasure of - 's company ' at the 
 Miscellaneous Entertainment to be given by the 
 students, on such-and-such a day), with a short 
 heading of the various items pertaining thereto. To 
 be noticed among them were ' Recitations from Milton's 
 Paradise Lost* songs and part-songs, &c., &c. 
 Between 1893 and 1903 gymnastics formed a part 
 of the school curriculum, and hence dumb-bells, clubs, 
 and horizontal bar displays were introduced and were 
 
 63
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 greatly appreciated. To these at a later period were 
 added musical selections by the College brass band, 
 which enlivened the proceedings and gave a few 
 minutes' spell to prepare for the next important 
 item on the lengthy programme. The College singing 
 was always proverbial in the islands. Dr. Fison in his 
 report 1 has made appreciative reference to it. It was in 
 evidence in the entertainment to which we are now 
 referring. ' Hail, smiling morn ' (Spofforth) was a 
 general favourite as an opening number of the pro- 
 ceedings. The spectacle before the visitors' gaze must 
 be seen to be realized. The College regalia, as we 
 have said, has been thrown aside. Flowers in the 
 hair adorn the girls. Native cloth and beautifully- 
 woven mats of finest texture are in great evidence. 
 The Gala dress is strikingly native and, unhampered 
 by European enormities, the wearers move gracefully 
 about. Encircling the waist are seen the deftly- 
 plaited girdles of long fringes of pretty grass or the 
 heilala flower, ending in the tassle of hibiscus fibre. 
 A sash of similar make-up is thrown carelessly across 
 the shoulders. The hair is oiled and powdered with 
 the dust of the sweet and aromatic sandal-wood. The 
 girls, as an addition, place the long Tongan comb on 
 the back of their head, thrusting it safely and securely 
 in the mass of tangled hair that is their pride. 
 
 The whole assembly is orderly, attentive v and 
 appreciative to a degree. Dramatic excerpts from 
 Paradise Lost, rendered into the native tongue by 
 the Head Master, are always popular. Selections of 
 considerable length were ' played,' revealing consider- 
 able dramatic insight as well as an extraordinarily reten- 
 tive memory, and a gift for realism on the part of 
 those responsible for stage-management. Moreover, 
 
 'P. 79- 
 
 64
 
 TUBOU COLLEGE SPEECH-DAY 
 
 the elocutionary powers of the students in these Milton 
 selections were highly commendable. Indeed it is 
 a well-known fact that these dark-skinned races, as 
 a rule, have this power in no mean degree. A 
 proof of this may be seen at what is known as a 
 Bolotu a ' Service of Song ' a meeting held on a 
 Sunday night to which choirs from various parts of 
 the country would assemble. Here, in their turn, 
 they would discourse music that was practically the 
 product of a native mind as to both words and music. 
 The favourite number took the form of a recitation, 
 rendered by the bard of the district who alone stood 
 up in the process. At the close of the stanzas 
 sometimes of a considerable length he would turn 
 round to his seated trained choir, who would at once 
 burst in with the refrain bearing on the subject 
 treated. Some of these choruses were highly melo- 
 dious, and the precision with which the various parts 
 were taken up affords proof that the Tongans, gener- 
 ally, have a just claim to be regarded as a musical 
 race. Interspersed also with these dramatic recitals 
 would be solos and choruses, to which would be 
 added an instrumental item on the harmonium, which 
 was quite a novelty in those early days (1866-1877). 
 Later years saw distinct progress in this department, 
 pianoforte solos and duets being much in evidence. 
 
 The hours of the night would, in this way, rapidly 
 pass, and at ten p.m. the programme would be 
 brought to a close. That the entertainment was a 
 popular one is borne out by the fact that, on a 
 similar occasion, some years later, a chief of Royal 
 blood sat through proceedings similar to those just 
 narrated and yet with this difference, that the free- 
 and-easy evening function lasted from 6.30 p.m. to 
 12.30 a.m.; yet, when an adjournment was made 
 
 65
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 by him to the head tutor's house to drink the 
 Tongan beverage, he was heard to say, ' Why did Mr. 
 Moulton close so soon ? ' And yet what other people 
 than islanders would willingly put up with 
 an entertainment lasting over six hours ? It was a 
 foolish extravagance, perhaps, but there had been a 
 long and varied programme preparing for some time 
 and various batches of students had been keenly 
 applying themselves to their allotted parts, and the 
 ruling hand the writer of this biography did not 
 think it fair to disappoint them after such preparation. 
 Such festivals were abundantly worth the effort put 
 into them by tutors and students, for a successful 
 College Festival was the theme of conversation for 
 many lips in many islands and homes for weeks, and, 
 in this way, was an effective advertisement of the 
 institution. 
 
 66
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 THE REGIME 
 
 THE glamour of the College-cap and its prestige, 
 the unconscious magical influence of the educa- 
 tional environment on the students as a transformer, 
 not only mentally but physically, was the most 
 powerful incentive to those who still had been inclined 
 to stand aloof from its advantages. The normal 
 College regime therefore demands more than a pass- 
 ing reference, and embraces much more than the 
 facts of the class time-table; for the class-room, how- 
 ever important, is not the whole college. Many a 
 student from this institution who has evinced only 
 a mediocre mental calibre, has passed into the ranks 
 of Church workers and has been a veritable acquisi- 
 tion to it. One of the most successful ministers 
 of the Wesleyan Church was one who never suc- 
 ceeded in gaining the coveted honour of Matematika. 
 Yet he was deservedly popular for his sterling worth 
 as a pastor, having patiently borne the brunt of 
 ' being persecuted for conscience's sake,' and passed 
 on to his reward amid universal regret. At the 
 same time the above-mentioned Church is blessed 
 above measure by its band of noble ministers, 
 who, with but few exceptions, have first ' taken 
 their degree ' at the College before being called into 
 the ranks of the ministry. 
 
 Character, with brain capacity, is the coveted 
 inheritance of an effective Church. Tubou College 
 
 67
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 has contributed handsomely to this inheritance. Its 
 objective, from the very first, was to be a source of 
 supply to the State and the Church. Positions as 
 clerks in the government offices and as teachers in 
 the public schools were filled by its students : and so 
 were positions in the ministry slowly, at first, as 
 could only be expected, until the machinery was 
 in proper working order. This involves no disparage- 
 ment of the old order of ministers, which contained 
 some of the finest pastors one could wish to have, 
 whose spiritual fervour and fidelity to duty were 
 sublime. They lacked, however, the intellectual train- 
 ing that the new generation needed. Tubou College 
 supplied this deficiency, but its fullest realization could 
 not be seen until later years. Its perfect consumma- 
 tion required the slow process of growth, mental and 
 spiritual. 
 
 Some of the stages may be set out here in brief. 
 First and foremost without hesitation must be placed 
 the creation of the religious atmosphere into which 
 every student was thrust when his name was placed 
 on the College roll. Every collegian was enrolled in 
 some society-class, whether he was religiously dis- 
 posed or not, and this class would meet every Sunday 
 afternoon after service. The Lord's Day was per- 
 meated with worship. The day began with a prayer- 
 meeting at five o'clock in the College Hall, con- 
 current with that held in Zion Church by the local 
 minister and willing attendants. At nine a.m. the 
 students would be seen marching up to the historic 
 church in charge of the tutors and assistants. Here 
 they were the backbone of the singing, the tunes for 
 which they started without the help of any instrument. 
 The service ended, back again they would march to 
 their homes in the College grounds, would partake of 
 
 68
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 their first meal, and rest until the big bell sounded 
 the call for their assemblage in the hall for scrip- 
 ture lessons, for which they had prepared. Some- 
 times a new hymn would form a part, or the whole, 
 of their obligation on this occasion. More often it 
 was a lesson on the ' Life of Christ ' or some por- 
 tion of the Old Testament prepared by the Head 
 Master and written out in the form of question and 
 answer. At three o'clock lessons ceased, and once 
 more they marched up Zion Hill. Immediately at 
 the close of the afternoon's service the whole College 
 would assemble in the large hall for the society-class, 
 which, once a quarter, was faithfully met for the 
 renewal of tickets. Dismissed from this, they returned 
 to their dwellings in the College compound, where 
 they partook of their second, and last, meal of the 
 day. Nightfall brought its further obligations, and, 
 if they were not again recalled to Zion for a spiritual 
 meeting there, the College Hall would be once again 
 their rendezvous, where the Head Master would hold 
 his Bible-reading. This, more often than not, would 
 be the rule. And to it would come, with great 
 eagerness and relish, others who did not belong to 
 the institution. The capacious building would be 
 packed to its outer door. For three-quarters of an 
 hour a Bible exposition would be given. Seated on 
 the dai's, Mr. Moulton would wait until one of the 
 tutors had read out the portion of scripture that bore 
 directly on his theme. Then he would proceed to 
 elucidate and unravel and unquestionably his forte 
 was exegesis. There seemed to be an inspiration in 
 the very seat itself (so he often would say), and, 
 repeatedly, time would seem to have lost its sway upon 
 him, as he poured forth the message to his rapt 
 listeners. Then, rising, he would proceed to the 
 
 69
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 harmonium and play a hymn-tune. The collegians 
 would join in taking their various parts, and the 
 building would soon resound with inspiring music. 
 A new hymn and tune would sometimes be intro- 
 duced, to the keen delight of the expectant audience. 
 An anthem, such as that referred to before, would 
 next be rendered or possibly a solo. The closing 
 rites of this instructive and interesting worship-hour 
 consisted in an inspiring prayer by one of the ministers 
 present. The threads of the discourse and its preg- 
 nant lessons would be interwoven with a strong 
 appeal for a practical recognition on the part of the 
 hearers. The Benediction closed what was always 
 felt to have been a ' good time.' 
 
 But the religious atmosphere did not end with 
 the Sabbath. On the Monday night at seven o'clock, 
 the College prayer-meeting was held. This would 
 last for upwards of an hour, and a similar meeting 
 would also be conducted on the Friday evening. 
 
 Such was the programme week by week. Occa- 
 sionally a devotional service of a similar kind would 
 be arranged on a Sunday night, when College tutors 
 and local preachers would give addresses. Some- 
 times the choice would fall on some of the students, 
 who had never yet occupied such a position. Full 
 of interest and usefulness such arrangements would be, 
 interpersed, as they ever were, with hearty singing. 
 
 It is not hard to conceive then, that with such 
 continual sowing the gospel seed would fall on good 
 ground and a harvest of conversion would follow: 
 and where such a joyous result ensued the young 
 life, thus newly created, would be carefully nurtured 
 through the agency of the Sunday class-meeting. 
 We do not suggest for one moment that every 
 student was thus made a ' new creature ' in Christ 
 
 70
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 Jesus, but there is no doubt that the majority of 
 them were influenced thereby to higher things. 
 
 Then there was the important factor of the College 
 discipline. No institution can truly bear the name 
 where this important characteristic does not play a 
 controlling part. The unhandled colt, that all its 
 life up to the present has known no ruler but its 
 own sweet will, chafes at the hand that would strive 
 to subdue it to the inclination and pleasure of 
 another: and the analogy is suggestive when we 
 turn to the disposition of those who entered Tubou 
 College. Of all the many disadvantages from which 
 the Tongan youth suffers there is none more 
 deplorable than the absence of home training. The 
 discipline of the home is an unknown quantity; and 
 correction, when, by chance, it is brought into execu- 
 tion, is of a nature that is to be condemned, seeing 
 that it is, most commonly, the angry passion of 
 exasperation let loose. The punishment consequently, 
 though deserved, is disproportionately severe, and 
 therefore it tends to arouse the spirit of defiance. 
 
 The very form of address used by a child to its 
 parent is regrettable; for the Christian name only 
 is used on every occasion, instead of the endearing 
 term of ' father ' and ' mother,' which is unknown 
 in this regard. Moreover the child from infancy 
 gets what it wants; and out of this very indulgence 
 is created the germ of defiance which shows itself as 
 soon as, later on, it is in any way thwarted. 
 
 The difficulty with the boy grown up to young 
 manhood he is a taxpayer at seventeen in the 
 matter of discipline, needs no great exercise of the 
 imagination. The burden becomes accentuated when 
 we come to think of the more wilful temperament 
 of the son of a high chief thrown into an environment 
 
 71
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 where the word of one of lower rank than his own, 
 or even of a commoner armed with an authority to 
 dictate, by virtue of an academical distinction gained, 
 was law and must be obeyed. The position was 
 difficult to a degree, and called for the utmost tact. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the stand 
 taken by Mr. Moulton, when, in the early days of 
 the College, it was whispered that the king's own 
 grandson was soon to enter as a student. The chief 
 and commoner must stand on an equal footing; 
 both must bow inevitably to the rules and regulations 
 of the institution. This was pressed home at the 
 very outset when, as a new student, he was asked 
 to give the formal guarantee to strict obedience to 
 the same. Standing before the dai's in front of the 
 assembled school, he was required to give his solemn 
 promise by the raising of the right hand. From a 
 Tongan standpoint this was as binding on him as 
 the usual taking of an oath in the law-court. Then, 
 and not till then, his name was entered in the 
 enrolment book of the College. A book bearing his 
 name and academical number was then presented 
 to him. Obedience to the tutors and monitors was 
 as binding as to the principal himself. 
 
 The free and easy life of the outside world must 
 now be given up by the newly-enrolled student. The 
 sound of the drum and of the bell on a Sunday 
 have their concrete meaning. It may call to family 
 worship in the early morning or at nine at night; 
 or to roll-call when the names of all the students 
 were called by the monitor on duty, as he passed 
 along the raised central path on either side of which 
 the students resided. To such a call an adsum was 
 required to save the entry of the defaulter's name 
 in the imposition-book. It was the summons also 
 
 7.2
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 to morning and afternoon school, to the prayer- 
 meeting of the Monday and Friday night, or to the 
 choir practice twice in the week. He might be 
 requisitioned for College work on the working day 
 (Tuesday) or be at the beck and call of the tutor 
 on the Thursday. He might be asked to fulfil his 
 week as ' kitchen boy ' ; not infrequently he might 
 be commandeered to take an urgent message, by 
 word of mouth or by letter, to any of the ministers 
 stationed in the outlying parts of the island, &c., &c. 
 Then, in planting season, when it was imperative that 
 the food for the ensuing year should be attended to, 
 the order would be given that all must be prepared 
 to answer to their names at a given hour at a 
 distant plantation. Saturday was an ' off day,' and 
 yet, as the Tongan name for it (Tokonaki) implies, 
 ' preparation ' must be made for the morrow, the 
 Sabbath. This involved the sweeping of the whole 
 premises, the College square, the Mission House 
 grounds as well as the immediate vicinity of their 
 own habitations. This was, by the way, a govern- 
 ment regulation to be observed throughout the whole 
 island. Then there was food to be obtained for 
 the morrow. Hence the tramp to the plantation and 
 back for the supply. So that, though an ' off day ' 
 it had its systematic and compulsory duties. 
 
 The first few weeks were the testing time to the 
 new student; and the demands were by no means 
 light to a nature that was unused to the such exac- 
 tions. Sometimes it was only the keen desire for the 
 acquisition of knowledge and the halo of prestige 
 with which every student of Tubou College was sur- 
 rounded that weighed down the scale in favour of 
 forbearance. On the other hand, to those who had 
 not that desire, the exactions proved too distasteful, 
 
 73
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 and they left the institution of their own accord. But 
 they did not truly realize how well off they were 
 until they found themselves face to face with the 
 scarcity of provisions outside; and then their envious 
 eyes at once turned to the plenty that prevailed 
 in the place which they had so foolishly left. 
 
 But alternating with the manual exertions referred 
 to were the joyous hours of school, for such they 
 were indeed. Student vies with student for priority 
 of place in each class, and the impression left on 
 the interested and impartial observer is that there 
 is unmitigated joy in this mental exercise. 
 
 No class time-table is in evidence. No stated 
 hour seems to be allotted to any special lesson. It 
 is a free-and-easy regime. But every moment is 
 utilized. A few minutes before the close of the 
 morning session even may be utilized by mental 
 arithmetic and the results entered in the class register. 
 An ancient pedagogue would rant and rave at such 
 a course : but the results have been found to justify 
 the method. 
 
 In the creation of this educational machine the 
 versatile Head Master so enthusiastic, so original, 
 so serious in his purpose had by far the largest 
 share, as indeed he had in the working of it. But 
 while Mr. Moulton was the acknowledged head, he 
 delegated to a committee of management, consisting 
 of tutors and monitors, the practical side of the 
 regime. This was termed ' The Monitors' Meeting/ 
 which met after the prayer-meeting every Monday 
 night and from which he purposely absented himself. 
 
 In a systematic and orderly way did the com- 
 mittee of management proceed with its business. A 
 few simple but comprehensive questions, covering the 
 wide sphere of College arrangements, were drawn 
 
 74
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 up during the first years of its existence: and the 
 same code is in vogue to-day, after nearly half a 
 century. The fact that it has so effectively met the 
 needs of the school for so long stamps the code 
 as eminently suited to the temperament of the 
 people it was framed to benefit. It was ever a 
 cause for thankfulness to the originator that so hard 
 a task, launched forth as an experiment at the first, 
 should have proved itself so signally effective through- 
 out a long series of years. The transactions of the 
 monitors' meeting were entered in detail in a minute- 
 book, which was handed over to the Head Master 
 every Tuesday morning for his inspection. Therein 
 was recorded, amongst other things, the verdict of 
 the meeting on the efficiency of the work done by 
 the monitors of the week. It was a matter of 
 almost vital moment to the division to which they 
 belonged as to whether they had acquitted them- 
 selves creditably or not. The honour of their division 
 was at stake, and this was ever a healthy tonic. 
 
 A review of the work done and the standard 
 attained during the first twelve years of Tubou Col- 
 lege may appropriately close these chapters on the 
 founding of the College. It will moreover be felt to 
 be a clear advantage that that review should be the 
 work of an outsider who not only had no connexion 
 whatever with the institution and its workers, but 
 who on his own admission came with a decided 
 prejudice of unbelief with reference to the alleged 
 virtues of the College. His endorsement therefore 
 will count for much. The articles in question 
 appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald in June 
 and July 1875, and were written by Dr. Lorimer 
 Fison, a Cambridge graduate, as well as an Austra- 
 lian doctor of divinity, and at that time editor of the 
 
 75
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 Melbourne Spectator. It is given here in full as it 
 will serve to focus on one point what has been 
 already set forth: and this may be pleaded in justifi- 
 cation of including so lengthy a quotation. 
 
 His first introduction to the students of Tubou 
 College was on a bright Sunday morning in Novem- 
 ber. He had watched a large native congregation 
 disperse after the service, when his eye ' was caught 
 by a long line of fine bright-looking young men, 
 who issued from the church and came marching down 
 the hill, two and two, keeping step with admirable 
 time and precision.' 'By their side at intervals along 
 the line walked the native assistant tutors, men who 
 had been trained in the College and who had earned 
 their present position by good conduct and hard 
 honest work.' The procession was a sight to see, 
 and he watched it ' with delighted eyes.' 
 
 'During the remainder of my stay at Nukualofa,' 
 he says, ' I took every opportunity of gaining 
 information concerning the College; and the 
 courteous tutor, the Rev. J. E. Moulton, placed 
 all his spare time at my disposal, and gave me 
 every facility for ascertaining the system on which 
 he worked and for testing the requirements of 
 the pupils. So deep was the interest excited by 
 what I saw and heard, that I left the group with- 
 out having been able to come to anything like a full 
 satisfaction of my curiosity; for everything which 
 came under my notice made me eager for further 
 information and the more I learned the more I 
 wanted to know. 
 
 ' The fame of Tubou College had reached me 
 
 several years before my visit to the islands. And 
 
 I have to confess that I took with me a strong 
 
 prejudice against it; for an impression had been 
 
 76
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 made on my mind that Mr. Moulton's system 
 availed exclusively for a high-class education and 
 that the lower branches of study were neglected, 
 if not despised by him; whence it seemed to me 
 that his system could not be appropriate to a 
 people such as the Tongans, who are but just 
 emerging out of barbarism. In a short time, how- 
 ever, when I had the working of the system before 
 my eyes, and I was able to make personal inspec- 
 tion of it, its results sufficed to show that my 
 prejudice was utterly without foundation. 
 
 ' He does not teach the higher subjects to all 
 his pupils. When the young men come to him, 
 they are placed in the lowest class, whence they 
 have to work their way upwards. Those of them 
 who manifest a capacity for the higher studies 
 soon come to the front; and thus each year forms 
 itself into two divisions, each of which he takes 
 through an appropriate course of instruction, by 
 no means neglecting the lower in favour of the 
 higher. He has adopted the study of Euclid as, 
 at once, a useful mental discipline and a test of 
 intellectual capacity, not, however, insisting upon it 
 as a test of universal application. All general 
 rules have their exceptions, but he has found by 
 actual experience what seems reasonable at first 
 sight, that a native who can take in and follow out 
 a process of pure reasoning such as a demonstra- 
 tion of Euclid's is generally capable of under- 
 standing and appreciating the facts of natural 
 science. Those of his men who show this apti- 
 tude are drafted into the higher classes, while the 
 others take their places in the lower forms, receiv- 
 ing a plainer education. Many of the latter have 
 proved themselves to be useful men and are doing 
 77 F
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 good work as teachers in the common schools, and 
 as clerks to government offices. 
 
 'The students are supplied from three sources. 
 Some are sent to Mr. Moulton from the various 
 islands of the group by the missionaries, under 
 whose hands they are supposed to have gone 
 through a preliminary course of training; others 
 are sons of chiefs, who are sent by the Government, 
 which pays a small sum annually towards the 
 expenses of their education. A third class consists 
 of exhibitioners from the public schools, lads who 
 have distinguished themselves at the yearly examina- 
 tions and thereby have gained the privilege of no 
 small value, the course being from three to five 
 years. These, as far as educational attainment is 
 concerned, are the most promising of Mr. Moulton's 
 pupils; for, from the fact of their having distanced 
 all their competitors in the schools, we may con- 
 clude that they are the brightest among the lads 
 of their year; moreover they come to him at an 
 earlier age than the rest of their students, while 
 their minds are in a plastic state, so that he can 
 mould them as he will. It is to be hoped that 
 their numbers will be increased, for not only do 
 they make the best scholars at the College, but 
 the gift of the exhibitions must be a powerful 
 stimulus to the lads in the public schools. 
 
 ' The men sent by the missionaries are bound 
 to enter the mission work, but the exhibitioners 
 and those sent by the Government are free to 
 choose their own course, when they leave the 
 College. 
 
 'In addition to answering very fully and clearly 
 all the inquiries I could find time to make, Mr. 
 Moulton gave his students into the hand of another 
 78
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 visitor and myself for two or three hours one 
 afternoon, allowing us to ask them questions bear- 
 ing upon the studies they had been pursuing. 
 
 ' This examination was pleasingly varied by 
 musical performances. Several pieces were sung at 
 intervals by his pupils, his senior native assistant 
 tutor, David Tonga, playing the accompaniment on 
 the fine harmonium. These were well worth hear- 
 ing; but my delight reached its highest pitch 
 when he himself sat down to the instrument, and 
 his lads, gathering around him, gave us Mozart's 
 " Gloria in excelsis " and the Dettingen " Te Deum " 
 with wonderful accuracy as to both time and tune. 
 His music-books are printed by himself on a 
 system of his own, figures being used instead of 
 the ordinary notation. He was forced into this by 
 the necessity under which he lay of doing his own 
 printing within the College. Much of it, indeed, 
 in the earlier days of his tutorship had to be 
 done by his own hands. 
 
 ' The first class of his pupils and the second 
 demonstrated respectively the eighth proposition 
 of the Third Book of Euclid and the forty-seventh 
 of the First. At his suggestion, I dictated the 
 letters for the various points in the diagram, select- 
 ing them at random from all parts of the alphabet; 
 and I was, indeed, hard-hearted enough to fix on 
 an alteration in the position of the diagram in the 
 second proposition, placing the right-angle at the 
 left-hand corner of the triangle instead of at the 
 apex. Hence, it is evident that, if the students 
 had merely learnt the demonstration by heart, 
 they must have been completely non-plussed. The 
 diagrams were drawn by David Tonga at their 
 dictation, Mr. Moulton putting them on, not in 
 79
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 regular rotation but calling upon first one and then 
 another without regard to the order in which they 
 stood before the blackboard. In each case the 
 construction was completed without a flaw and 
 the demonstration worked out in a manner that 
 would have warmed the heart of Euclid himself, 
 could he have been present in the flesh, and which 
 would have given special delight to his well-known 
 editor, Mr. R. Potts of Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 whose book has found its way to these islands of 
 the sea. At each step in the reasoning which 
 depended upon a foregoing proposition I asked for 
 either the number or the enunciation of that 
 proposition, and in every case either one or the 
 other was correctly given by some one of the 
 students. In short, they did their work admirably 
 very much better than the vast majority of boys 
 in my time could have done it, after passing 
 through six or seven years' course of instruction 
 in any one of our English public schools. 
 
 ' Geometry was followed by theology, in which 
 the lads acquitted themselves very creditably, 
 following out an orderly and connected process of 
 reasoning, fortified by texts of scripture aptly and 
 correctly quoted. In physical geography they gave 
 us an interesting account of the great ocean 
 currents, tracing them on a large map drawn for 
 the purpose; and this they did in a manner that 
 showed that as far as they had gone, they not 
 only understood the subject but were deeply 
 interested in it. When it took them among the 
 icebergs, I felt not a little curious to hear what 
 they would call " frozen water," a thing for which 
 there could not be a word in their language, and, 
 to my great delight, a bright-looking young fellow 
 80
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 who was dealing with that part of the subject, 
 spoke of ice as " vai-mohe " or " sleeping water," 
 " and," said he, " when the bergs are drifted by 
 winds and currents to the warmer latitudes, the sun 
 shines upon the sleeping waters and they awake." 
 
 ' After we had heard all the students had to say 
 about the ocean currents, my fellow visitor, at Mr. 
 Moulton's suggestion, asked several questions in 
 geography, which the young men answered with 
 great readiness. They pointed out the great moun- 
 tain chains and rivers, tracing their course upon 
 the map. The latitude and longitude of various 
 places being given, they found them out on the 
 globe and gave their names without making a 
 mistake in any one instance, and, at the visitors' 
 request, they marked out on the Mercator's map 
 the route of a vessel sailing from London to 
 Sydney and back again, giving reasons why such 
 and such a course should be steered, and why 
 another should be avoided. A few questions in 
 algebra were then given and they solved a simple 
 equation in capital style. The tutor then drew a 
 four-sided figure, and, having described it as a plan 
 of a plot of ground on the scale of one inch to 
 chain, asked them to find its area. Whereupon one 
 of the young fellows stepped forward and divided 
 it into triangles by means of a diagonal, upon 
 which he drew perpendiculars from the opposite 
 angle; he then produced a carpenter's rule, and 
 having measured the perpendiculars and the 
 diagonal, wrote down his measurements on the 
 diagram and hurried back to his place. Forthwith 
 the students' pencils began to rattle over their 
 slates and, in an incredibly short time, they calcu- 
 lated the area required. Next followed questions 
 
 81
 
 FHE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 in mental arithmetic, which were propounded by 
 the tutor and answered by the pupils with a 
 rapidity so marvellous as to force upon me a 
 feeling of incredulity. The thing appeared to be 
 so manifestly impossible that nothing but the still 
 greater impossibility that Mr. Moulton should be 
 guilty of unfair dealing could have kept me from 
 coming to the conclusion that they were palming 
 off a sham upon us. In order to satisfy myself 
 beyond the possibility of a doubt or rather to 
 put myself in a position to satisfy the doubts of 
 others I asked permission to give a few questions 
 myself, and this was readily granted. Accordingly 
 I gave several of which the following will serve 
 as a fair specimen; an article cost i/i^d; what 
 is the value of 8 doz. ? A gallon of oil cost 2/6d- ) 
 how much must I give for 11 tuns? This formid- 
 able-looking sum Mr. Moulton read off thus nearly 
 as fast as he could speak : 4, square it, add 7, 
 subtract 2, divide by 3, multiply by 8, subtract 2, 
 divide by 6, multiply by n, subtract 3, divide by 
 12, multiply by 3, add I, extract the square root. 
 What is it ? Within five seconds, measured by a 
 watch after he had asked " what is it ? " the whole 
 class came forward with the answer written on their 
 slates. They worked out the calculations mentally 
 as he announced the sum and wrote down the 
 result only. I said that the whole class rushed 
 forward, but there was one exception a poor 
 young fellow who had lost the thread of the cal- 
 culation, and who stood hugging his slate to his 
 breast with the pitiable expression of hopeless per- 
 plexity and unutterable misery on his face. I 
 could not help speaking a few words of encourage- 
 ment to him which were duly interpreted into the 
 82
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 Tongan language. He looked at me with grateful 
 eyes, and the feeble ghost of a smile flitted across 
 his troubled visage. I would have gladly 
 prolonged the examination for another hour or two, 
 but no time could be spared, and I left the 
 lecture-hall with my mind full of the liveliest interest 
 in Tubou College and the warmest admiration 
 of its excellent tutor.' 
 
 ' The College is quite a little town in itself, the 
 students' houses being built in two parallel straight 
 lines divided by a clean well-kept roadway, at the 
 head of which stands the Lecture Hall, a hand- 
 some building of Tongan architecture well fitted up 
 with the needful apparatus. This town is divided 
 into three sections, each bearing a distinguishing 
 title, and presided over by a native assistant tutor, 
 with certain officers under him, who are chosen 
 from the most trustworthy of the students. Each 
 section in turn takes charge of the town, and is 
 responsible for the strict carrying out of all rules, 
 any infraction of which is brought before a court 
 composed of the assistant tutors and officers who 
 inflict such punishment as, in their judgement, the 
 case requires. This court sits weekly, and its 
 preceedings are characterized by great fairness. 
 The name of any offender, together with the offence 
 of which he is accused, is posted up within the 
 College walls, so that he may know the charges 
 against him and be prepared with his defence. If 
 he does not present himself before the court, 1 his 
 absence is taken as a plea of guilty, but if he 
 
 1 Later a preliminary trial of the cases was held at 5 p.m., 
 presided over by a tutor, and results presented to monitorial 
 court after prayer-meeting. Such procedure was found to be a 
 great saving of time and as effective. 
 
 83
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 thinks that he has a valid defence, or that he can 
 urge extenuating circumstances, a regular trial 
 takes place. Witnesses are called whom he may 
 cross-examine, and he is allowed to plead his own 
 cause; having, moreover, if he be dissatisfied with 
 the sentence pronounced upon him, the right of 
 appeal to Mr. Moulton, to whom all the gravest 
 cases are referred. Mr. Moulton informed me that 
 appeals are of very rare occurence and that only 
 once has he seen cause to reverse a decision thus 
 brought before him. 
 
 ' After this judicial business has been disposed of, 
 the court resolves itself into a committee of man- 
 agement. Certain questions are asked as to the 
 carrying out of the College arrangements during 
 the previous week, and as to what order has to be 
 made for that which is coming. The answers are 
 recorded in a book kept for that purpose and the 
 entry signed by the native tutor who presides. This 
 book is a sort of journal, wherein daily entries are 
 made on a certain orderly system of all events 
 connected with the College; and at the weekly 
 meeting above-mentioned the entries are reviewed, 
 and those of them which have to be permanently 
 recorded are transferred to the book appropriated 
 to that purpose. Thus a daily meteorological 
 record is carefully kept, Mr. Moulton having pro- 
 cured instruments and taught his students how 
 to use them. Within a fence near the lecture-hall 
 stands the anemometer, with its little discs per- 
 petually whirling. At its feet are various kinds of 
 thermometers, a rain-gauge, and a evaporation 
 dish, and from all these daily readings are taken 
 by the students (monitors on duty only) at stated 
 hours, recorded in the journal, and finally posted 
 84
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 thence, after examination by the native tutor on 
 duty, to a book specially devotecf to meteoro- 
 logical records/ 
 
 ' The history of the College is both interesting 
 and instructive in no ordinary degree. It is a 
 record of great difficulties patiently encountered 
 and valiantly overcome by a man who is not 
 only an enthusiastic lover of educational work 
 but capable also of that steadfast perseverance 
 through the day of small things . which is not 
 often found combined with ardent enthusiasm. 
 
 ' Mr. Moulton has had to do something harder 
 than ordinary teaching. He has had to clear 
 virgin forest-land for cultivation, but also to invent 
 and manufacture nearly all his tools; and the 
 labour which this represents is something enor- 
 mous. His work has been not only to teach new 
 ideas to pupils drawn from a nation just rising 
 out of savageism, but also to set forth those ideas 
 in a language previously ignorant of them, and 
 therefore without words to express them. And 
 even to this imperfect vehicle of thought he was 
 a stranger at the beginning of his work.' 
 
 To the narrative of the ways and means by which 
 the difficult process referred to was attained 
 Dr. Fison confesses himself a delighted listener. It 
 consisted in the stammering out of explanations in 
 reference to his object-lesson before a blackboard 
 with chalk in hand and of watching the face of his 
 most intelligent pupil, David Tonga. When it lit 
 up, the teacher perceived that he had grasped the 
 point in question, and the pupil then became the 
 translator to the class, the words used by him being 
 carefully noted. Mistakes made from time to time 
 
 85
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 were also subjected to the correction of the same 
 useful medium. 
 
 It may have been, as it was undoubtedly, very 
 slow work, but it had its compensations, for it was, 
 as Dr. Fison says, by this means that 'he acquired 
 the language of which he has now (ten years after) a 
 thorough scholarly knowledge, knowledge which he 
 is turning to good account, not only by compiling 
 text-books for the College but also by preparing a 
 grammar of the Tongan language, which I venture 
 to predict will be hailed as a valuable acquisition 
 to philology, for special interest is now being mani- 
 fested in the dialects of savage tribes.' 
 
 ' Mr. Moulton's victory is all the greater in that 
 he has had to grapple with something more than 
 the difficulties inseparable from a work such as 
 he has done. He has to encounter the objections 
 of his brother missionaries, who, while they felt 
 the highest admiration of his scholarship and his 
 ability as a teacher, were afraid that his system 
 of education would have a mischievous effect upon 
 his pupils. They feared that the native mind had 
 not sufficient ballast in it to warrant the carrying 
 of such sail, and that the sudden acquisition of 
 knowledge would result in a disastrous capsize. 
 Nor will any one who is acquainted with the South 
 Sea island character be disposed to say that their 
 fears were altogether groundless; and there are 
 not wanting those who assert that there is a 
 special reasonableness in such fears concerning the 
 Friendly Islanders; for the national failing of the 
 Tongans is admitted on all hands, by their 
 friends as by their detractors, to be an over- 
 whelming conceit of themselves. And if when 
 86
 
 THE REGIME 
 
 uneducated they thought themselves to be so 
 wonderful a people, we need not wonder that the 
 missionaries speculated with considerable trepida- 
 tion as to the probable effect upon them of a 
 system of education such as that which Mr. 
 Moulton rapidly developed. 
 
 ' One such missionary, after visiting Tonga and 
 making searching inquiry into the system on which 
 Mr. Moulton works, made a public recantation of 
 his preconceived ideas, and was, moreover, stirred 
 up to enthusiastic laudation of Tubou College and 
 everything connected with it. Others, also, who 
 shared these prejudices, have found them removed 
 by a closer acquaintance with the system. As 
 to its dread influence upon the native mind, I did 
 hear complaints from certain quarters of arrogant 
 self-sufficiency displayed by a few young men who 
 had passed through the College; but I found, on 
 inquiry, in every case that they were men who 
 had not manifested intellectual capacity for the 
 higher branches of study, and who had therefore 
 'gone out on the pole.' They had not learned 
 enough to discover that they knew nothing. Mr. 
 Moulton assures me that his best scholars appear 
 to grow humbler as they advance in their studies. 
 The training and expansion of their minds enable 
 them to see how wide are the fields of knowledge, 
 whose outer verge alone they have been able to 
 gain; and high-class education seems to have upon 
 them the effect which it ought to have upon all 
 men, showing them ever more clearly how vast 
 is the unknown compared with the known; how 
 little we know and how much we have yet to 
 learn.' 
 
 ' In conclusion,' Dr. Fison goes on to say, ' 1 
 
 87
 
 THE FOUNDING OF A COLLEGE 
 
 have only to say that amongst the pleasant reminis- 
 cences of my visit to Tubou College, there linger two 
 profound regrets. The first of these is that the 
 circumstances of my visit were such as to prevent 
 me from learning all that I wished to know con- 
 cerning the College; and the second, that its excellent 
 tutor has not a wider and more important field for 
 the exercise of that rare gift which he possesses in 
 so eminent a degree.' 
 
 The educational regime and curriculum and the 
 system employed by Mr. Moulton in connexion with 
 the College have, we think, been amply proved, 
 both by time and by critic, to be eminently suited 
 to the nature and disposition of the Tongan race. 
 
 The establishment of the College thus being firmly 
 secured, the subject of this biography laid great 
 plans for the future advancement of his work. There 
 was the wide field of translation before him in the 
 matter of text-books and other literary effort: and it 
 was this which led up directly to a new and tragic 
 period in his ministry. 
 
 88
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 THE VISIT TO ENGLAND 
 
 IT was nothing less than tragic that Mr. Moulton's 
 visit to England in the furtherance of his 
 translation schemes should have proved the means by 
 which vindictive jealousy should have been enabled 
 to carry out a deeply-laid and cleverly devised scheme 
 for the undoing of his work. But so it was: and 
 the tragedy of it all is deepened when it is remem- 
 bered that the arch-plotter was a fellow minister the 
 Chairman of the District, in fact, under the Wesleyan 
 Conference, until well, we will not anticipate. 
 
 Reference has already been made to the hearty 
 co-operation of King George with Mr. Moulton in 
 his College projects: and certainly no former mis- 
 sionary had occupied such a place in the old mon- 
 arch's affection and esteem as he had. It was this 
 phase that was so especially distasteful to the prime 
 mover in this plot; but to this must be added the 
 fact that the promoter, as Chairman of the District, 
 found the same person to stand in his way when he 
 strove to carry out designs which could not be con- 
 sidered legitimate, from the standpoint of a Christian 
 minister. With Mr. Moulton present, it seemed 
 impossible for him to carry out to its fulfilment his 
 own purposes : and his proud spirit could not brook 
 any interference or intrusion. It was, therefore, 
 necessary to remove that human ' thorn in the flesh.' 
 
 89
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 The king was ageing, but he was the bosom friend 
 of his opponent. 
 
 It was in the year 1876, at the District Meeting, 
 that the scheme was launched. The matter was 
 then raised with reference to the desirability of the 
 revision of the Bible. There was no disparagement, 
 in the suggestion, of the magnificent labours in this 
 regard, of the veteran John Thomas, or of the 
 other early missionaries who had co-operated to effect 
 the first translation of the great Book. But 
 that it needed revision was clearly apparent. 
 And not less apparent was the fact that to no one 
 better could the onerous task be entrusted than the 
 Head Master of Tubou College. 
 
 The District Meeting was unanimous. To the 
 congeniality of the work was added the further bait 
 of a furlough which entailed a visit to the Old 
 Country, so that the work might be seen through 
 the press, which, indeed, meant something in those 
 days of sailing-vessels. 
 
 The offer as set forth by the prime mover was 
 great, and it was readily accepted. Had the true 
 purpose of this wily move been suspected, it would 
 have been met with a blank refusal : but Mr. 
 Moulton was not one to credit others with corrupt 
 motives, and he suffered for his faith in his fellows. 
 
 The parting with Tubou College was an affecting 
 one. But that with the king was none the less so, 
 and, when taken with subsequent events, the mon- 
 arch's last words and actions were not without great 
 significance. ' I fear, Mr. Moulton,' said he, ' that 
 when you get away to Babalangi (civilization) you will 
 not be likely to return.' Mr. Moulton quickly dis- 
 abused the speaker's mind of his fears. But he was 
 not quite convinced, and went so far as to present 
 
 90
 
 THE VISIT TO ENGLAND 
 
 his departing friend with a most valuable curio, the 
 historic club, the weapon which had been his trusty 
 companion in all those heroic deeds which gained for 
 him the ascendancy of the whole of the five groups 
 of islands. It was not quite the old weapon, how- 
 over, for he had had it smoothed and polished. With 
 it, also, was presented an ironwood walking-stick, also 
 polished. They had been fast friends in the past, and 
 the tie of friendship was not less strong when they 
 parted. 
 
 The party that left Tonga on June 2, 1877, con- 
 sisted of four adults and five children, including a 
 native, David Finau, who had done brilliantly in the 
 College and had passed into the ranks of the ministry. 
 It had been Mr. Moulton's firm determination, from 
 the very first, that no translation should be done 
 by him without a native assistant, as only through 
 that medium could the best work be effected 
 a plan he now adopted and which he continued to 
 adopt all through his long connexion with the Tongan 
 people. And results all along the line have proved the 
 wisdom of this step. England was reached in the 
 middle of August, and the family made its way at 
 once to Newark, whence Mrs. Moulton had set forth 
 thirteen years before. 
 
 After a few weeks of rest Mr. Moulton decided to 
 take up his residence at Richmond, Surrey, as being 
 within easy reach of his publishers in London. Here 
 for two-and-a-half years, within close proximity, too, 
 of Richmond College, where his eldest brother had 
 been classical tutor, he spent a most enjoyable time, 
 for his heart was full of the spirit of translation work, 
 and furthermore, David Finau proved a great ac- 
 quisition in this department. The latter possessed, 
 in no mean degree, the mind and spirit of a keen 
 
 91
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 debater, and had both clearly marked opinions and 
 fearlessness in expressing them. This proved of 
 untold value to the translator, though it led to many 
 a battle royal. 
 
 As a break, visits would be paid to the great 
 Metropolis, and the sight and glamour of that imperial 
 city of the world would be revealed in all their marvel 
 to the mind of David Finau, who had actually 
 begun life in heathen surroundings. He had the 
 foresight, too, to keep a diary of all he saw, as 
 well as careful notes of all he learnt of the New 
 Testament through daily intercourse and much 
 discussion with his enthusiastic teacher. These 
 were a mine of untold value to him when, as 
 a minister in charge of the head circuits of the group 
 in after years, he was able to bring them to his 
 aid when holding Bible-readings. 
 
 His intellectual capacity was of no mean calibre; 
 and he was endowed with the gift of natural elo- 
 quence. He was in great demand at foreign mission- 
 ary meetings, and his speeches made a deep 
 impression on all who heard them. As an extempore 
 speaker, few, if any, of the Tongans were his equal, 
 and his evangelical zeal was of the hottest temper. 
 It was ever Mr. Moulton's joy and pride to find that 
 those he chanced to select as his amanuenses invari- 
 ably upheld the reputation of the institution in which 
 they had been educated and which he had inaugur- 
 ated, whenever they chanced to appear before an 
 English public. 
 
 It was an unfortunate development that, owing to 
 certain restrictions imposed by it, he was unable to 
 have this Tongan translation of the New Testament 
 brought out under the authority of the British and 
 and Foreign Bible Society; all the more so because 
 
 92
 
 THE VISIT TO ENGLAND 
 
 the generosity of that Society, in its association with 
 Tonga, had been previously shown on two occasions. 
 In 1853 they had gratuitously printed and sent out 
 to those far-off mission-fields 10,000 copies of the 
 New Testament, and in 1862 they had made a 
 similar donation with respect to the publication of 
 the Old. The difficulty arose, it is believed, over 
 the original text to be used in the translation work. 
 The Revised Version had not then appeared, and 
 Mr. Moulton was unwilling to take the Authorized as 
 the basis, but preferred the text of Westcott and 
 Hort. This was not allowed by the Society's rules, 
 and so, being determined to translate from the original 
 Greek, he was reluctantly compelled to act inde- 
 pendently of the Society, which involved the imposi- 
 tion of the burden of publication on Tonga. 
 
 The months of 1879 were drawing to a close, and, 
 with them, the translation and printing of the New 
 Testament, when disconcerting news from David 
 Tonga, who had been left in charge of Tubou College, 
 reached Mr. Moulton. As a matter of fact, the plans 
 laid so deeply had been slowly and surely developing, 
 until matters were now reaching a crisis. The eye 
 of the Chairman had been turned towards the College, 
 which was separate from the Church in its manage- 
 ment, and the tutor in charge was constantly on the 
 horns of a dilemma in his attempts to resist the 
 encroachment. 
 
 David Tonga is ever spoken of as the finest} 
 product of the Tongan race, and he well deserved the 
 praise. He was the personification of the ' iron-hand 
 and the velvet-glove.' Strong of character and ever 
 courteous in manner, self-restrained yet never flinch- 
 ing, he was the idol of the King, the chiefs and 
 people. It was only through his tactful management 
 
 93 G
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 that the College held its own until its real head 
 returned. 
 
 The urgent letters from Tonga referred to made 
 return now imperative, and in April of 1880 Mr. and 
 Mrs. Moulton, with three of the family, embarked on 
 the Cotopaxi en route for Sydney. They took the 
 first opportunity of a vessel which was sailing for 
 Tonga via Fiji, and they reached their destination 
 during the latter part of the year after an absence 
 of three years from the scene of their former labours. 
 As far as he himself was concerned, Mr. Moulton had 
 carried out his part of the contract undertaken, and he 
 had his translation of the New Testament in book 
 form to show on his return. He had not been 
 hampered by the prohibitive restriction of a two- 
 thirds majority of the translators before a new ren- 
 dering could be sustained; so that many of the 
 marginal readings of the Revised Version are found 
 in the Tongan revision. The work had been accom- 
 plished in two and a half years, and has the charm 
 of being pure and unadulterated Tongan. 
 
 But on his arrival, it was easy to perceive that 
 things were not, by any means, what they had been. 
 The changes reported were of a very momentous 
 nature. Mr. Baker, the Chairman, had left the 
 Mission House, and was installed in the Premier's 
 office. This was the beginning of the crisis. The 
 heavy cloud of trouble that had been gathering for 
 three years was soon to burst; and when it did 
 burst it called into being new qualities in the many- 
 sided personality who is the subject of this memoir. 
 
 94
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 IT seems that the changes to which we have 
 referred were the outcome of strong representa- 
 tions from the High Commissioner of the Western 
 Pacific to the Conference of N.S. Wales against the 
 conduct of the chairman of the Tongan District. 
 This led to an inquiry by a deputation into the 
 charges laid against him, charges that practically 
 were upheld. As a consequence, Mr. Baker resigned 
 his position as a Conference minister, and his resigna- 
 tion was accepted. Had such a course entailed his 
 withdrawal from the islands, then the sad story of 
 the secession and the consequent persecutions would 
 never have had to be told. As it was, it resulted 
 only in the unfortunate transformation of a minis- 
 ter of the gospel to a minister of the crown; for 
 he had gained such an ascendancy over the aged 
 kingj and he had used the privilege to such a 
 great extent, that he became, in the eyes of the 
 monarch, so necessary to him in the management of 
 his kingdom that he was looked upon as indis- 
 pensable. That the new premier was a man of 
 undoubted ability cannot be denied; but every- 
 thing was marred by a spirit of vindictiveness and 
 tyranny, which ruined every opportunity for abiding 
 usefulness. He who might have made a name for 
 himself to be revered by a grateful and appreciative 
 people, ended his life in disgrace and oblivion. 
 
 95
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 But the die was cast as far as he himself was 
 concerned. He made the choice and had to take 
 his chance of the consequences. It is with no small 
 degree of pain that one studies the early mission 
 reports, as presented by him, of the interesting 
 religious development of this island-people and con- 
 trasts them with the ethical deterioration that subse- 
 quently took place in the heart and life of ,the 
 same individual. 
 
 As has been stated, the change of conditions was 
 at once discernible. The strained relations between 
 the king and his old friend augured no future good, 
 and were, at first, inexplicable; or only to be under- 
 stood by the suspicion that another personality was 
 dominating the mind and will of the aged sovereign. 
 He became a puppet under the control of a stronger 
 will, the ultimate result of which was to leave a sad blot 
 on the character of the greatest names in the South 
 Seas, one which every missionary, and the commander 
 of every visiting warship, no matter of what nation- 
 ality, could not but hold in the highest respect. But 
 let it be understood at the very outset that the 
 stigma in connexion with the troubles that ensued 
 does not carry very much weight to those who were 
 on the spot and knew the real hand that pulled 
 the strings, and was responsible for the unfortunate 
 events of this time. When thus understood, King 
 George stands acquitted of the open acts of violence 
 and tyranny which were performed, ostensibly, in 
 his name and with his authority. 
 
 The storm did not actually burst until 1885, but 
 the period from 1880 to that time was fraught with 
 great difficulty, and it daily increased. No action was 
 omitted that would impede the progress of the Wes- 
 leyan cause. The schools throughout the country,
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 which, hitherto, had been successfully carried on under 
 the efficient supervision of the Wesleyan Mission, 
 were now taken over, but only after very strong 
 protest, by the neWly-formed government under Mr. 
 Baker. Charges innumerable were levelled against 
 Mr. Moulton at the District Meeting, but, when these 
 were inquired into by the ensuing Conference, he 
 was honourably acquitted on them all, and by a 
 unanimous vote. To make matters worse, the king 
 made a move to prohibit the missionary meetings 
 for the year being held. As the income of the 
 mission was solely dependent upon this one annual 
 collection, this spelt financial bankruptcy. With great 
 difficulty, however, the arguments of Mr. Moulton 
 prevailed with the king, who withdrew his objection. 
 But things still continued to go from bad to worse. 
 The strained relations between them became greater. 
 It is most amazing that he who had made such 
 urgent entreaty to his friend when leaving the island 
 not very long before to return, and had further 
 emphasized his earnestness by a valued gift, should 
 now, after no long lapse of time, refuse to see him. 
 But so it was, to Mr. Moulton's great regret; and 
 many years were to elapse before King George and 
 he again met in personal intercourse. 
 
 But even such a strange antipathy can be solved 
 without much difficulty. It seems that a suspicion 
 had been aroused in the monarch's mind by the well- 
 known enemy that Mr. Moulton was secretly working 
 for the annexation of Tonga by England. That the 
 autocratic king should resent such a course of action 
 cannot be wondered at, if there had been any grounds 
 for that suspicion. But there were none. It was the 
 fabrication of a perverse and vindictive mind that 
 could suggest such a possibility. Mr. Moulton had 
 
 .97,
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 never been in such love with the changes that had 
 taken place in Fiji, for instance, that he could wish 
 for the introduction of similar policy in the islands 
 to which he was so devoted. It was furthest from 
 his thought, and was the one thing especially that 
 he was working to prevent. But the king did not, 
 and could not, know this, and it served the plotter's 
 purpose well to leave him thus in the dark. 
 
 But amidst all the difficulties and disabilities, Mr. 
 Moulton pursued his work. His undivided attention to 
 the College, as heretofore, was now impossible, and 
 to the double task he applied himself with charac- 
 teristic energy. And the energy found an outlet in an 
 unlooked-for direction. One night at the College 
 prayer-meeting as he sat with his back against one 
 of the great ironwood posts that helped to support 
 the roof, he felt it move, as a heavy gust of wind 
 struck the building. The post had served its time 
 and had rotted. The others were probably in a 
 similar plight. And the thought flashed across his 
 mind. ' We must erect a new and more capacious 
 building; and now or never.' The great difficulty 
 was with regard to the procuring of the great posts, 
 each of which, when rounded off to their proper 
 proportions, would weigh, approximately, about two 
 tons. And ironwood trees of the size required were 
 few and far between. The authorities were against 
 him, and the task contemplated would have been 
 difficult even in peaceful times with no opposition. 
 What chance now ? 
 
 But providence over-ruled the difficulties, and the 
 posts were provided from various parts of Tonga- 
 tabu (the main island) with two from Vavau, obtained 
 by the kind help of the king's grandson, Wellington, 
 who was himself a graduate of the College and still 
 
 98
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 friendly. The transfer of that from Eua, the pic- 
 turesque and lofty island across the straits, and 
 some twelve miles away from Nukualofa, the capital, 
 was accomplished with great difficulty. The passage, 
 to begin with, is an exceedingly dangerous one, and 
 especially so when the wind is in a certain quarter; 
 and further, the specific gravity of the water was not 
 great enough to guarantee the buoyancy of the iron- 
 wood post. And so it came to pass that, as they 
 were towing it across in a whaleboat, the ropes 
 broke and the huge beam began to sink. It was 
 speedily recovered and brought to the surface by 
 dexterous and dauntless swimmers, and at last was 
 safely landed. 
 
 That from a village across the lagoon, under the 
 charge of David Tonga, was brought on the 
 shoulders of the lads themselves in the deep water in 
 relays, some diving to relieve those already engaged 
 in order to allow them breathing time. So this great 
 post also was finally deposited in the College grounds. 
 It was a great relief to all, but to Mr. Moulton 
 especially, when the eight uprights had been safely 
 gathered in. The most difficult part of the great 
 task was done and done amid touching manifesta- 
 tions of heartfelt devotion on the part of the College 
 men. 
 
 In process of time the new, the present, capacious 
 building, a model of Tongan architecture, was duly 
 erected, thatched and finished to the great surprise 
 and wonderment of all; and to none more than to 
 the king himself, who could justly estimate from that 
 great feat the spirit that possessed the party he was 
 now opposing. To the harrowing cares of this disturb- 
 ing period was added the sad loss by drowning of 
 Mr. Moulton's second daughter. On the occasion 
 
 99
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 referred to, he was attempting to cross the dangerous 
 passage to Eua on such a quest. The weather be- 
 came very 'dirty/ and, to make matters worse, the 
 boat commenced to leak badly. To return to the 
 mainland was impossible; to attempt the treacherous 
 entrance at the landing-place was the only alternative 
 left as being comparatively close, but even that, with 
 the wind in its present quarte 1 , had very little to 
 recommend it. But this was done. It was becom- 
 ing dark. Kind friends on shore lent their aid with 
 lighted torches to indicate the narrow passage at the 
 edge of the reef, now rendered doubly dangerous by 
 the anger of the waves that pitilessly attacked. The 
 rowers worked manfully, and, with a strong combined 
 pull, the boat rushed into the seething mass of 
 boiling foam. The steersman, however, unfortun- 
 ately seems to have lost his head, for, at a critical 
 moment, the rudder was wrenched from his grasp 
 and from its sockets and the boat was capsized. 
 Mr. Moulton found himself on the verge of a whirl- 
 pool, whose eddy nearly sucked him in. He was for- 
 tunate in being able to grasp a portion of a jutting 
 rock, which saved him, and in having had the presence 
 of mind to manipulate successfully the taking in of 
 breath when the opportunity offered. A native vainly 
 tried to get near enough to seize hold of him. All 
 to no purpose. At last he was compelled to say, ' I 
 can't save you, Mr. Moulton ' : to which he received 
 the reply the last words the drowning minister re- 
 members before lapsing into unconsciousness ' Then, 
 give my love to my wife.' But providence was near 
 at hand to help. It seems that the words came with 
 such a pang to the native that he was instantly urged 
 to make another frantic effort. He felt a rock 
 beneath him, and, with this as a foothold, he cried 
 
 100
 
 out though the words were unheard 'I can save 
 you now,, Mr. Moulton.' And he clutched at and 
 caught Mr. Moulton almost miraculously. 
 
 When he had safely reached the beach, he learnt 
 that all the rest of the party had been saved with 
 the exception of his own daughter, Emma, a girl 
 of fourteen, whose body he saw being carried ashore 
 by natives. For hours various attempts were made 
 to restore animation but without effect. It would seem 
 that, in the confusion of the moment, a native offered 
 to take her, when she would, assuredly, have been 
 saved. But, remembering a girl friend of hers, who 
 was close beside her, she gave up the opportunity to 
 her a noble example of true self-sacrifice. It was 
 a sad ending to a day of duty; and a heavy task 
 for Mr. Moulton to perform, when he returned to 
 Nukualofa with the silent form to break the news 
 to the devoted mother. 
 
 In 1884 the Rev. E. E. Crosby arrived from 
 England to reinforce him, but, of course, being new 
 to the language and customs of the land, he was at 
 first greatly handicapped. But he rapidly became 
 invaluable to the superintendent at a time when he 
 sadly needed sympathetic help and assistance. The 
 cloud that had long been impending at last burst. 
 The evolution of the schemes of the past few years 
 culminated in a diplomatic coup d' etat. It was the 
 stroke of a master-hand and brain that could strike 
 at the psychological moment. The opportunity 
 offered itself. It was accepted : and the blow struck 
 with effective force. 
 
 The king had been in Vavau, but had left it for 
 Ha'abai for the set purpose, it was said, of erecting a 
 new Wesleyan church at Lifuka, the capital, to replace 
 the old, and on the same site. The premier could
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 not resist the temptation, and persuaded the king to 
 build, on an adjoining allotment, a magnificent edi- 
 fice in the name of a new cause, to be known as 
 The Free Church, and of which this was to be 
 outstanding embodiment. The king acceded to the 
 suggestion, and gave it his whole-hearted approval. 
 It was an unwarrantable slip, and was the concoction 
 of a clever brain but of an evil disposition. But the 
 king, who alone could have thwarted it, was old, and 
 the personality of his adviser, in things political 
 or otherwise, was too overpowering to brook a denial. 
 The Free Church thus came into being and had a 
 local habitation and a name. 
 
 No exception can be taken to the inauguration of 
 a new Cause, 'did the king so desire it. He, of 
 course, was at perfect liberty to take such a step. 
 But to stoop to actions that trespassed on rights of 
 his subjects which had been conceded to them by 
 a duly-signed constitution with a guarantee of abso- 
 lute freedom in religious matters, was illegal and 
 directly unconstitutional. But his authority was 
 supreme in the land, and his word had ever ^been 
 law. 
 
 The action in Ha'abai was repeated all over the 
 group. Public meetings were held and addressed 
 by the king in person and by Mr. Baker, and all 
 were commanded to turn over to the new Church 
 that had been formed. They, unfortunately, were 
 able to persuade the Rev. J. B. Watkin to join 
 them, and, with a good knowledge of the language 
 and dispositions of the native, he was a strong addi- 
 tion to the cause. 
 
 The Wesleyan, the old cause, was stigmatized by 
 a scornful epithet, which being translated means 
 ' dependent ' ; the reason being that its funds were 
 
 102
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 sent out of the country, and they were thus at the 
 mercy of the Mission Board, who disbursed the funds 
 under the direction of the N.S. Wales Conference. 
 This was, ostensibly, the weightiest reason adduced 
 for the action of disenf ranchisement a protest against 
 the refusal of the Conference to fall in with their 
 demands. Sir Charles Mitchell in his report seems 
 to believe that they had reasons for their annoyance. 
 But it is well to remember that the prime mover 
 in this coup cT&tat was himself the worst offender 
 in this respect, viz., of sending large amounts to 
 the foreign mission exchequer which, by the way, 
 was, and always had been, the modus operandi of 
 all missions in their relations to head quarters, who 
 disbursed from the total missionary income, sums of 
 money to the various stations concerned, in propor- 
 tion to their respective needs. Nor must it be for- 
 gotten either that, while he was chairman, when 
 he committed such an injustice, the burden never 
 drew forth a complaint from the people, who, on the 
 contrary, were only ever mindful of the great and 
 untold blessings they had received from the execu- 
 tive and the church on the mainland. Bearing this 
 in mind, it is not very difficult to be assured of 
 the real quarter from whence this so-called grievance 
 originated. In after years, when he was compelled, 
 under force of circumstances, to sever his immediate 
 connexion with the church he had set up for a short 
 while, and afterwards made the attempt again to 
 associate himself directly with it and had been re- 
 buffed, he made the frank and we believe the honest 
 avowal that the prime motive that had influenced 
 him in this deplorable action had been his own 
 interests and his own glorification. 
 
 Nor can any charge be sustained against the General 
 103
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 Conference on the ground that they refused to meet 
 the wishes of the king by granting the Tongan 
 District a measure of independence as regards its 
 own finances; for in 1881 the body referred to went 
 so far as to create Tonga as a separate circuit in 
 connexion with the New South Wales Conference, 
 enjoying the privileges and freedom of the colonial 
 circuits ; which suited the case of the Tongan Church 
 admirably. This resolution came into force in 1882, 
 whereas it was not until 1885 that the Free Church 
 was set up; so that the evidence on that score falls 
 to the ground. Hence both the New South Wales and 
 the General Conferences must be exonerated from the 
 charge of having caused the split. The king was 
 induced to make demands of them both that were 
 not in keeping with their judgement of what was 
 fair and just. The principal of these was that Mr. 
 Moulton should be removed as the cause of friction 
 and Mr. Watkin be allowed to remain. The General 
 Conference agreed to the withdrawal of both, but this 
 did not meet with the approval of the king, who 
 strongly insisted upon the retaining of the latter. 
 
 It is impossible to gauge correctly the very diffi- 
 cult conditions which Mr. Moulton had to face at 
 this time. Everything was against him. It seemed 
 a ' forlorn hope ' to attempt to keep the flag flying, 
 when the king and government were ' up against him.' 
 Mr. Watkin, too, had joined the Free Church party, 
 and held the high position of its president. The 
 cabinet, whose every portfolio seemed to be held by 
 Mr. Baker himself, frequently met and passed laws, 
 which immediately came into force, against the Wes- 
 leyan community. For instance, there was the law 
 which forbade a closer proximity to each other of 
 two churches than 200 yards. This was palpably 
 
 104
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 unfair to the Wesleyan party, for their places of 
 worship had already stood on their sites for many 
 years, and the invariable rule, observed religiously 
 by the opposing faction, was to erect all their new 
 buildings within the prescribed distance and thereby 
 to rule out the old-established cause. This law also 
 delegated to the mayor of the town, always a Free 
 Churchman, the sole right of arranging the hour of 
 each service, since they must not be allowed to clash, 
 and this led to many a weary inconvenience in con- 
 sequence. It amounted to more than ' weary incon- 
 venience ' when a whole congregation was fined five 
 pounds apiece for attending a Wesleyan service! 
 
 Other similar restrictions and persecutions were, un- 
 fortunately, very common. The feelings of the oppos- 
 ing churches became very strained. There was no 
 justice to be expected in the law-courts. Wesleyans 
 were debarred from holding any official position in 
 the government or in the country towns. Those who 
 held titles were deposed, unless they retracted and 
 joined the king's church. Tempting offers of a 
 higher emolument proved too strong for many of 
 the Wesleyan ministers, and they joined the other 
 side. Some did so unwillingly, but the word of 
 the king, or of an influential chief, had too great 
 weight, and they went. Nevertheless, there were 
 those who were loyal to a degree that involved the 
 loss of earthly possessions and status and even of 
 friends a faithful few, ministers and laymen, who 
 were strong enough to obey the dictates of their own 
 conscience, even though it involved persecution and 
 material loss. They all declared they would have 
 given their lives in battle for their king, but their 
 religion was a matter between themselves and their 
 God. 
 
 105
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 But they paid for it. The king had met with a 
 determined opposition on the part of some of his 
 people. It was unexpected, and could not be toler- 
 ated. He was resolved to force them into obedience. 
 There were some who committed the unpardonable 
 sin of signing an appeal to Queen Victoria asking for 
 Mr. Baker's removal. These were banished to an 
 island, but were afterwards released by a British 
 man-of-war. The strong stand, too, made by the 
 Wesleyans in opposition to his repeated commands 
 only exasperated the king the more. He came from 
 'one of the adjoining islands prepared to hang all 
 who remained loyal to the old cause. It was heralded 
 throughout the various villages that every Wesleyan, 
 man, woman or child, sick or well, was to appear 
 in the king's compound the next day. But they were 
 unmoved by the threat and came. An early prayer- 
 meeting in the historic church on the hill, Zion, was 
 packed, and was on fire with spiritual fervour. Led 
 by a young chief, they fairly rushed down the hill 
 to the appointed spot and impending doom. 
 
 The king was staggered by their numbers. He 
 could not think of thus wantonly depleting his tiny 
 kingdom by the removal of so many. He therefore 
 contented himself with sternly admonishing and then 
 dismissed them. But the strain became more and 
 more heavy upon the lessening numbers of the 
 Wesleyan Church. This was felt especially in 
 the matter of finance, where hitherto it had had no diffi- 
 culty in meeting its liabilities. But, nevertheless, the 
 few bravely shouldered the heavier burden in this 
 respect. 
 
 But soon other handicaps were introduced. The 
 pernicious laws levelled against the enfeebled Cause 
 kept up a continuous volley of fines, in which the 
 
 1 06
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 Church was invariably involved. Some of the 
 villages could not now boast of a single adherent; 
 yet the law relating to the ' keeping of the premises 
 swept and weeded ' still held good, and, although a 
 caretaker was installed to attend to such matters, he 
 was speedily dismissed, yet the fine was inflicted 
 nevertheless. It would be wearisome to narrate in 
 detail the various other methods to which the govern- 
 ment stooped in order to further its interests and to 
 render bankrupt the church to which it was so hostile. 
 Banishment to outlying islands where food was scarce 
 was also resorted to, one such ' criminal ' being 
 exiled for being so presumptuous as to pass the 
 remark that ' the soil belonged to Jehovah.' 
 
 It was during this trying period that the Govern- 
 ment College was established in direct opposition to 
 Tubou College. It was carried out on the same 
 lines precisely: and this was rendered possible by the 
 fact that an ex-collegian was placed at its head. 
 Over him was appointed a European principal. Its 
 site was in close proximity to the older institution, 
 and the students of the same carried out, for years, 
 a most tantalizing tirade of abuse and insult against 
 those of the other. As special enticements and attrac- 
 tions, those entering the new college were exempted 
 from the payment of the full poll-tax, 2 per annum, 
 and were required to find only one-half; while the 
 government often would ease even this burden by 
 providing work for these same students as an alterna- 
 tive. Both these concessions were denied to the 
 students of Tubou College. 
 
 In the midst of it all, Mr. Moulton continued to 
 labour with the greatest ardour for both the Church 
 and the educational institution. He applied himself 
 with unabated zeal to the work of translation. School 
 
 107
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 text-books, histories, the Pilgrim's Progress, as well 
 as story-books for the Sunday school, appeared. 
 Tongan hymns, written on themes suggested by the 
 environment of the hour, continued to appear, and 
 were passed on from the College to the Church. 
 The story is told by an eye-witness that these ' songs 
 of Zion ' were an untold boon to those banished, as 
 we have stated some were, to solitary islands. The 
 eagerness with which they asked, as the boats 
 approached bearing them food, ' have you brought 
 us another hymn,' and the joy at heart when the 
 answer could be given in the affirmative, may be 
 taken as sufficient proof of this. 
 
 The institution by the government of the militia 
 in these dark days was a form, too, of persecution, in 
 that when the specified age limit was reached, release 
 was granted as a matter of course to Free Church 
 men, but was denied to the Wesleyans. 
 
 The new Church, then, was thus firmly established, 
 and its numbers grew rapidly. The active support of 
 the government made its life easy, and fellowship 
 with it was at once the medium whereby the good- 
 will and pleasure of the king might be obtained. 
 
 But the tyranny of a strong hand is exposed to 
 great risks, the most dangerous of which lies in 
 hyper-activity. And the high-handedness of the 
 premier overstepped the mark, which hastened the 
 crisis. The particular move the first in his ulti- 
 mate fall was the acquirement of a property that 
 belonged to the Royal House. Four miles from the 
 capital, near the Lagoon, is situated Tufa Mahina, a 
 lovely spot, and one that, like Naboth's vineyard, was 
 coveted. The king was persuaded to hand it over to 
 Mr. Baker. It was an unwise step, as it aroused the 
 spirit of the natives as nothing else, perhaps, would 
 
 1 08
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 have done. For, they reasoned, if such a chief's 
 property can be touched with impunity, whose else 
 is safe from such grasping hands ? 
 
 At this time some prisoners escaped from prison, 
 commandeered a boat, and, armed with rifles, got 
 away. But it was the strong opinion of all that they 
 had not gone far. Every available man in the island 
 went in search of them for some considerable time, 
 but without any result. This was in the latter part 
 of 1886. Rumour had it that they were safely 
 ensconced in the eastern end of the island and were 
 daily becoming expert in the use of the rifle. Things 
 quietened down somewhat in October, and they were 
 forgotten for a time. 
 
 A new development in the militia occupied the 
 attention for the hour. A magistrate was sent up one 
 day when the soldiers were at drill on a specific mis- 
 sion. All were ordered to take an oath, and the 
 Free Church quota did so without demur. But there 
 was a protest on the part of the Wesleyans. ' What 
 was the nature of the oath ? ' they asked. If allegiance 
 to the king, they had no compunction whatever in 
 the matter and would immediately take it: but swear 
 a blind oath never! The protest was referred to the 
 premier, who gave no satisfaction; he who refused 
 was to be thrust at once into prison. As a conse- 
 qunce, many of the Tubou College students were 
 incarcerated and took their trial some days after. 
 Some were then acquitted altogether, while others 
 why, it is hard to say were sentenced to six or 
 eight months' imprisonment. But the action of the 
 judge even then did not seem to please the premier, 
 who ordered a fresh imprisonment of those who had 
 been acquitted, with a new trial for all, whose sen- 
 tences he himself dictated to the obedient and fawn- 
 
 IOQ H
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 ing magistrate. As a result, some of the victims 
 received two and three years, others one. One of 
 these was found working in leg-irons on a small island 
 near Nomuka, while those who refused to turn over 
 to the Free Church were seen still employed as 
 government prisoners after their term had expired. 
 We need not dwell on the injustice of such a 
 procedure. 
 
 The Christmas of this year passed as usual. The 
 carol singing by the Tubou College students, possess- 
 ing a charm ever its own, was carried out. The New 
 Year, too, was ushered in by the government band, 
 who played the old year out with the strains of ' the 
 Dead March in Saul,' while the churches spent the 
 moments in silent prayer and then mingled more 
 joyous strains with the voices of the congregations, 
 who sang, ' Come, let us anew.' But a well-remem- 
 bered night is that of the thirteenth of January, 1887, 
 on which an attack was made by the escaped 
 prisoners on the premier's life, as he drove along 
 the beach from his home to his office. The attack 
 miscarried, for Mr. Baker escaped unscathed, though 
 his son, who gallantly faced the would-be assassins, 
 was seriously wounded by the discharge in the arm, 
 and a daughter, who heroically attempted to protect 
 her father, received, in the act, a bullet in the thigh, 
 was thrown backward on the ground by the action 
 of the startled horse, and received serious injuries. 
 
 The upshot of all this was an extended campaign 
 of revenge. It was alleged, without any just founda- 
 tion of fact, that the plot against the premier had 
 been set on foot by the Wesleyans. The intention 
 of the escaped prisoners, it was afterwards discovered, 
 was only known to an adherent into whose house they 
 had forced an entrance for the night. And even he 
 
 no
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 had expostulated without success at such an intrusion, 
 and made off the next day as a protest. There was 
 one other also, the self-sacrificing minister referred 
 to previously, who happened to be then working 
 out his unjust sentence close by, and who had casually 
 paid a visit to the house just mentioned. He it was 
 who, in reply to a statement made by one of the 
 culprits that they had come down to shoot Mr. 
 Baker, said, ' Go to the bush with your devil's work.' 
 These were the only persons who could be said to 
 have had any knowledge of what was contemplated. 
 In the case of the one, he did no more than to 
 allow, under the pressure of the pointed rifles, the 
 would-be assassins an asylum for the night under 
 his roof; in that of the other, he was faced with a 
 perplexing dilemma. He had to go to his work 
 early, and he could not satisfy himself that the 
 intention was genuine. So many similar empty threats 
 had been bruited abroad for some time past and 
 without any definite result achieved, that he scarcely 
 felt justified in laying the information lest he should 
 thus, unwittingly, involve some persons in serious 
 difficulties. He worked away all day, weighing the 
 matter, and still was undecided what to do for the 
 best. Shortly after his return to his home, he was 
 startled to hear the shot fired and the warwhoop (the 
 natural mode of sounding an alarm amongst the 
 Tongans) raised. Only then did he know that the 
 alleged threat had been, alasl carried into effect. 
 
 The record of the next few weeks we would fain 
 leave untold. When the premier had recovered from 
 the momentary shock, which completely unmanned 
 him for a while, he sent in all directions for warriors 
 to hasten in search of the perpetrators of the das- 
 tardly deed. The old war-spirit was at once ajoused. 
 
 in
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 In war-paint and almost nude, with Wesleyan excep- 
 tions, they came, firing shots and raising their awful 
 soul-terrifying warwhoops. Not content with the force 
 that Tongatabu, the main island, could supply, a 
 schooner was immediately despatched north, to 
 Ha'abai and Vava'u one and all were to come, was 
 the message, as many as could bear arms. 
 
 But there really was no need for this, for the 
 men had been secured as a matter of fact, they 
 had given themselves up, and were safely lodged in 
 gaol by the Friday of that exciting and trying week. 
 There was quite time enough to countermand the 
 order, for the schooner was within call, having vainly 
 attempted to get away before a ' head wind.' But 
 no such step was taken. Why? The soul was not 
 thus to be satiated that was all. The consequence of 
 this was that every available cutter from the two 
 northern groups of islands was requisitioned and 
 a force of five or six hundred warriors, all in war- 
 paint and infused with the war-spirit, were soon landed 
 at the capital. They had to be fed. The easiest 
 method of provision for such a host and it was a 
 most congenial form of revenge upon his hated 
 opponents was to turn them loose upon the enemy; 
 and this was done. The next few weeks was one 
 series of awful stories of lawlessness. The plantations 
 and properties and belongings of the Wesleyans in 
 the country districts were ravaged and ruthlessly 
 plundered; men and women found themselves sur- 
 rounded by a band of warriors, who, with loaded 
 and pointed rifles, demanded of them the immediate 
 answer whether they would be Free Church or Wes- 
 leyan, and with the added emphasis of ' Speak, or 
 we'll shoot you.' Is it to be wondered at that many 
 turned under such a menace? The chiefs vied with 
 
 112
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 each other to stamp out Wesleyanism. Women were 
 flogged with buggy-whips, and men were cruelly 
 beaten and painfully tied up with their hands behind 
 them and left in the broiling hot sun until they 
 fainted. Some of the ministers, whose only crime 
 was loyalty, had to run the gauntlet of spiteful 
 warriors armed with clubs, while others were cruelly 
 rammed with the butt end of rifles. 
 
 During these proceedings the prison was full of 
 victims who underwent their trial in a closed court 
 with a packed jury. As a result, seven men were 
 sentenced to death for their complicity in the 
 ' assassination ' : which unjust sentence was carried 
 out one sad day on an island in the harbour, where 
 the poor unfortunates bravely met their doom, being 
 shot head-first into their graves. Thirty others would 
 have been similarly treated but for the timely arrival 
 of a British warship which frustrated the execution 
 of the judgement passed upon them. 
 
 An attack was made upon the College itself. A 
 message came from the king that it was to be 
 disbanded; that every student was to return to his 
 own home. Warriors poured in to the College resi- 
 dential premises, and the looting began. ,,Mr. 
 Moulton hurried to the scene as quickly as possible 
 after dispatching his son to the consulate to make his 
 appeal and lodge his protest, for it was leased property 
 that was being threatened. 
 
 Meanwhile he showed himself equal to the task of 
 keeping the foes at bay. This he did in a most 
 unconventional way. It seemed to come to him as 
 an inspiration, and he promptly acted upon it. He 
 immediately pulled a piece of paper from his waist- 
 coat pocket, quickly found a lead-pencil in the same 
 quarter, and, rushing up to the first delinquent,
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 demanded of him his name and forthwith recorded 
 it. Then to the next, and the next, and so on. Such 
 a procedure struck them as being shrouded with 
 such awe-inspiring mystery that it had the required 
 effect of sobering them for a while; for long enough, 
 at any rate, to allow of the arrival of the acting- 
 consul, who at once ordered the British flag to be 
 hoisted. This was quite sufficient to stay the pro- 
 ceedings and call a halt. 
 
 But the king's commands as regards the students 
 had to be obeyed, and would brook no denial. 
 Summoning them, therefore, into the College Hall (the 
 writer well remembers the occasion, for he was 
 present) Mr. Moulton gave out the hymn, ' Light 
 after darkness.' A brave start was made, and the 
 tune struck up, but the majority did not get further 
 than a verse or two at most. It was pathos personi- 
 fied to see the tears streaming down the cheeks 
 of stalwart men and youths, as they thought of what 
 was before them. The only voice that could be 
 heard was that of the Head Master, who, as once 
 again later, showed his wonderful command over 
 his feelings on such a trying occasion and sang the 
 rest of the hymn through himself. After a short 
 passage of scripture had been read by one of the 
 head boys and the Lord's Prayer chanted the usual 
 mode of opening the School he addressed them. 
 Let them not be downhearted; they had had a 
 long spell of College routine; let them look upon the 
 enforced break as a sort of holiday of six or seven 
 weeks' duration and then term would commence 
 afresh. He concluded with a prayer and dismissed 
 them. 
 
 But all through his heart had been inexpressibly 
 heavy. It was the greatest blow of his life, and it 
 
 114
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 was an unjust one. It was at the king's special 
 request that the College had been established; and 
 it was by his express command that it was now 
 disbanded. 
 
 Things went from bad to worse. Day by day 
 fresh news kept reaching him of those who had turned 
 over. Some of these were amongst his most trusted 
 followers; but he knew well that only by fear and 
 threats had their loyalty been made to falter. The 
 churches were all closed throughout the land. No 
 service was held in Zion for six weeks. The fire 
 of persecution burned too fiercely to allow of this. 
 Mr. Moulton could not bear to see or hear of the 
 brutal treatment meted out on every hand: and to 
 have rung the bell for divine worship would have 
 brought on him a sense of guilt in having subjected 
 the loyal few, who remained, to further punish- 
 ment. So he possessed his soul in patience and 
 waited. 
 
 Things reached a crisis, however. Rather than see 
 them hammered from day to day, he felt it would 
 be far better to suggest some asylum for the faithful 
 few. The king had now gone so far as to refuse 
 to have any Wesleyans at all in his kingdom. Acting 
 on this, and in conjunction with the consul, he wrote 
 to the king asking leave for those who still remained 
 loyal to the Church of their choice to be sent to 
 Fiji. This was refused. It is well to remember this 
 fact. But the command was that they must leave 
 the Tongan Group. A government schooner was in 
 harbour, and all Wesleyans were ordered to embark. 
 They were- to be exiled. To what island was not 
 revealed, but it was generally believed that the lonely 
 and waterless island of Pylstaart was to be their 
 destination. Mr. Moulton made every provision for
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 this contingency. Tanks were bought and food 
 placed on board for the purpose. On the shore 
 the noble few, some sixty or seventy souls, met. 
 Mr. Moulton offered prayer, committing them to 
 God's tender compassion and care; and with sad- 
 dened heart saw them board the schooner, and they 
 finally sailed away for somewhere! A gentleman, 
 however, in sympathy with the persecuted church 
 also boarded her at the last moment and ascertained 
 from the captain that his orders were Fiji. A 
 similar contingent were sent as exiles from Ha'abai 
 and Vava'u, and among them, in addition to the 
 Rev. David and Rachel Tonga, went Salote, the 
 king's own daughter. 
 
 The less said about their voyage the better. The 
 food provided for the Wesleyans was commandeered 
 by the captain for his crew, and in a sorry plight 
 they reached Fiji. Here, with British humanity, the 
 governor treated them with the greatest kindness, 
 caring for them, and finally giving them the island 
 of Koro for their present habitat. There we will 
 leave them, exiles for conscience sake, protected by 
 the kind, strong arm of England, with none to 
 interfere with their right to worship God in what- 
 ever church they desired. The Tongan captain 
 referred to, however, was cross-examined: his replies 
 were taken down in shorthand and afterwards used 
 against his own evidence given in Tonga some weeks 
 later. 
 
 Such an experience might easily have been suffi- 
 cient to crush an ordinary man. But, despite his 
 anxiety and depression of soul, mind, and body, Mr. 
 Moulton still plodded along. Six weeks afterwards, 
 as stated above, he determined to commence the 
 Sunday services at Zion. The bell was accordingly 
 
 116
 
 BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF NUKUALOFA (CAPITAL). 
 
 ZION CHURCH, NUKUALOFA. 
 
 Taken from Roof of Mission House.
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 rung, and to his great surprise, quite a large number 
 an astonishing one under the circumstances was 
 found gathered there. But the very sound of the 
 bell had put the opposition on the alert. Police with 
 rifles were soon at the doors, and took down the 
 names of all who had dared to enter, to be submitted 
 to the king. 
 
 It must not be supposed that Mr. Moulton himself 
 had not also been subjected to insult all through these 
 trying times. When the persecution was at its height, 
 he permitted the belongings of some of the Wesleyans 
 in Nukualofa to be thrown over the Mission House 
 fence to save them from the marauding bands. The 
 government took exception to this. The persons of 
 some were hot immune from either warriors or 
 relatives, and they found an asylum in the same 
 leased grounds. Girls were still willing and anxious 
 to help in the housework, the heavier work being 
 done by a man on these same premises. But this 
 did not now meet with the approval of the premier, 
 who desired to subject his opponent to the hardship 
 of a boycott. Guards were found at the Mission 
 House gates one morning, ostensibly to protect Mr. 
 Moulton's life from mythical harm (such was the 
 reply given in answer to a protest made through 
 the consul on the subject), but really it was to watch 
 and take the names of all who had taken refuge 
 there or still continued so to do. Mr. Moulton then 
 applied for special English constables to guard these 
 guards, which application, eventually, had the pleas- 
 ing effect of removing the evil; and he was then 
 left unmolested. But persecution still continued. Nor 
 was it confined only to Tongatabu, the main island. 
 Ha'abai and Vava'u suffered very considerably in this 
 respect. Might in very truth seemed to be Right.
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 Nevertheless there had been quiet forces at work, 
 which finally brought relief to some extent. Early 
 one Sunday morning the gun from the pilot station 
 revealed the fact that a vessel was sighted. The 
 government flags proclaimed it to be a man-of-war. 
 Shortly after it dropped anchor in the harbour and 
 proved to be the H.M.S. Diamond from Fiji, with 
 the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, Sir 
 Charles Mitchell, his Secretary, and the Chief Justice, 
 on board. 
 
 It was February and the middle of the hurricane 
 season, a most unusual time for such a visitation. 
 But the telegram from the Home Authorities, it 
 appears, had been very urgent, and the injunction 
 had been to proceed to Tonga without delay and 
 inquire into the alleged persecutions that had taken 
 place there. This was the outcome of a pamphlet 
 bearing on the question that had been sent to every 
 Member of the House of Commons. 
 
 Arrangements were made by the High Commis- 
 sioner with the respective parties concerned as to 
 the commencement of the inquiry and the scope it 
 was to cover. Means for bringing over witnesses 
 from the various islands were undertaken. For five 
 consecutive weeks the inquiry continued. His Excel- 
 lency left no stone unturned to get at the root of 
 the matter. At the close of that period, although 
 most important witnesses from Vava'u had not arrived, 
 owing to the breakdown of a steamer sent to bring 
 them, the inquiry was closed. There was no further 
 need for those from the north, for the persecution 
 had been amply proved. This and more appeared 
 in a lengthy report which was embodied in the 
 Blue-Book sent to the Home Authorities. Mr. Baker 
 was ' worthy of deportation/ but that power the 
 
 118
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 High Commissioner did not put into execution on 
 account of the fact that he thought the king needed 
 him for the administration of his kingdom. But 
 promises were made to His Excellency that there 
 should be no more persecution. Permission also 
 was given by the king for the re-opening of Tubou 
 College, though the number of the students was 
 limited to under forty. 
 
 Appreciation of Mr. Moulton's bearing and con- 
 duct in these times of great difficulty was shown 
 by the fact that the High Commissioner attributed 
 the prevention of civil war to his pacific measures 
 and counsels. And this was true enough. More than 
 once he was urged by Wesleyan chiefs, stung to the 
 quick by the wrongs and insults to which the church 
 and its adherents were subjected, to loosen the rein 
 and permit them to fight. Right was on their side 
 and, though fewer in numbers, yet victory would 
 crown their whole-hearted efforts. But the hand was 
 firm. To all these urgent pleadings the same dogged 
 reply was given : ' No, only have patience and we 
 shall win in the end. What you ask would ruin 
 the Cause.' And they so trusted his guidance that, 
 though they chafed sorely at the exercise, they 
 implicitly obeyed. That they were able so success- 
 fully to curb their feelings is a glorious tribute to 
 the calibre of their Christianity as well as to their 
 implicit confidence in their leader. The persecution 
 was a refining fire, and the noble band of Wesleyans 
 in this tiny group of islands came through the test 
 superbly. Mr. Crosby, as has been said, proved 
 himself a loyal ally all through. He greatly helped 
 to lighten the burden of his superintendent or to 
 make it as light as it was possible under such 
 deplorable conditions. He had been sent to take 
 
 119
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 charge of Vava'u, where he did yeoman service in 
 keeping the Church alive. 
 
 The Diamond had sailed away, and on board 
 went those whose death sentence had not yet been 
 carried out. It was hardly thought wise to leave 
 them behind. But no sooner had the warship de- 
 parted than it was very evident that the promises 
 made were not to be faithfully kept. Though not 
 to such a degree as before, the undercurrent was 
 still strong, and the difficulties of church work were 
 thereby rendered exceedingly great. 
 
 Tubou College, however, was re-opened, and solid 
 work was done as far as possible. Prior to this, 
 important changes had been introduced. Women 
 students had been permitted to enter the College and 
 to carry on their education with the others. This 
 came into vogue soon after Mr. Moulton's return 
 from England. Of course, there was a great out- 
 cry at first raised against such a dangerous innova- 
 tion. But the logic of facts stared Mr. Moulton in 
 the face, and he was not one to be easily turned 
 aside from his purpose by opposition, when he had 
 no doubt in his own mind of the necessity ..of a 
 step. The facts were these. He found that, after 
 he had spent his energies on the education of the male 
 students, some of his best, after having passed through 
 the College course, would be led, by outside inter- 
 vention (for marriages are arranged by the relatives in 
 these islands and the proposal of marriage by proxy) 
 to marry a girl outside, and the match would be 
 totally unequal. Mr. Moulton, therefore, determined 
 to include the education of the Tongan girl, so that 
 the student man and wife might be equally yoked. 
 The plan has succeeded splendidly. There was 
 awakened thereby in school hours a healthy rivalry, 
 
 120
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 and the very influence of the College environment 
 had a most beneficial effect on the girl student. 
 There have been cases when the dux of the class, 
 and even of the College, has been a girl. 
 
 Out of school hours, the women students retired 
 to their own premises near the Mission House. They 
 were taught household duties there in turn, week 
 by week; and the afternoons were devoted to sewing, 
 drawing, &c. They were further taught music. Many 
 of them to-day are ministers' and students' wives, and 
 the training they have received needs no other adver- 
 tisement than that which is afforded by the contrast 
 with the ordinary Tongan home. And yet it has to 
 be recorded that, now and again, the very object in 
 view in this matter was frustrated by the relatives. 
 The College student had an enviable status, especially 
 when the Matematika Examination had been success- 
 fully passed, which, only naturally, attracted aspirants 
 from the uneducated. But, generally speaking, the 
 main object was attained. 
 
 It was during these hard times that Mr. Moulton 
 inaugurated and successfully carried on what was 
 known as the Helohelo Class. This consisted of 
 Old Boys who had passed their matriculation. The 
 fear was and common experience tells that such 
 is not groundless lest, after having left the environ- 
 ment of Tubou College, there should be a tendency 
 to become ' rusty ' amidst the heavy demands of 
 other duties. Such a state is ever to be deplored, 
 and especially in the ranks of the ministry. To 
 counteract such a possibility the advanced class was 
 formed. On one of the free days of the week 
 (Thursday, for instance) Mr. Moulton delivered lec- 
 tures to those who had the will and disposition to 
 assemble from various parts of the islands. An 
 
 121
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 obvious drawback was soon noticed, which was that 
 those desirous of sharing in the privilege but who 
 resided in Ha'abai or Vava'u, were placed at a 
 disadvantage because of the distance. This during 
 the first few years of its introduction could not be 
 obviated, but after 1895 tne difficulty was met thus. 
 Opportunity was taken when Synod was over 
 and at this important annual meeting there was ever 
 a large gathering of Old Boys, collegians as well 
 as ministers to deliver lectures morning and after- 
 noon for a week. The substance of these was taken 
 down by each according to his several ability, 
 although in later years Mr. Moulton would himself 
 write out a fuller resume of the course delivered. This 
 was typewritten, and a copy was sent to each island. 
 From this as an original the students concerned each 
 took copies, and, at a stated time, an examination was 
 held on the same, the marks obtained being re- 
 corded. After a few years the strong were separ- 
 ated from the weak, being advanced to a higher 
 division. The acme to be reached was the coveted 
 'Helo,' the Grecian Hero. Between the M atematika 
 and that ideal lie the Helohelo stages, the Proba- 
 tionary being the first, with H.H. 1 , H.H. 2 , and 
 H.H. 3 , as marks of successive advancement, and as 
 a result of success in the examinations. 
 
 The plan has worked wonders, not only in the 
 intellectual development of the student, but also in 
 the stimulus it has been to both ministers and lay- 
 men at a period of incalculable difficulty. It acted 
 as a strong preventative to some whose courage 
 was on the wane; and besides all this, it was the 
 coping-stone that gave additional prestige to the 
 educational status of the institution in the eyes even 
 of its opponents. It might be mentioned also that 
 
 122
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 the Helohelo students had the privilege of wearing 
 the academic gown, while the H.H. 3 had the added 
 right of donning a hood. 
 
 With the increase of sphere came increased pressure 
 of work. There was no relaxation in translation. The 
 Bible, histories, hymns these and more were dili- 
 gently dealt with. The new departure of including; 
 women resulted in the introduction of solo singing. 
 This, also, was a bold step from the point of view 
 of Tongan etiquette. It was by no means in accor- 
 dance with custom from a native standpoint for a 
 girl to stand alone on a dai's to sing. But that 
 Rubicon was at last crossed. Amelia Fifita was the 
 first, and she charmed the audience by her render- 
 ing of ' Charity ' (Stephen Glover) and other songs. 
 By the addition of female voices, soprano and alto 
 parts were thus rendered possible. The first had 
 hitherto been taken by men's voices, while the latter 
 had been omitted. 
 
 One of the hardest day's work that Mr. Moulton 
 did was during this period. It was borne in upon 
 him that the premier was contemplating a serious 
 attack on church properties. These had hitherto 
 been protected by a legal document signed by the 
 king, at the premier's instigation ten years previously, 
 in 1875; but by the very nature of the changes 
 that had taken place, the conditions of the Model 
 Deed had not been satisfied. Some of the trust 
 properties had no trustees, and the blow was to be 
 struck at this point. Now in the island of Tonga- 
 tabu alone there were something like fifty trusts, 
 and it was a large order to call meetings and appoint 
 trustees at the various places in a single day. Failure 
 to do so would have been disastrous to the security 
 of the church property. Fortunately, the arrange- 
 
 123
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 ments made were loyally supported. Taking boat 
 before dawn, the first series of meetings was held at 
 Kolonga, fifteen miles away. Trustees were duly 
 appointed for all the villages in close proximity to 
 that centre. Jumping into a buggy that was in 
 readiness there, Mr. Moulton drove to Mua, the 
 capital of the eastern section of the island. There a 
 similar set of meetings was held and the necessary 
 appointments made. The mission boat, by which he 
 had proceeded to Kolonga, was in waiting here also, 
 and in due course he arrived at Beka on the Lagoon 
 near home. He was soon at the College, where he 
 found representatives from all the remaining parts 
 of the island awaiting him. Trustees were appointed 
 for every church in the western and central divi- 
 sions. The sun had well gone down before the 
 strenuous day's work was ended. It left him, of 
 course, thoroughly exhausted physically, but his mind 
 was at rest, for the situation had thereby been saved. 
 The premier's attempts to touch the mission property 
 was rendered abortive, to his great annoyance. 
 
 To the disabilities narrated were added the mental 
 worry of church finances. The bane of crippled 
 numbers, despite the fact that the ' remnant ' gave 
 magnificently at their annual collections, was seen in 
 the not unnatural consequences crippled finances. 
 And the aftermath of the Secession had brought a 
 large bill of disabilities in its wake, consisting of fines 
 and large food accounts. The objective of the enemy 
 had been plainly to bankrupt and thus banish out of 
 Tongan existence a Church that was so antagonistic 
 to his will. And it did seem at times as if that 
 was about to be only too truly accomplished. 
 
 But the Wesleyan Church is a brotherhood, with 
 a potency of association which, while it may not 
 
 124
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 always be fully revealed, yet, in its real form, exists 
 for all that. It only awaits the tocsin of urgent 
 need to bring it into active operation, and to show 
 its intrinsic worth in a manner that has surprised 
 the world. The strong personality guiding the opposi- 
 tion forces in Tonga, despite his acknowledged 
 administrative ability, had been guilty of overlooking 
 this important element of Wesleyanism. His eyes 
 had been too much blinded by the seemingly un- 
 interrupted flow of the current of success, and hence, 
 probably, it had escaped his ken. But Mr. Moulton 
 had not (overlooked it. Might had been Right 
 hitherto, as often before; but he felt that, if there 
 were a God in heaven, the tide would turn. The 
 Church was of divine origin, and would come out 
 of the fire, if not scatheless, at any rate, though' 
 scarred and wounded, alive. His faith was un- 
 doubtedly strong, and his optimism unconquerable; 
 and linked with these he had ' the greatest thing in 
 the world,' love, as shown at this stormiest of times, 
 to the people whose interests he espoused in 
 matters material, as well as intellectual and spiritual. 
 And such a strong enrolment of God-given forces 
 combined to carry him and the Church through its 
 difficulties. 
 
 Pressed, but not depressed, by the straitened finan- 
 cial stress, which ever at this time stared him in 
 the face, he attended the N.S. Wales Conference. 
 The Tongan had become one of the ' burning ' ques- 
 tions of that Assembly every year of late, and loyally 
 it played its part. It was ever patient in its hearing 
 of the sorrowful tale that had to be told : and 
 earnest in its dealings with the case when presented. 
 On this occasion it showed no small practical interest 
 in the deplorable financial state of the crippled cause, 
 
 125 I
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 as revealed by the fact that in one day ;i,ooo was 
 generously donated by the members of the Con- 
 ference to the Tongan Church. Permission was also 
 given whereby the whole State might be canvassed 
 for funds. With Henry Taliai, a student of Tubou 
 College, wrTom he had brought up with him for the 
 purpose, Mr. Moulton toured the colonies and added 
 another thousand pounds to that already received. 
 He could not give more than a few weeks to the 
 effort, being compelled soon to return to the scene 
 of difficulty. 
 
 But in Tonga, despite the promises made to the 
 High Commissioner, matters were still far from satis- 
 factory. The king's opposition and dislike to Mr. 
 Moulton was abnormally accentuated; but, as a mat- 
 ter of fact, it was almost impossible to arrive at 
 reality so long as the influence which operated so 
 powerfully on the monarch's mind and hand re- 
 mained near and around him. 
 
 The General Conference of 1888, held at Adelaide, 
 was memorable to all who attended it, and to the 
 interested section without, who watched its move- 
 ments in connexion with the Tongan question. The 
 debates were hot over the proposed removal of Mr. 
 Moulton from Tonga. It was stated that it was the 
 wish of the king, that his presence in Tonga was 
 inimical to the interests of peace, and so forth. A 
 split in the Conference seemed impending, and feel- 
 ing ran high. There were those who felt it an 
 injustice to the brave and loyal Wesleyans to remove 
 one who had served them and the Conference so 
 faithfully during such a trying ordeal. Mr. Moulton 
 was strong in his determination to remain. Who 
 could be sent at this crisis to fill his place was 
 the question, and the demand was imperative for a 
 
 126
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 strong man, and one who was conversant with the 
 language. Further, to act as was suggested would 
 be tantamount to a reflection on Mr. Moulton's ad- 
 ministration, and the Conference repudiated such an 
 idea. Opinion seemed to be pretty well divided and 
 the case desperate. One of the patriarchs of Aus- 
 tralian Methodism, the Rev. John Watsford, ap- 
 proached Mr. Moulton privately and said, in a tone 
 of grave concern, ' Brother Moulton, can't you suggest 
 an alternative? Otherwise, I am afraid, there will be 
 a serious split in the Conference, unless some way 
 out of the difficulty is found.' A sleepless night of 
 agonizing prayer followed; and light at last dawned. 
 At the Conference the next day Mr. Moulton stood 
 up and stated that he would be willing to withdraw 
 from Tonga on condition that Mr. (now Dr.) George 
 Brown was sent in his place. Instantly there was a 
 deep feeling of relief. The air was freer. It did 
 seem to be the only feasible solution of a crucial 
 difficulty. Mr. Brown, after careful thought, decided 
 in the affirmative, and the Station-sheet of Tonga 
 was thus altered, subject to confirmation at the ensuing 
 New South Wales Conference. 
 
 Some one has called this 'the great self -denial' 
 and the sacrifice it involved to Mr. Moulton makes 
 it assuredly worthy, we think, of such a descrip- 
 tion. He was conscious that the change proposed 
 would not in any way affect the condition of the 
 Wesleyan Church in Tonga; for, though his 
 opponents had been strong in their emphatic assevera- 
 tion that his presence was a menace to all peace 
 there, yet he was perfectly aware that the grudge 
 was not confined to the narrow limits of his own 
 personality, but rather to the Wesleyan body as a 
 whole, as represented by the Conference. He was, 
 
 127
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 further, unwilling to sever his connexion with a 
 people whom he loved and with whom he had passed 
 through such a fierce fire of trial. He had made 
 plans for the future and had educational schemes 
 and work in hand and in prospect. And his heart 
 was, therefore, very sore at the thought of having to 
 leave all such behind him. But he made the sacrifice, 
 perhaps the greatest in his life, and agreed to withdraw. 
 We need not linger on the painful parting between 
 the missionary and people. A long, and an especially 
 close and peculiar association with each other 
 for over twenty-three years could not be broken 
 without the severest pang. The last meeting 
 which they held together was in every way 
 pathetic, and once more they sang their plaintive 
 dirge. Dr. Brown, in his biography, has called 
 attention to the remarkable self-control displayed by 
 Mr. Moulton when, accompanied by a large con- 
 course of people, he bade farewell to them at the 
 wharf. Keen eyes watched the whole proceedings 
 with the aid of opera-glasses. But the ordeal was 
 bravely faced, and the steamer at length bore away 
 from the wharf. When a short distance away, Mr. 
 Moulton struck up ' Light after darkness ' the hymn 
 that was associated so closely with another sad occa- 
 sion a year or so previously and the tune was 
 taken up by the waving natives on shore. Again there 
 was a collapse : and, as before, Mr. Moulton was 
 the only one who seemed able to control his feelings. 
 Yet, despite that unconquered exterior, there must 
 have been a spirit inexpressibly bruised. He was 
 leaving the land which had been the sphere of all 
 his religious and educational triumphs, and the people 
 who were his children in the gospel. And it might 
 be for ever I 
 
 128
 
 THE BURSTING OF THE STORM 
 
 It was a sad close to a term of service that had 
 been conspicuous for its devotion and fidelity to 
 duty a cruel irony of fate. He had come at the 
 king's earnest request and had carried on, to un- 
 precedented success, the work entrusted to him. It 
 was ostensibly from the same quarter that his en- 
 forced exit had been brought about. His enemy 
 for so many years had apparently triumphed. But 
 his own triumph was greater, for his removal was 
 the outcome of a self-denial and sacrifice that can 
 never die, the sinking of his own will and desire 
 for the anticipated good of the people he loved a 
 sinking, which in his own judgement, by the way, 
 would not bring the desired end. He thus bowed in 
 his loyalty to the consensus of opinion of his minis- 
 terial brethren in the General Conference. 
 
 But his work had not been a failure. The intel- 
 lectual superstructure that he had attempted to rear 
 on the solid foundation of the gospel had been re- 
 markable in its quality. It had already played* a 
 potent part in its effect on the land as a whole and 
 on the life of the Church in particular. And though 
 now removed from the sphere where his efforts 
 would have directly added further benefits in the 
 same direction, the mark of his work had been 
 indelibly made on the life of the nation and people. 
 But, indirectly, his purpose was still to work for 
 them and to extend the literature that it had been 
 his joy to give them. In the carrying out of this 
 purpose he could find some degree of consolation to 
 counteract, in a measure, the poignancy of the hour. 
 
 The steamer on which Mr. Moulton and family 
 had embarked passed on to Fiji. Here, while await- 
 ing the departure of the Sydney boat, the oppor- 
 tunity was seized of paying a flying visit to Koro, 
 
 129
 
 THE GREAT CALAMITY 
 
 where the exiles had their home. Who can describe 
 the feelings of joy when they met their beloved 
 pastor ? His stay, though short, was full of encourage- 
 ment to them, and he left them with hearts greatly 
 cheered. With him came John Fekau, a collegian 
 of great mental ability, to help in translation work. 
 Not many days after he reached Sydney, where he 
 took up his residence at Summer Hill. At his sugges- 
 tion the Foreign Mission Board sent for David and 
 Rachel Tonga, who shortly afterwards arrived and 
 were employed in deputation work throughout the 
 Commonwealth. Their vivid stories of the persecu- 
 tions aroused the feelings of intense indignation to a 
 great pitch, and their meetings everywhere were a 
 substantial help to the funds of that important 
 society. 
 
 130
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 MR. MOULTON arrived in Sydney in the month 
 of August 1888, and for the few months that 
 still remained, before Conference could appoint him 
 to a circuit, he took up his residence at Summer 
 Hill with his family around him complete, with the 
 exception of one of his sons, who, however, 
 joined the home circle in the following December. 
 For eight years it had been dissevered one of the 
 innumerable sacrifices contingent on all missionary 
 work; now, happy in the bosom of his family, he 
 entered as energetically into his translation work as 
 before. 
 
 The following Conference gave him a city circuit, 
 Mt. Lachlan, and although his services here only 
 lasted for a period of a single year, yet the work 
 he did has left its mark, to judge by the testimony of 
 those who in after years refer to it with thankfulness. 
 Even then he was compelled, on account of an 
 enemy that had long harassed him asthma to seek 
 for a short respite at Bathurst, when his duties were 
 faithfully undertaken by the Rev. William Jeffries, 
 who had just arrived from England, and who, from 
 that time to the present, has been conspicuously 
 connected with Australasian Methodism. From 1890 
 to 1893 he became a supernumerary, but still was 
 connected with Tonga in his capacity as Book-room 
 Steward. His translation work never ceased nor
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 did he fail to anticipate that, some time or other, 
 the way would again open for his return to the 
 land and people he loved with such devotion. 
 
 The door quite unexpectedly opened for him in 
 the year 1 890 ; though it was after he had left Australia 
 for England, that a turn in the tide of affairs in Tonga 
 made this possible. The visit to the Old Country 
 was quite unexpected, and was the result of a kind 
 invitation from his brother. It was a chance not to 
 be missed, and the time was opportune, for he had 
 no circuit obligations to hamper him. And it was 
 while he was thus on this unexpected visit to England 
 that the change of events in Tonga occurred. It was 
 on this wise. 
 
 Mr. Baker, it seems, had not been satisfied with 
 having temporarily ousted his opponent, but he must 
 needs incur the guilt of maligning the name and 
 prestige of the British representative in Tonga. The 
 libel was in connexion with events bearing upon the 
 attempt upon his own life in 1887. He, very inad- 
 visedly, gave official support to a reflection made 
 upon the consul, who, it was stated, had had the 
 rifles used against him concealed under the Con- 
 sulate. Sir John Thurston had succeeded Sir Charles 
 Mitchell as High Commissioner of the Western Pacific, 
 and had had many years' experience in Fiji. He 
 was an expert therefore in the native character and 
 temperament. He forthwith took steps, and extorted 
 from Mr. Baker but not without some difficulty it 
 would seem a humble apology, which amounted to 
 a retractation of the statements made. 
 
 Some little time afterwards, His Excellency had 
 occasion to pay a visit to Tonga, and while there, 
 the principal chiefs seized the opportunity of making 
 a strong appeal to him to remove Mr. Baker, who 
 
 132
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 was represented as being inimical to the highest 
 interests of the island and people. After serious 
 thought and calm deliberation, Sir John decided 
 to accede to the request made, and, to Mr. Baker's 
 surprise, one morning he was served with a notice 
 of deportation for two years. The shock was em- 
 phasized by the realization that a body of blue-jackets 
 were on guard around the palace, where, for many 
 years now, he and his family had taken up their 
 established quarters, and also- at his own (the 
 premier's) office. He had to face the unwelcome 
 fact that his sun had at last set, and his long reign 
 had come to an untimely end. 
 
 The excitement all around when the truth was 
 noised abroad was intense. The revulsion of feeling 
 was but natural, and led sundry officials into ex- 
 tremes, when they experienced a sense of liberty 
 unknown before during the reign of tyranny. The 
 Hon. George Tuku'aho, a chief of very high rank 
 and an ex-student of Tubou College, was appointed 
 premier. There was a sigh of relief all over the 
 island at the welcome change, and few hearts felt 
 sad when the Union Company's steamer left, carrying 
 with it as a passenger the man who had played for 
 so long such a high-handed game in the political 
 life of Tonga and its people. Nor were the people 
 ungrateful to the High Commissioner for his action. 
 They loaded him with presents of a native character, 
 and publicly thanked him as their benefactor, ere he 
 left for his official home. 
 
 But, before he did so, an amnesty was readily 
 granted by the king; political prisoners were set 
 free, and, amongst the first of these, the exiles in 
 Fiji. These were sent as soon as possible in a 
 steamer graciously chartered by the Fijian Govern- 
 
 133
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 ment, and there are those who still remember the 
 character of the scenes that ensued when, at last, 
 they reached their native shore. The meeting of 
 Princess Charlotte and the king, her father, in this 
 connexion, was a most pathetic one. Religious mat- 
 ters began to right themselves slowly but surely, 
 and no one can shut his eyes to the fact that from 
 this time the two churches that had long been 
 severed began to draw together. 
 
 And Mr. Baker? Well, we may, perhaps, be 
 pardoned if we continue his history still further, 
 for it can be told in a few words. He left Tonga 
 a deposed premier, but rich in the spoils of many 
 years of uninterrupted financial advantages, which 
 he had used to the full. But, after five or six years, 
 he returned once again to the scene of his former 
 triumphs a bankrupt man, with practically nothing. 
 His request to be admitted into the Free Church 
 circle was refused. He tried, but failed, to gain the 
 ear of the young king, even though the latter owed 
 his occupation of the Tongan throne to his diplomacy, 
 old King George being still alive. Thus baffled, he 
 took advantage of the misfortunes of a rejected prin- 
 cess, in her claim for the king's hand, to espouse 
 her cause. He started another new church, calling 
 it ' Victoria's Church,' which she readily joined. By 
 this means he was able to influence a minority to 
 support him, and raised a considerable sum of money. 
 He made the attempt, too, to persuade Bishop Willis 
 of Honolulu to join hands with him and the princess, 
 but without success. The bishop was without a 
 diocese at the time, owing to the recently established 
 American oversight of the island; but although he 
 came over on a visit, and ultimately did identify 
 himself like most of the Europeans with the Church 
 
 134
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 of England, he repudiated any connexion with the 
 new movement. 
 
 The opposition, however, being somewhat strong in 
 Tongatabu, Mr. Baker removed to Ha'abai, and was 
 well received there by his own. There was a flourish 
 of trumpets at first, but it soon died away, and he 
 found himself sorely put to it to obtain means for 
 subsistence for himself and his grown-up family. At 
 length he died at Lifuka, and a Seventh-Day 
 Adventist elder, who chanced to be passing through 
 on the steamer at the time, officiated at his grave. 
 So to the very land where his name had ,been 
 held in awe and his word for many years had 
 been law, he eventually was compelled to return, 
 bankrupt in pocket and prestige; and in the very 
 island where he had made his coup d' Stal years 
 before, there he died in want and dishonour. ' The 
 mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding 
 small.' 
 
 No one was more astonished, perhaps, than Mr. 
 Moulton when the changes that had taken place in 
 Tonga reached his ear. But his joy at the transition, 
 which had brought back the exiles from Fiji and, 
 practically the 'restoration,' was great; and yet not 
 greater than his gratitude to Almighty God, who 
 had, in His own wise way, wrought such a trans- 
 formation. His visit to England was not without 
 its flushes of pleasure to him. Apart from that 
 relating to the renewal of personal relationships 
 broken for many momentous years, his cup of joy 
 was made full by the gratifying manner in which 
 John Fekau, the native he had taken home with him, 
 had acquitted himself before the English public. 
 He was one of the Tubou College students, and of 
 course, the reputation of that institution was at stake. 
 
 135
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 Its Head Master ever jealously guarded its interests, 
 but his fears were needless, and his student worthily 
 walked in the footsteps of his predecessor, David 
 Finau. He excelled himself when he addressed a 
 meeting at Cambridge, at which members of that far- 
 famed university were well represented. He seemed 
 to realize the importance of the occasion and rose to it. 
 In the early months of 1891 Mr. Moulton was 
 back again in Sydney. He made a silent resolve to 
 pay a flying visit to Tonga, as a hush to the oft- 
 repeated opinion that the king was still opposed to 
 his re-appointment. He seemed to be blessed, on 
 crucial occasions, with the invaluable power, not only 
 of discerning the psychological moment but also of 
 acting upon it. It was so on this occasion. Mr. 
 Moulton felt the time had come for the projected 
 visit to Tonga, and to the king. And he went. 
 
 He landed in Nukualofa, and, shortly afterwards, 
 an audience with the king was granted. It was as 
 he had surmised. The aged monarch received him 
 graciously, and the reconciliation was complete. 
 The old-time relations were revived, and the fare- 
 well was most cordial. It was the last time that 
 they met, for, on Mr. Moulton's next visit to the 
 island, the king had been dead for four years. 
 Thus providence had graciously granted what all 
 ardent followers of the Tongan question had for many 
 years devoutly wished and prayed for ; and the breach 
 formed between the two friends of former days was 
 now, at last and for ever, healed. While there was 
 joy in heaven over such a happy consummation, on 
 earth it Was none the less great, and the little 
 loyal church in Tonga, as did its larger counterpart in 
 New South Wales, joined fervently in its chorus of 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 136
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 The year 1893 was an important one on the annals 
 of Tongan history, for, on February 17, the Grand 
 Old Man of Tonga, after a short illness, ' slept with 
 his fathers,' and Taufa'ahau, his grandson, bearing 
 his own revered and awe-inspiring name, reigned in 
 his stead under the title of King George Tubou II. 
 The passing of the old king was marked by the 
 most terrible rain storm known in the islands for 
 many years ; and the Tongan often declared that ' the 
 heavens themselves seemed to be weeping at the 
 passing of Tubou ' ! 
 
 Mr. Moulton's son, who has preserved these records, 
 had been appointed to the charge of Tubou College 
 in April of this same year, and he can vouch for 
 the truth as to a superabundant downpour, for he 
 took the trouble of computing the recorded readings 
 of the rain-gauge in the institution for the subsequent 
 ten months, and can certify to the fact that no 
 inches were registered during that period. The death 
 of the old king meant the removal of one of the 
 greatest, if not the greatest, personalities of the 
 South Pacific. He had been responsible for the 
 consolidation of the Tongan group, and had made 
 possible the remarkable changes that had taken place 
 through the medium of the levelling influences of 
 the gospel of Christ. His mind was among the 
 first to grasp the patent shallowness of the heathen 
 worship, and to his vigour and individual effort 
 must be attributed the rapid change that was effected 
 upon the minds of the other chiefs of high standing, 
 even before he took up the reins of government over 
 the people whom he so successfully ruled for nearly 
 forty years. He saw the transition of his island 
 from heathenism to civilization, from the darkness of 
 ignorance and superstition to the light of a know- 
 
 137.
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 ledge and a liberty analogous to that enjoyed by the 
 foremost nations of the world, if on a somewhat 
 lower scale. And to him belongs the glory of 
 furthering such a desirable end. The intellectual 
 enlightenment without which there could be no ad- 
 vancement was ever his earnest care : and he seized 
 the opportunity when it presented itself, of remedying 
 the defect. 
 
 After his conversion, the only apparent charge 
 against his character was on account of his share 
 in the persecution. We have written in vain, how- 
 ever, if it has not already been very clearly and 
 unmistakably shown that the false step was the direct 
 result of the dominating personality and persuasive 
 powers of another, who played upon the declining 
 vigour and disabilities contingent upon old age, in the 
 interests of his own position, and who took unfair 
 advantage of his ascendancy to make the agent the 
 scapegoat of his bold machinations. 
 
 Mr. Baker's own unsolicited statement, made when 
 he found the door of entry to the Free Church 
 closed to him, is sufficient evidence of where the 
 guilt lay. He said, ' I did it all for my own 
 aggrandisement ' ; and this is supported in a pathetic 
 fashion by the fact that the king himself, when re- 
 viewing the past, was known to have volunteered the 
 remark, ' We have sinned ; let us be fervent in prayer ! ' 
 
 The news of King George's death greatly affected 
 Mr. Moulton. The memories of the early days out- 
 crowded the bitterness of later years : for it was the 
 king who had been his consistent helper when obsta- 
 cles to his college schemes were put forward by the 
 chiefs and others. The College magazine was in the 
 printer's hands and the issue almost complete. There 
 was no room therefore for more than a few lines of 
 
 138
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 appreciation, inserted as it passed through the press, 
 with the promise of a more suitable In memoriam at 
 a later date. Unfortunately pressure of work inter- 
 fered with the carrying out of this purpose. This 
 is a matter for deep regret, as the early relationship 
 between the two had been very intimate, and the 
 stories of adventure would have given both value 
 and piquancy to the memoir which he had fully 
 intended to write. 
 
 It is a strange coincidence that the same month 
 and year which saw the passing of the great king 
 of Tonga were those identified with the exaltation 
 of Mr. Moulton to the highest position that the New 
 South Wales Conference could bestow upon any of 
 its brethren that of the Presidency. To that high 
 position of trust was added the responsibility and 
 burden of the presidency of the denominational edu- 
 cational institution, Newington College. The first 
 man to act as its Head Master (1863) was now 
 chosen to be its president. Both positions were un- 
 sought and were, practically, thrust upon him. He 
 was no aspirant for the first (nor for the second, for 
 that matter) : for, as he told his brethren when, by 
 an overwhelming vote, they had placed him in the 
 Chair, his only aim in his ministerial career had 
 ever been to be 'a workman that needeth not to 
 be ashamed.' With the second was associated the 
 tutorship of the theological students, a charge of the 
 greatest importance, in view of the future development 
 of those who were in due course to join the ranks 
 of the active ministry. 
 
 He guided the sessions of Conference with a firm 
 though kind hand; and if, at times, as not unfre- 
 quently occurred even in so orderly an assembly, the 
 atmosphere was somewhat surcharged with electricity, 
 
 139
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 the air was cleared and the normal state restored by 
 a winning smile. That he worthily upheld the 
 honour and dignity of the Chair will be amply 
 exemplified by the resolution passed at the Conference 
 of 1894 on the subject. 
 
 His term of service at Newington College deserves 
 more than a passing word. When he took charge 
 of it in 1893, the financial burden of the institution, 
 ever onerous, was rendered still more so by the 
 serious bank crashes for which that year was con- 
 spicuous. Patiently and fearlessly he undertook the 
 task. At no period of its history had the school 
 been at such a low ebb. There were but twenty 
 boarders, and the day boys had dwindled consider- 
 ably. However, he worked away indefatigably and 
 slowly the numbers rose. Mr. A. H. S. Lucas, B.Sc., 
 was associated with him at this period as Head 
 Master, and materially helped in the difficult task 
 before them. 
 
 The new President was, as ever he had been, the 
 ' schoolboys ' man. He was acquainted with all their 
 peculiar ways. He loved the boys and sought their 
 highest welfare. He could be firm, however, when 
 the occasion demanded. He was interested, too, 
 in their sports. The swimming-baths; the splendid 
 cricket ground; the College flag with the Wyvern 
 crest; the grass lawns near the flagstaff that slope 
 so gracefully down towards the cricket grounds 
 these all came into being during his regime, and 
 tell of his interest in the institution and its students. 
 With its central building of massive stone and the 
 lofty tower that adorns it, its gymnasium and twenty 
 acres of playing-grounds, it can easily hold its own 
 with the other great public schools of the Australian 
 metropolis from an external point of view. The review 
 
 140
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 of its past history at the jubilee, held in 1913, has 
 shown it to have been a remarkable asset in the 
 life of the Commonwealth also as regards brain and 
 moral culture. Ability and character are the two 
 outstanding results of the work of the institution, and 
 Mr. Moulton has a right to share in the kudos of 
 those who were instrumental in shaping the course 
 of the lives of such. Many who were under him at the 
 old site on the Parramatta River remember him with 
 admiration and reverence, and those who were placed 
 under his supervision at the new, at Stanmore, have 
 openly shown that they have entertained a similar 
 regard for him. 
 
 But amid all the pre-occupations of other tasks 
 Tonga was never far away from his thoughts. Kolo 
 Finau, a Collegian, was now his amanuensis, and he 
 found time for Tongan translation and hymnology 
 despite his many other claims. The present writer 
 was at the head of Tubou College at the time that his 
 father was appointed to Newington, and can vouch 
 for the fact that the hymns and scholastic work that 
 came from his pen, while not, of course, so prolific 
 as of old, reached high-water mark as regards their 
 quality. 
 
 In 1895 the return of the Rev. J. A. Bowring, 
 who had been Chairman of the Tongan District for 
 five years, left the way open for Mr. Moulton's 
 cherished wish. He could be ill spared now from 
 Newington, but a compromise was effected whereby, 
 while still occupying his present position, he was 
 appointed once again in charge of the Tongan District 
 which ever since the year 1882 had become a 
 District in connexion with the New South Wales 
 Conference, and was no longer a mission in the 
 general sense of the term. 
 
 141 K
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 It was a burden as arduous at it was self-imposed 
 that made him Chairman of so important a field 
 as the Tongan District while still President of Newing- 
 ton and theological tutor. But it was better for his 
 peace of mind than that he should be cut off from 
 the work to which he was so devoted. Hence he 
 was glad to accept it even under such conditions; 
 and so as not to jeopardize the interests of the institu- 
 tion, made the arrangement to pay an annual visit 
 of a few weeks to Tonga, in which he could hold 
 the synod and attend to educational and other work. 
 
 Great was the welcome he received on his first 
 visit, and from none was it warmer than from the 
 Old Boys of the College. The succeeding synods 
 were a source of great spiritual power, and at their 
 conclusion lectures were delivered for a week to 
 the Helohelo (old students) class. Their own notes 
 of the same were taken at the time and were marked. 
 The lectures themselves were afterwards written 
 out and typewritten in extenso, and a copy of each 
 was distributed to each of the three large groups 
 of islands. There the contents were copied out by 
 each student concerned, and this formed the basis 
 of the next examination held on a date specified. 
 The subjects of these were varied, but amongst them 
 we might mention the history of England (to 
 Henry II), comparative physiology, the grammar of 
 the Tongan language, and, in mathematics, surds, 
 binomial theory, and logarithms. With the excep- 
 tion of one year, in which there was a lapse because 
 of illness, these courses were continued regularly 
 for ten years, until 1906; and one can safely assert 
 that at no time in the history of the College was 
 such a high standard reached. 
 
 During this successful period of work was inaugur- 
 142
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 ated the Komemo (an adaptation of Commemoration) 
 in which past and present students took part. The 
 first, held in 1898, was a brilliant function, and made 
 a lasting impression on the island as a whole. 
 Nothing like it had ever been seen before. In antici- 
 pation of the attendance, panelled sides, suspended in 
 sections from above, replaced the nailed weather^ 
 boards of the western side of the hall. These could 
 be opened and supported at will by iron bars, which 
 rested on substantial studs. From the top plate, or 
 resting on the thatch, a lean-to was improvised, twelve 
 to fourteen feet wide and covered with branches, 
 as a protection from the sun's rays, the sides of 
 which, being left open, gave ample room for a large 
 body of enthusiastic spectators to stand and watch 
 the proceedings within the hall. It was proved a 
 wise innovation; for it was an immense crowd that 
 gathered to witness this new departure. 
 
 The commemoration lasted three days. The official 
 opening in the morning was the most impressive, 
 as it was the most formal, of the functions. A 
 large stand, sloping to the floor, stretched from the 
 wall of the eastern side to the centre of the building 
 in the central portion of the large hall. On these 
 sat the graduates, past and present, while the crowds 
 occupied every other available space. 
 
 The solemnity of the Roll-Call will ever be remem- 
 bered. On each side of the dais at the further end, 
 and looking down upon it from an exalted position, 
 stand the names in panelled splendour and in the 
 corresponding order of years. As they were read 
 out, one by one, they were duly responded to by 
 their possessor on the stand. 
 
 To some there could be no reply, but they were 
 not forgotten, for the captain of their respective years 
 
 H3
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 had been delegated to answer for them; and of 
 such it was said ' He has died.' The muffled roll 
 of the kettle-drum for a few seconds, terminating 
 with the deep thud of the big drum, accompanied 
 the solemn announcement. After the Roll-Call had 
 been concluded, the College brass band struck up the 
 'Dead March in Saul,' the audience reverently stand- 
 ing. Then followed Mr. Moulton's speech, a review 
 of the work of the past thirty-three years, which was 
 listened to with rapt attention. As there were others 
 who spoke, it was long past noon before the function 
 concluded. Of the subsequent proceedings nothing 
 much need be said. Of food there was plenty and 
 ' they did all eat and were satisfied ' an element of 
 prime importance in the management of all Tongan 
 festivals. 
 
 The evenings of two days were given over, the 
 first to the present College students, the second to 
 those of the past. Both were entertainments with 
 characteristics all their own, the former being an 
 'extra-special edition/ as the occasion demanded, on 
 the lines of the College Speech-Day already described. 
 There will be no need, therefore, to attempt any 
 further description of it. 
 
 The afternoon of one of the days was occupied 
 with one of the most interesting functions that any 
 one could be privileged to witness. It was absolutely 
 Tongan in its first part, and consisted of the offerings 
 presented in honour of the occasion. 
 
 The native women interested had been, for months 
 previously, busy making native cloth. Now the time 
 had come for them to present it. A long line, two 
 deep, of women attired in gala dress approached by 
 the gate leading from the public road into the 
 College square. Huge lengths of the native cloth 
 
 144
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 were opened out and stretched, held up here and 
 there by women on each side. The male portion, 
 with native cloth around them or hanging from the 
 shoulders and entwined around them (reminding one 
 somewhat of the Roman toga), accompanied the 
 bearers. On each side, in war attire, and with 
 short-handled tomahawks or imitation clubs, ran 
 youths, backwards and forwards in the line, twisting 
 their weapons dexterously round and round, turning 
 them to one side and then behind them, receiving 
 them on the other, occasionally flinging them into 
 the air and skilfully catching them. All the lengths 
 of cloth were finally deposited before the guests of 
 honour, until at last a large pile was heaped up. 
 A speech followed, delivered by a person of rank. It 
 was intensely interesting for its archaic form, the 
 use of which has been forgotten by the present 'genera- 
 tion. The native cloth was afterwards sold and 
 realized a very considerable sum, for it is a com- 
 modity in great request among the natives themselves. 
 The Helohelos also had been preparing for months to 
 add their mite on this auspicious occasion. This 
 took the form of a monetary contribution, which was 
 collected in the usual way. As a result the proceeds 
 of the whole amounted to no small sum, which was 
 to be used in aid of the advanced educational 
 work. 
 
 The proceedings as a whole were a sight not to 
 be missed, and the programme arranged was carried 
 out with the greatest enthusiasm and order, for the 
 Tongans are the slaves of formality, and here we 
 had it in its pure, unadulterated, and true Tongan 
 form. With the proceeds a chemical laboratory was 
 subsequently erected, the frame of the building being 
 cut in Auckland and sent down all ready for erection.
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 This was done on the occasion of the second com- 
 memoration a few years later, and the students of 
 the Helohelo classes carried through the work them- 
 selves. A third 'Commem.' was held just prior to 
 Mr. Moulton's final departure from the islands a 
 step to which he was ultimately driven by considera- 
 tions of health. 
 
 The value of these functions lay mainly in the 
 fact that they renewed and intensified the zeal for 
 scholastic work. They stimulated mental effort in 
 some, and in others they aroused a sense of shame 
 at being outstripped by their fellows, and thus they 
 were of value on many sides. In connexion with this, 
 his latest institution, it may be mentioned how great 
 a gratification it was to the Collegians, old and new, 
 and to the Church at large, when they learned in 
 1899, on one of his visits, that their loved teacher 
 and pastor had received the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity from the Victorian University of Canada 
 a distinction which his work as an educational 
 pioneer as well as a Christian missionary amply 
 merited. It is only fair to Dr. Moulton to state that 
 he did not seek this recognition any more than he 
 had done other distinctions. He was as much sur- 
 prised as any one when he opened the letter acquaint- 
 ing him of the fact: and he never did succeed in 
 finding out how the distinction came to be conferred 
 upon him. He could only surmise that his work in 
 connexion with Tubou College and the copies of 
 literary work that he had done, and which he had 
 forwarded to the Chicago Exposition some years 
 before, had been the medium. 
 
 Meanwhile, he had been working had and consis- 
 tently at his translation work. The needs of the 
 Sunday school, as well as of the College, were remem- 
 
 146
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 bered in this respect, but the bulk of his attention 
 was concentrated upon his magnum opus, the com- 
 pletion of the translation of the Bible. For twenty- 
 five and a half years, amid many trials and dis- 
 tractions, he had been at work on this great task, 
 and now at last it was finished. On Christmas Eve, 
 1902, he had the joy of posting to England the final 
 pages. It would have been a very heavy piece of 
 work for one man to accomplish under the most 
 favourable conditions; but when the history of those 
 difficult years is taken into account it stands out as 
 nothing less than a miracle of patience and perse- 
 verance. The Book of books, translated from the 
 original tongues, still remains as his rich legacy to the 
 Tongan people. 
 
 Yes; his legacy. For the long period spent under 
 the trying climatic conditions of an island in the 
 tropics, accentuated by the stress and strain belong- 
 ing to the years of the persecution, had told seriously 
 upon his health. In 1906 the doctor in Tonga told 
 him that it was imperative that he should leave, or 
 serious consequences would follow. He felt the truth 
 of the warning, and decided to withdraw from the 
 work and seek, for the few years still left to him, 
 the quiet retirement in the home at Lindfield that 
 he had established. It was a wrench to both pastor 
 and people, for they recognized his heroic service 
 on their behalf. He had given the best years of his 
 life to them, and it was only the imperative warnings 
 of advancing years and failing health that forced him 
 to part from them. But there was some consolation 
 for them in the knowledge that there would still be 
 Tongan translations and other works from his pen, 
 which would serve to maintain to some degree the 
 connexion; while in his capacity as Bookroom. 
 
 147,
 
 THE AFTERMATH 
 
 Steward he would be in constant touch with them. 
 Absent from them in body he would be ever with 
 them in spirit, until God's voice should call him and 
 he 'Crossed the Bar.' 
 
 148
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 LIFE'S EVENTIDE 
 
 Conference of 1906 readily, and yet with 
 JL genuine regret, granted Dr. Moulton's request 
 for retirement from active service. It showed its 
 high appreciation of his long and devoted services by 
 a resolution to that effect, which was entered upon 
 the Minutes of Conference and read as follows: 
 
 ' On the retirement of the Rev. J. E. Moulton, 
 D.D., from the active ministry of the Church, the 
 Conference records its high sense of the value of 
 the services rendered by him in many directions 
 during the past forty-three years. Concerning his 
 character, gifts, and work, we glorify God in him. 
 Connected with the Tongan District since 1864, 
 Dr. Moulton has a record as a missionary and 
 an educationalist that is almost unique. Apart 
 from other services, the extent and value of his 
 work as translator of the Holy Scriptures and 
 standard literature into the Tongan tongue, to- 
 gether with his contributions to Tongan hymnals, 
 is such as to lay that island nation under permanent 
 obligation to him. As President of Tubou College, 
 he did more than mere scholastic work; he im- 
 parted high ideals to the students of both sexes who 
 came under his influence, and as Chairman of the 
 District, he exercised a wise, sagacious and fatherly 
 149
 
 LIFE'S EVENTIDE 
 
 care over a people whom he loved and served with 
 singular devotion. In the troublous times through 
 which our work there unhappily passed Dr. Moul- 
 ton comported himself with a fidelity, wisdom, 
 serenity, and courage that eventually won the ad- 
 miration of all parties. During a temporary resi- 
 dence in New South Wales, Dr. Moulton filled 
 the position of President of Newington College, and 
 Principal of the Theological Institution, where his 
 influence upon the students who were under his 
 care was stimulating, refining, and inspiring in a 
 rare degree. With extensive scholarship and wide 
 reading, he combined an unaffected modesty and an 
 unfailing geniality that made his presence every- 
 where that of a good diffused. The Conference 
 recognized his worth by calling him in 1893 to 
 its presidential chair, and we feel that, in his retire- 
 ment, we are losing from the ranks of our active 
 ministry a brother of unique personality and gifts.' 
 
 Eulogistic references were made by the ' fathers ' 
 to his work, which they designated as unique, and 
 the voice of a younger member added his quota 
 of respect and admiration as a representative of the 
 generation of ministers who had been brought under 
 his beneficial influence. 
 
 To some there is granted in the providence of 
 God, a prolonged and felicitous eventide, but in this 
 case it was denied. His old enemy, asthma, that had 
 for nearly forty years been so relentless in its 
 attacks, now was more ruthless still; and the re- 
 maining few years they were only three and 
 especially the last eighteen months, were years of 
 constant suffering. 
 
 To his home at Lindfield he retired. It was a 
 
 150
 
 LIFE'S EVENTIDE 
 
 foregone conclusion that the cottage he had built 
 should be distinguished by a Tongan name and one 
 with a significant meaning. ' Fale'ofa ' or ' House 
 of love' was his choice, and was truly characteristic 
 of his idea of what the atmosphere of the home 
 should be. Amid heated arguments the choice phrase 
 ' flowers of affection ' would be appealingly and 
 lovingly used across the dinner table; and it was a 
 corrective to disputatiousness which may, even in a 
 devoted family, tend to break bounds. An alterna- 
 tive plan, be it noted, quite as effective and as 
 
 frequently adopted, was, 'let us sing; Hymn ' ! 
 
 Very characteristic ! 1 Here he lived in the comfort of 
 the new home that he had himself carefully planned 
 so as to bestow the maximum of comfort upon the 
 self-denying partner of his life and work. Here in 
 the study he did Tongan translation and was happy. 
 
 But it could be noticed that, while mental faculties 
 were unimpaired, his physical powers were failing fast. 
 In August of 1907 the family, with one exception, 
 were present, for they thought the end had come: 
 and although he rallied to a limited degree, the re- 
 maining eighteen months were a season of great 
 suffering. Shortly before the Conference of 1909 he 
 put his Bookroom accounts in order and handed them 
 over to his successor ; and that act seemed to be ' the 
 last straw.' From that time forth he appeared to have 
 no strength for aught else than to get his breath, 
 so severe was his complaint. 
 
 Throughout this last illness the Tongan Church 
 bore his name on their lips continually in prayer, 
 and their letters revealed the concern they felt at his 
 protracted suffering. In such a state he continued 
 until May, when it was plainly visible that life was 
 ebbing fast and only the will that had been so
 
 LIFE'S EVENTIDE 
 
 dominant all through his remarkable career was 
 responsible for his tenacious grip of life. Hence the 
 medical verdict as to the approaching end had once 
 and again to be revoked. But at last, after a day 
 or two of almost total unconsciousness on Sunday, 
 May the 9th, 1909, at 1.40 a.m., the great and weary 
 struggle of many months was over, and James Egan 
 Moulton of Tonga passed over into Another Country. 
 He had navigated stormy seas with conspicuous cour- 
 age for just over sixty-eight years, and now he had 
 cast anchor in the Haven of Everlasting Rest. 
 
 The funeral was largely attended. After a short 
 service at the house, Newington College Cadets bore 
 the casket to the Lindfield Methodist Church, where 
 a most impressive service was held. The Rev. C. J. 
 Prescott (President and Head Master of Newington 
 College) gave an address, in which he referred feel- 
 ingly and eloquently to Dr. Moulton as a preacher, 
 educationalist, missionary, and man. At the grave 
 at Gore Hill, where he was laid, the Rev. E. J. 
 Rodd (Principal of the Ladies' College, Burwood) 
 and the Rev. E. E. Crosby, B.A., his former colleague 
 in Tonga, also delivered appropriate appreciations. 
 The hymn, 'Abide with me,' fittingly closed the rites 
 that could be paid over the grave of the saint and 
 hero, who was laid to rest. It was fitting that, on 
 such an occasion, the College flag, presented during 
 his presidency, should cover the casket: and no 
 less so that the strong arm of youthful cadets of 
 the institution with which he had enjoyed such close 
 and intimate connexion should bear him to his last 
 resting-place. And most of all, assuredly, that, al- 
 
 152
 
 LIFE'S EVENTIDE 
 
 though through the irony of circumstances no Tongan 
 native should follow the bier of their departed chief- 
 tain (his last amanuensis having been recalled owing 
 to the death of his child), Tonga should not even 
 then be forgotten. A rich gafiqafi (a high chief's 
 mat of the finest texture) enshrouded his body; and, 
 buried with him, also, was a copy of his Tongan Bible 
 and hymn-book. Moreover, with an exquisite sense 
 of fitness Mr. Crosby read the Committal prayer 
 from the Tongan prayer-book, for the translation of 
 which the departed missionary himself had been 
 responsible. The Revs. Charles Stead and C. E. 
 James, the latter a former missionary in Tonga, also 
 took part. 
 
 But the connexion of Tonga with these last rites 
 was not yet closed. Those islanders sorrowed with a 
 great sorrow when the news reached them, and this 
 sorrow was not confined to the members of the 
 Church whom he had so carefully nurtured. The 
 passing of Dr. Moulton was considered as a national 
 loss, and the flag flew at half-mast at Government 
 House for three days. 
 
 The ensuing Tongan District Synod passed appre- 
 ciative resolutions bearing on the loss they had 
 sustained; but their appreciation proceeded to take 
 more practical form, the result of which was that, 
 after some months, the sum of ^150 was generously 
 collected for a memorial stone, or rather, two; one to 
 mark the distant grave at Gore Hill, North Sydney, 
 the other a present and an appropriate reminder of 
 his association with Tubou College. The latter, in 
 close proximity to the windows near the dais, was 
 officially unveiled by His Majesty King George 
 Tubou II at the ensuing Synod (1910) and bears the 
 following inscription : 
 
 153
 
 LIFE'S EVENTIDE 
 
 SACRED TO THE MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 DR. MOULTON, 
 
 Founder of TUBOU COLLEGE. 
 
 Born at NORTH SHIELDS, ENGLAND, on 
 
 January 4, 1841, and died at LINDFIELD, N.S. 
 
 WALES, on May 9, 1909. 
 He rests at Gore Hill, North Sydney. 
 
 He commenced his labours in Tonga in May 1865, and 
 retired from active work in 1906. He devoted his life to 
 the highest interests of the Tongan people, to raise them 
 intellectually and spiritually. 
 
 ' REST AFTER LABOUR.' 
 
 A tablet also adorns the wall of Zion Church, a 
 fitting memorial too, of the close pastoral association 
 with the people he dearly loved and faithfully served. 
 
 Both the stones are of granite, and that at Gore 
 Hill, in addition to the usual inscription, chronicles 
 the fact for future generations that it was 'erected 
 by the people of Tonga, for whom he laboured for 
 nearly forty-four years.' And it will ever be as 
 ' Moulton of Tonga ' that he will be remembered. 
 
 154
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 IT is obviously difficult for a writer to frame esti- 
 mates of the worth of one bound close to him 
 by ties of kinship, for dispassionate judgement is out 
 of the question. And yet three considerations may 
 be pleaded for doing it. Firstly, if this writer does 
 not do it, it may not be done at all; secondly, no 
 one knows the facts so well as one who is within 
 the circle; thirdly, all the convictions formed by 
 those within tally with the appreciations expressed 
 by those who are without, which proves that the 
 estimates have not been the mere outcome of warm 
 affection within the family. In these concluding 
 pages an attempt will be made to gather up what is 
 most essential, both in respect of himself and his work, 
 as viewed by those who saw him from outside. 
 
 Dr. Moulton occupied a very high place in the 
 esteem of those who knew him best. Among his 
 brethren in Conference he was an outstanding figure, 
 while in Tonga so prophetic were his utterances on 
 momentous issues that one chief, who had been a 
 heathen, looked upon him almost as a god. A Cam- 
 bridge professor, who had had a very low opinion 
 of missionary effort, when he had heard the story 
 of Tubou College, gave unstinted praise, and modi- 
 fied altogether his attitude towards foreign missions. 
 Judicial authorities of the highest acumen, at whose 
 house the subject of this memoir was guest, mar- 
 velled at the work he had accomplished, while at 
 
 1.55
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 the same time they maintained that in such a sphere 
 his talents were wasted! But he was never spoilt 
 by eulogy; and to the last his humility was one 
 of his conspicuous characteristics. 
 
 He was an optimist through and through, and his 
 optimism was his salvation. The first hymn sung at 
 his grave-side, 'Give to the winds thy fears,' was a 
 happy choice. It breathed the very spirit that domin- 
 ated his life. This grace of hopefulness sustained 
 him and saved him from chronic melancholia, while 
 it saved the Church and people, again and again, from 
 utter despair. One remarkable example may be 
 noted. When the suspicion was abroad in the islands 
 that the Wesleyan Church was on the verge of finan- 
 cial collapse he completely changed the trend of 
 opinion by purchasing from Paris a magnificent two- 
 manual harmonium at great cost. This may be 
 charged against him as a gross extravagance at a 
 critical period, but it saved the situation. The same 
 optimism characterized his management of the Ton- 
 gan Bookroom and publishing enterprises. They 
 might be put down as rash and unbusinesslike, 
 especially in view of the fact that Mr. Baker refused 
 to pay for the school books which his government had 
 ordered. But he knew his people, and had no doubt 
 as to their willingness to shoulder their end of the 
 load if he would shoulder his the work of transla- 
 tion. When he told the Tongan ministers of the 
 growing debt their reply was, ' Don't be afraid, Mr. 
 Moulton, leave that to us and our children; only go 
 on with your translation work for our sake.' He did 
 so; and they did their share too, for within a month 
 of his death they liquidated the whole of the Book- 
 room debt a matter of six hundred pounds. 
 
 The weary waiting for the tide to turn, of course, 
 156
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 was a heavy demand on his patience and faith. The 
 autocratic rule brought to bear against him and 
 his people, and the myriad petty annoyances from 
 the same quarter, were more than enough to try the 
 patience of a saint; but he put up with them. 
 
 The key to all this was a pervading love which 
 would go so far as to treat a Tongan as himself. 
 The ministers were, in a real sense, his brethren: the 
 people, in a real sense, his children. When David 
 Finau went to England, Dr. Moulton made him 
 feel that he was on an equality with himself. Though 
 reluctant to do so, the pundit occupied the same 
 bedroom at the host's house. Such ' condescension,' 
 as he termed it, made a lasting impression upon him 
 and upon the people at home, who heard of it 
 with astonishment. This disposition of heart was 
 largely responsible for his influence over the people, 
 in that it generated an implicit confidence in him 
 which was never abused. 
 
 His scholastic attainments were considerable, as 
 all who knew him will admit. People said of 
 him, as they did of his brother William, 
 that it was difficult to discourse on a 
 subject with which he did not seem to be con- 
 versant. His memory was so retentive that facts once 
 culled were never forgotten. His field of choice 
 was wide. History and science were especially fas- 
 cinating to him, but the Bible, with its deep truths, 
 had a charm all its own. During his Kingswood 
 days he read the Bible through six times. As older 
 he grew, the harder and disputed passages riveted his 
 keenest attention. Though resident in the Antipodes, 
 remote from the world of thought, he kept abreast 
 of the times and followed closely the fierce struggle 
 over the higher criticism. Years before Drummond's 
 
 157, L
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 Natural Law in the Spiritual World appeared in print, 
 he had moved in the similar channel of thought, 
 and his Bible-readings and sermons to the dusky 
 islanders were saturated with similar teachings. No 
 limited or 'narrow sphere confined him, and yet 
 his faith in the inspiration of the Bible was firm to 
 the end. 
 
 His Sunday evening Bible-readings in Tubou 
 College were an intellectual as well as a spiritual 
 feast, and they were marked by both instructiveness 
 and originality. That they were always listened to 
 by a crowded and rapt audience serves to show the 
 influence he was exerting on the mental calibre of 
 a once heathen nation. He had succeeded in awak- 
 ening powers that they did possess but which had 
 lain dormant. This fact stamps his life's work as a 
 success, and it was the end he had set out to reach. 
 
 But this does not stand alone. The greatest work 
 he was permitted to do was that of blending the spiritual 
 and mental in one consistent whole, and the character 
 of the nation has, as an immediate consequence, 
 been changed. One striking instance of this comes 
 to mind. The very fact of the loyalty of the Tongan 
 Wesleyan Church to the Conference in direct opposi- 
 tion to the king's will reveals a higher moral fibre 
 than ever could have been expected from a native 
 people. Conscience, hitherto, had known no higher 
 will than subservient obedience to the king's decree. 
 The majority of chiefs and people who turned over 
 and joined the Free Church, while, in a measure, 
 their action was dictated by a fear of the conse- 
 quences of disobedience, did so largely because it was 
 the wish of their sovereign. But a new era dawned in 
 Tonga, when a faithful band, willing to die in battle 
 for their royal master, yet refused to have their right 
 
 15.8.
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 of religious liberty trampled upon. They preferred to 
 worship ,God as their consciences dictated, in a 
 church they loved, because it brought the Light. 
 This new feature staggered the king. It was the 
 dawn of a new life, and, bitter as was the tragedy 
 of dislocation and loss, yet viewed now over the vista 
 of years, the trials are seen to have been but the 
 fire in which the true gold was purified and freed 
 from any alloy. And the Wesleyan Church of to- 
 day is the stronger morally for the refining process. 
 Throughout the years of trial Dr. Moulton's literary 
 and educational work shines out most conspicuously: 
 and nothing in his career is more amazing than that 
 it was so. But he was no weakling. Behind that 
 quiet engaging manner, there was a fire burning, 
 not of bitter anger at frustrated hopes, but of an 
 unextinguishable enthusiasm that knew no defeat. 
 Throughout the dark days the Church, as well as the 
 College, was his care. Though depleted numerically, 
 the same machinery remained at work. But the 
 altered conditions entailed greater responsibilities on 
 the native ministers. They must 'hold the fort 1 
 where, hitherto, the European missionaries had 
 reigned. An educated ministry was therefore more 
 than ever necessary; and Tubou College, with its 
 intellectual and spiritual agencies was the assured 
 medium. With aim concentrated- upon this con- 
 summation he toiled incessantly. Books poured forth 
 for their aid; Sunday-school teachers were likewise 
 assisted. Educational treatises were prepared, and 
 the printers kept busy. And all the time the re- 
 translation of the Bible from the original tongue was 
 going on: hymns were composed, and College choir- 
 practices conducted. This mass of heterogeneous work 
 would have been out of the question had not Dr. 
 
 159
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 Moulton possessed, in a high degree, the essential 
 gift of concentration. From a heavy morning's work 
 of teaching in the College, he could at once fling him- 
 self into tasks of translation, or other literary enter- 
 prise. No moment found him idle. 
 
 The Helohelo (advanced) class, first inaugurated at 
 the commencement of the troubles, served to carry 
 out still further his plan of an educated ministry, 
 by bringing him into touch with Tubou College stu- 
 dents who had finished their course and had left 
 the institution. This has proved the 'fountain of 
 ministerial supply. His lectures to them covered a 
 wide sphere of subjects. For upwards of eight years, 
 while the persecution was at its height, they were 
 continued. His removal to New South Wales severed 
 not only his connexion with the island itself (excepting 
 as the Book-room Steward) but rendered the con- 
 tinuance of these lectures impossible. But his re- 
 appointment in 1896 again gave the coveted oppor- 
 tunity, and for ten consecutive years there was no 
 break in the chain. Probably, from an educational 
 standpoint, these last years were the best. 
 
 It had ever been his fear lest, when the ordinary 
 College curriculum ceased, the retired students should 
 lapse into intellectual slothfulness through having 
 no definite aim before them. For this reason he 
 redoubled his energies in the Helohelo work the 
 channel which he saw was most conducive to this 
 desirable end. Year by year he excited their interest 
 by giving them fresh subjects of study, and the 
 yearly examinations on these subjects proved a 
 most powerful incentive to consistent work. The 
 Tubou College Magazine also was a medium of intel- 
 lectual stimulus, and, besides the serials, all more or 
 less in a lighter vein, there were included also 
 
 160
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 articles on the latest scientific discoveries and other 
 matters of interest. 
 
 The men thus fed and stimulated were of a stan- 
 dard that, with their evangelistic qualifications, made 
 them desirable and effective pastors of the Church 
 fold. In the earlier days it had been found necessary 
 to requisition eight European brethren to cope with 
 the demands of this important mission field. In the 
 present writer's day, the work was superintended by 
 one brother only, with the help of a larger staff 
 of Tongan ministers. Herein lies the vindication of 
 the College and its founder. 
 
 Readers of these pages will not need to be told 
 that hymnology was a potent factor in keeping the 
 spiritual life of the Church in Tonga strong and 
 alert. While the intellectual facilities of the College 
 were available to the few, the hymns that emanated 
 from it reached out to all : and to those who, during 
 the troubles, were banished to solitary islands the 
 hymns proved an unspeakable boon. Dr. Moulton 
 seemed to have been specially inspired during these 
 dark days, and the work he did in this direction 
 kept at white heat their loyalty to the Church of 
 their choice. While we consider the translation of 
 the Bible as his greatest achievement, the hymn- 
 book, containing two hundred and sixty-four hymns 
 from his own pen, certainly makes a good second. 
 Here also, as in his other works, he gave them of 
 his best as a translator. 
 
 It was certainly no easy task at first to discover a 
 means whereby this agglutinous language might be 
 harnessed and brought into direct submission to the 
 laws of metrical exactitude. Efforts at direct translation 
 were found to be abortive, and hence this method had 
 to be abandoned. The groundwork of all success was 
 
 161
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 the selection of a theme, whose development was 
 afterwards to be worked out. But the language, 
 though euphonic and rhythmic, did not appear to 
 lend itself to the true syllabic measure of the line; 
 there was ever a tendency to an extra beat. This 
 drawback, however, was finally obviated by an 
 ingenious device, which in no way disturbed the 
 smoothness of the scansion, and was easily grasped 
 by the natives themselves. It was practically the 
 process of elision, where the offending syllable was 
 more or less swallowed. In the printed hymn-book it 
 is marked by italics, and, occurring most often in the 
 last syllable of the line, sometimes appeared in other 
 parts as well. In these hymns the Tongan Church 
 became possessed of a rich legacy. The literary 
 value is high, but higher than all is the spiritual power 
 which the collection evinces. The hymns most dear 
 to the Churches of the English speaking people 
 have their counterpart in the Tongan hymn-book, and 
 the appreciation of them by the people is as marked 
 as in our own country. The singing in the Ton- 
 gan churches is hearty, and helps to make the 
 worship of the sanctuary a real means of grace. 
 A shortened form of the Church of England 
 Morning Service is printed as an appendix, to which 
 are added the ' offices ' as in the English books : and 
 the whole, with the exception of three hymns, was the 
 work of Dr. Moulton. 
 
 In addition to the literary work referred to above, 
 that which had especial reference to the Church and 
 Sunday school must not be overlooked. While prim- 
 arily engaged in the building of a College, yet when 
 appointed chairman, as has been said, a larger sphere 
 was opened up and had his earnest attention. And 
 he did not forget then to 'feed the lambs.' For 
 
 162
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 the Sunday schools he translated the first and second 
 Catechisms and numerous small story-books of the 
 Peep-of-Day and Basket of Flowers type, while, for 
 the infants, he prepared Picture Maps. In this way he 
 succeeded in making this important branch of our 
 Church organization show very active life. 
 
 As a preacher he was in great demand. Not that 
 he was what, in the ordinary sense of the word, might 
 be termed eloquent; but his treatment of difficult 
 texts and subjects had a breezy originality of its 
 own. Some of these sermons acquired great popu- 
 larity. Foremost amongst them, perhaps, was that 
 on Jonah. In some of the towns which he visited 
 during his Presidential year, the liberty was taken, 
 quite unknown to him, of full advertisements of this 
 subject for the forthcoming Sunday; so that, on his 
 arrival there, these notices met his amused gaze. 
 But others were equally unconventional in their view- 
 point and expression, and an unlikely text such as, 
 ' On that night could not the king sleep ' showed him 
 at his best. All the sermons which arrested atten- 
 tion in Sydney and elsewhere had been given to the 
 Tongan people during the long years of residence in 
 those islands. That they were appreciated there is, 
 in itself, an index of the intellectual capacity of the 
 native mind, as well as a crowning proof of the 
 height to which he had been instrumental in raising the 
 people of this little kingdom. To them he was the 
 prince of preachers for the insight he was able 
 to give them as to the hidden mysteries and beauties 
 of Sacred Writ. His scientific illustrations were 
 strikingly apt, and his discourses replete with know- 
 ledge, and with spiritual applications of it which 
 wrought powerfully upon his hearers. 
 
 But he peculiarly excelled in those expository 
 163
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 Bible-readings held in the College on Sunday evenings. 
 These have been described in foregoing pages and 
 need not be dwelt upon save to say that the rapt 
 attention of the crowded audiences witnessed to the 
 fact that the teaching went home. 
 
 What he knew he could impart to others, and this 
 held good both of religious and secular subjects. One 
 has often been led to marvel how, at the very 
 commencement, in his first efforts to introduce 
 geometrical or arithmetical formulae and such like, 
 he was able to bring the native mind, in its crude 
 state, to grasp the truth of the symbol th . But it was 
 achieved, as was the Tonganizing of English ideas 
 and phrases, classical names and scientific phraseology. 
 Not only in his viva voce lectures would he thus 
 awaken keen interest and attention, but on the many 
 occasions when he reduced his subjects to writing, 
 this same power was manifest in almost as great a 
 degree. The pages of the College magazine will 
 witness to the truth of this estimate. 
 
 It has already been said that in after years it 
 will be by his re-translation of the Bible that he will 
 be longest remembered. This great work was not 
 only a revelation of scholarship but of character: of 
 a dauntless courage and a determined will that re- 
 fused to be turned aside from a holy purpose. 
 But, apart from the initial task of translation, how 
 colossal an undertaking it was! This will be better 
 understood if it be remembered that as far as this 
 work of Dr. Moulton's was concerned, finality 
 was only actually reached when the sheets 
 had passed no less than five times through his 
 hands! The work thus is a monument of prodigious 
 care and assiduous attention to detail ; and it is a work 
 which will remain for all time. An attempt was once 
 
 164
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 made and that six years after the reviser's death, be 
 it noted to impugn the fidelity of the translation. 
 It is well that Dr. Moulton ever kept to a hard-and- 
 fast rule that he had made from the very initiation 
 of his literary work, which amounted to his absolute 
 refusal to make any such effort without the aid of 
 a competent Tongan amanuensis. There is little doubt 
 that, in his own personal knowledge of the Tongan 
 language, he had no compeer. But to this he added 
 the safeguard of an educated helper from among the 
 people themselves. He believed and he was right 
 that no European, however capable and armed with 
 the further qualification of long years of residence 
 among the people, could, unaided, be a faithful ex- 
 ponent of the best that was possible of a foreign 
 nation's idiomatic phraseology. Rigid attention to 
 such a wise proviso alone might be safely received 
 as a strict guarantee of security so far as linguistic 
 accuracy is concerned, but it is further strengthened 
 by the unanimous vote of the unbiassed Tongan 
 reader as to its purity of diction. 
 
 The results of such an expenditure of labour as 
 the Tongan Bible entailed were not without other 
 important compensations. Two only need be men- 
 tioned; first, that the extraordinary wealth of the 
 Tongan language was conspicuously proved, and, 
 secondly, that considerable light was thrown on the 
 origin of the island-people. The translator had ever 
 been an advocate of the former, and had had his 
 suspicions aroused as to the true answer to the latter 
 question. But, in the course of his many hours of 
 wrestling with Hebrew and Tongan equivalents, the 
 resemblance of many of the words in form, amount- 
 ing to actual identity, came home to him with great 
 force and confirmed his own previous opinion that the 
 
 165
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 Tongans were originally a Hebrew people. When 
 he referred this conviction to his brother, the late 
 Dr. W. F. Moulton, an authority in such matters, the 
 opinion was endorsed by him but with this added 
 admission that the Tongan, in some cases, was the 
 older form. Thus such laborious delving was not 
 without its nugget, and no one would grudge him a 
 great 'find,' for he had worked hard enough to 
 merit it. 
 
 In his capacity of Chairman he early instituted a 
 system of Church finance which has proved highly 
 satisfactory ever since its inception. One might say 
 that the real income of the Church was dependent 
 upon the missionary collections held annually. There 
 were three important departments essential to the 
 successful working of the Church financial machinery. 
 These were the Synod, the Circuits, and the Trust. 
 Since the native temperament was averse to weekly, 
 that is, Sunday, offertories and constant financial 
 demands, he conceived the happy ideal of having the 
 necessary interest in all three satisfied by a single 
 concentration of effort once a year on the part of 
 each village and town throughout the group. The 
 amounts raised in each were equally divided between 
 the Synod, the Circuit, and Trust. The quota of the 
 Trust was devoted solely to Church purposes on the 
 spot; that of the Circuit came into a general circuit 
 fund in connexion with each large island of the 
 group; that of the Synod was utilized for the larger 
 and all-embracing needs of the whole group, such as 
 the building of parsonages, the Bookroom expenditure, 
 and Connexional levies, &c. The scheme has ever 
 worked admirably. Later it was also decided to hold 
 half-yearly collections to strengthen the General Funds 
 and the Trusts of each large island. 
 
 1 66
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 The charge of narrow-mindedness can never obtain 
 in the case of Dr. Moulton. The enforcement of 
 prohibition on native members in respect of tobacco 
 and of kava, their beverage, to the indulgence of 
 both of which they had been for many years 
 accustomed, had been speedily settled by the early 
 missionaries, who forbade it as unworthy of a 
 Christian. To Dr. Moulton that appeared to be an 
 uncalled-for hardship, and there was a revolt within 
 him when local preachers and members were 
 suspended for disobedience to that mandate. There 
 was a true sense of relief, therefore, when it was left 
 an open question. It is, indeed, very questionable 
 whether their loyalty and devotion to God as a 
 consequence suffered in any way thereby. The kava 
 and its effect stand on a totally different plane from 
 European intoxicants, and, as regards the obnoxious 
 weed, its deleterious effect upon the Tongan was 
 never very marked. At the same time Dr. Moulton, 
 as other missionaries before and after him have done, 
 strongly denounced the far too common habit of 
 smoking among the native women. 
 
 And he was as lovable as he was broadminded. 
 Even for the man who strove to crush him and his 
 work, he felt only pity when disaster came upon him. 
 No signs of exultation were ever shown by him, and 
 he never dwelt on the wrongs he had received at his 
 hands, though they had brought grey hairs so rapidly 
 and early upon himself. 
 
 By his ministerial brethren he was a brother 
 beloved, and, while he had the strong courage of his 
 opinions and openly expressed them, the friendly 
 relationships, as far as he was concerned, were never 
 impaired. His treatment of his native brethren we 
 have alluded to. They were never made to feel they
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 were moving in a different plane. He treated them 
 as equals, and this very self-abnegatory attitude was 
 the secret of his immense influence over them. To 
 them he was a colossus of intellectual and spiritual 
 power and his humility overpowered them one and 
 all. Here again his ' gentleness ' had made him 
 ' great ' a phrase applied, by the way, also to his 
 brother William in a memorial address. 
 
 Whence came all the characteristics which went to 
 make this personality? Whence the 'How of this 
 thus-ness ' to use a favourite expression of his own ? 
 It may be summed up in one clause. It was ' because 
 the Lord was with him, and that which he did the 
 Lord made it to prosper.' He was first and foremost 
 a man of God. His spiritual life was transcendent. 
 He heard the Call to go and preach the gospel to a 
 foreign people, and he persevered through every 
 opposing obstacle. He was loyal to his God, and, 
 though offers of commercial prosperity were made 
 him, first in England and then in Tonga and it is 
 not generally known that King George made a strong 
 appeal to him, in the earlier years of his work, to 
 become the Prime Minister of- his little kingdom 
 yet he ever refused, for the one sole reason, that 
 God had called him to the ministry. And being loyal 
 to his God he ever communed with his God. The 
 long night watches at the mission house, Nukualofa, 
 amid the absorbing and well-nigh crushing burdens 
 of the persecutions, would repeatedly have revealed 
 Dr. Moulton wrestling in prayer with his Maker, 
 until day dawned and strength and inspiration were 
 given. And loyalty to God gave impetus to fidelity 
 to the work with which He had entrusted him. This 
 was a burning passion within him, which drove him 
 along avenues of usefulness, with a will behind him 
 
 1 68
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 that knew no master, until the last enemy, Death, 
 overtook him and laid him low in the sixty-ninth year 
 of his age. 
 
 So, though dead, he may still be said to speak in 
 the life of the nation he had raised and to whom h 
 had given a literature ; in the College he had founded 
 and in the men who, when educated, passed into the 
 ranks of the Church and State; in the Bible and 
 hymns and the large number of other books which he 
 has left behind as a legacy to both College and 
 people. But he lives most in the hearts of ja people for 
 whom he toiled with unswerving devotion and whom 
 he treated as his own for forty-four years, a verit- 
 able father to them with a heart as large as his 
 interest. 
 
 He may be enrolled among the chosen men of God, 
 who can justly be ranked among the great, but who 
 toiled not in the great centres of civilization, but in 
 the solitary group of islands far from the busy world ; 
 mere specks on the geographical map, but where there 
 were once a heathen people, benighted and yet with a 
 soul that cried out to a living God for light. And 
 in course of time the True Light came, ushered in, 
 before the period of our sketch, by brave and heroic 
 men, to be followed in due course and by God's 
 ordinance, by one who, on the foundation of a 
 spiritual basis laid, was to add an intellectual 
 superstructure. 
 
 Was he satisfied? No truly great man is satisfied 
 as to his own work. To him it was still unfinished; 
 and the more he did the greater the fields which 
 opened out to his gaze as possible spheres of service. 
 But it may be claimed for him that his main wish 
 in life was amply gratified which was 'to be a 
 workman that needeth not to be ashamed. ? 
 
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