Page:An account of the natives of the Tonga Islands.djvu/36

xxxviii these enlightened days, at least a laudable undertaking; but to bestow much time and pains upon an investigation of the principles of a barbarous language, like the one in question, will, no doubt, in the eyes of many persons, appear more curious than useful; and how far such a view of the subject may be correct, every reader will judge for himself; to me it appears almost as great a deficiency in the history of a nation to overlook the structure of its language, as to neglect any portion of its moral or political character. In taking, for example, the Tonga people, Mr. Mariner could only arrive at a thorough knowledge of their religious, political, and moral character, and the spirit of their religious and political sentiments, through the medium of their language, for all accounts that had been given of them were little better than bare descriptions of outside appearances, every thing else, for want of this same medium, being founded in mere conjecture: so it is easy for a traveller to give an accurate description of the outside of a building, to which he has no