Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/325

 IN THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. S81 mited enough to enable the Europeans to effect a total subjugation, as in the examples of Luconia and Amboyna, in which the European power is con- centrated, and the natives of the country too few for effectual resistance. Even here the propagation of Christianity has generally been the work of violence, and not of persuasion ; and the tribes who prefer-^ red poverty to foreign domination have fled to the mountains, and are still unconverted. All the countries which surround these are still uncon- verted. Majindanao and Sooloo, so near to Lu- conia, have always resisted alike the Christian re- ligion, and the Spanish yoke. The brave, active, and numerous inhabitants of the large island of Celebes, were offered at the same moment the re- ligions of Mahomed and of Christ, and they gave the preference to that which did not endanger their national independence. Since then deprived of their rich commerce and their independence, by the Christians, they have had at least no temporal motive to repent of their choice. If we take a survey of the history of Christi- anity in the great nations of Asia, who are the im- mediate neighbours of the tribes of the Indian islands, we shall discover ample cori'oboration of all that has been here advanced. In every country of the East, Christianity has been introduced to the peo- ple, along with the invariable and odious associates of unprincipled ambition, and commercial rapacity.