The ‘Sleepiness’ of George Sarawia: The Impact of Disease on the Melanesian Mission at Mota,c. 1870–1900

George Sarawia, ordained in 1873 as the Melanesian Mission’s first Indigenous priest, was a pioneering figure in the mission’s plans for an Indigenous-led Anglican Church in the region. Sarawia founded Kohimarama, a mission station on Mota in the Banks Islands, Vanuatu, where he taught Mota Islanders and hosted visiting teachers and clergy. By the 1890s, some of the European missionaries had become critical of Sarawia and his flock on Mota, underlining their ‘natural, sleepy condition’ and recommending more intensive European supervision. This article will explore the role of epidemic and endemic disease, as well as the shortage of water on Mota, in creating substantial challenges for Sarawia and his mission. As he grew more incapacitated in later life, these challenges were insufficiently acknowledged by Sarawia’s critics.     

宗教与美国革命

长期以来,国内史学界在研究和探讨美国革命时,大多从政治、宪法、经济、贸易、黑奴和民族等视角阐述美国革命的渊源和意义,鲜有宗教因素方面的考量。北美殖民地与英国宗主国在两大宗教问题上存在着冲突,宗教在推动殖民地走上美国革命之路方面发挥了重要作用。法印战争结束后,随着英国在宗教和政治上加大对北美殖民地的干预和控制,宗教自由和政治自由成为一枚硬币的两面,两者不可须臾缺一。正是在这个意义上,殖民地争取宗教自由的斗争促进和推动了美国革命的爆发和发展。     

Music in worship and recreation at Little Gidding in the time of the Ferrars

This paper investigates the use of music in worship and recreation at Little Gidding in the first half of the Seventeenth Century. The major focus is the relatively short period from the establishment of the Ferrar family in the Manor House at Little Gidding in 1626 until the death of Nicholas Ferrar in December 1637. Worship encompasses both the formal services in the churches at Little Gidding and Steeple Gidding, and the informal devotions of the Ferrar family in the Manor House. Recreation is conceived broadly, to embrace both the proceedings of the Little Academy and the “night watches”. In each case, religion and piety are central to the activities. The study begins by investigating the Ferrars’ musical education and competence; it then moves on to music in worship, followed by music in recreation. A section on the organs at Little Gidding and their possible fate is followed by conclusions.