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Section 5 Servants of Empire
As the eighteenth century drew to a close, the question being asked by evangelists was 'Can savages, however virtuous, enter the Kingdom of Heaven?' As tales of sexual promiscuity, human sacrifice and infanticide began to appear in the press, many people were appalled and members of the newly founded London Missionary Society (1795), secure in their belief about the superiority of Christian civilisation over all other forms of society, became convinced that it was their Christian duty to make the Gospel known in the South Seas. As the influence of the missionaries spread, the eighteenth-century perception of the native inhabitants as noble savages was replaced by a strikingly different one-that of thoroughly treacherous and deceitful individuals who nevertheless could be transformed into Christian citizens obedient to the laws of God (and of Europeans) by the intercession of the Holy Spirit in Christian conversion.
1.
Francesco Bartolozzi, 1727-1815
2.
John Clevely, c.1745-1786,
3.
James Smetham, 1821-1889
4.
Unknown
5.
Unknown
6.
C. John M. Whichelo, 1817-1865
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A selection of images from the Paradise Possessed exhibition. National Library of Australia. Click here to find out more about NLA exhibitions. Copyright: ©1998, National Library of Australia
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