The Surprising Life and Voyage of Tom Lambert, Shewing How He Left England Miserable and Returned Happy.

FINDING REDEMPTION IN THE PACIFIC

Printed broadside measuring 500 by 370mm. 10 woodcuts. Old folds, repairs to verso, wear at folds affecting one word, otherwise very good. [London,] Printed by Knight and Bagster for the Religious Tract Society, c.

Handsomely decorated with woodcuts, this story of Christian redemption is framed within a tale of nautical adventure in the South Seas. The first missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1797 were protestants sent by the LMS. After initial hardships, they gained the favour of Pomare II and, in the 1820s, the nation converted to Protestantism. By the time this poem was printed, Catholic missionaries were also active in the Pacific. 

 

Composed in forty-nine stanzas, the poem follows the early life of Tom Lambert, whose parents are condemned for their taste for drink and lapsed Christianity. Young Tom followed in their footsteps, "careless of god and man", before deciding to go to sea. He found a berth on a ship bound for the Pacific and, while on Tahiti, was surprised and enlightened by the Christian example set on the islands, which he determined to bring home to England. It was seemingly written with an eye on the Christmas market, it concludes "to have a happy Christmas now and endless bliss above."

 

OCLC locates copies at ATL, SLNSW, NLA, Monash, and Newberry.

Stock Code: 234381