IL,            -            A- I    I.i












A
MISSIONARY AIJONG CANNIBALS;
@0, tIje  ftE of
JOHN  H UNT,
WHO WAS EMINENTLY SUCCESSFUL IN CONVERTING
THE PEOPLE OP FIJI FROM CANNIBALISM
TO CHRISTIANITY.
BY GEORGE STRINGER ROWE.
Nero   ork:
PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PORTER,
SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, 200 MULBERRY-STREET.








NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
THIS  volume is commended  to  the
Church as especially adapted to promote
the growth of deep, earnest, and self-sacrificing piety, and also of the most heroic
type of the missionary spirit.  It brings
out in strong relief the spiritual life of a
very holy man, whose soul grew into the maturity of the grace of entire sanctification
amid the severe literary and physical toils,
and the peculiar dangers of a missionary's
life in a land of cannibals.  Could our
young people imbibe the spirit of JOHN
H[UNT, the harvest of the world would
never be permitted to perish for lack of
abundant reapers. Let this memoir therefore be freely circulated among our fam



6    NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
ilies and Sunday-schools, and the cause of
our great Master and teacher can hardly
fail of being greatly promoted.
In this edition a few verbal alterations
have been made, and a few passages of no
interest to American readers have been
omitted.  We have also inserted a pictorial illustration.            D. W.




PRE F ACE.
THE materials of this biography have
been long laid by, awaiting the arrangement of far abler hands than mine.
To prevent a still greater delay I have
undertaken the work, not venturing to
hope that I have supplied those who
knew Mr. Hunt with a portrait which
they will deem worthy of its subject, but
anxious that the young men of my own
generation should not be without the advantage of such a high example.
I claim  a lenient criticism  from  Mro
Hunt's friends, on the ground of my having to some extent freshened their remembrance of one of the best men they ever




8                PREFACE.
knew; and other readers can  afford to
deal gently with my shortcomings, in consideration of the benefit I am  permitted
to confer upon them  by  making them
acquainted, however imperfectly, with a
rare model of Christian excellence.
G. S. R
KENTISH TowN, N'ovembe, 1859.




CONTENTS.
----— B p ~ c* —oF
CHAPTER I. PLa
INTRODUCTORY...................................    11
CHAPTER II.
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD..............................   14
CHAPTER III.
CONVERSION.....................................               24
CHAPTER IV.
CALL TO PREACH...............................                 29
CHAPTER V.
STUDENT LIFE....................................   43
CHAPTER VI.
MISSION  APPOINTMENTT..........................   64
CHAPTER VII.
DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL......................   72
CHAPTER VIII.
M1ISSION WOR.K-REWYA..........,...,..           7




1 0                         CJONeTiENTS.
CHAPTER IX.                               PAG,
SOMOSOMceo..   o...................................   95
CHAPTER X.
TIWA, 1842, 1843...........................  136
CHAPTER XI.
VIWA, 1844, 1845...O.........................  162
CHAPTER XII.
VIWA, 1846, 184-............................... 201
CHAPTER XIIIe
VIWA, 1848.......................................  251
CHAPTER XIV.
THE END..................,................   269
AIR   R I    IN............
H1AiR D)R:SSINGT iN FinO           Q. Q O Q b C Q. C.C...O....  2




A
MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
CHAPTER I.
I NT RODUC  TO   Y.
" NOT UNTO US, 0 LORD, iTOT UNTO US, BUT UNTO THY NAME GIVE
GLORY, FOB THY MEROY, AND FOR THY TRUTH'S SAKE.7
As JOHN HUNT lay dying in Fiji, where his
zeal had eaten up his strength, he turned to a
brother missionary, Mr. Calvert, and said:
" Let me go, a heap of inconsistencies, backslidings, and unfaithfulness. Let me go, as I
trust I shall, through divine mercy alone, for
I have nothing at all in myself, to heaven.
There is nothing in me as an example to recommend, which is not much better furnished in the
lives of many which have been written."
When told that his survivors would gladly
heed his wishes about family and mission matters, but that he must not bind their hands with
regard to himself, he quietly yielded in saying
that he would rather that there should be noth



12   A MISSIONARBY AMONG CANNIBALS.
ing written concerning him, more than a short
notice of his death.
The dying man was looking at his own life
from within, from a position which he only could
occupy, and it was not in the cheap cant of a
mock humility, but in all sincerity, that he
spoke. He read his history as none else could
read it. He saw the long and often interrupted
processes by which all the good in him had been
established. While others noted the triumphs
recorded in that history, he recalled the hard
fighting which had preceded them. He knew
the difficulties in himself that had to be overcome, and the opposition of his own will that
had so long resisted or hindered the inner work,
the outward manifestations of which others admired. The reception of every additional good
into himself had involved penitence for the evil
it had displaced. Others looked at his life; he
saw himself; and, at that moment of all others
when he sought, by the simplest faith, to take
refuge from himself in the mercy of God, no
wonder that he should speak as he did.
But the Church has an entailed interest in the
memorials of the faithful and good. The conceit
of an olden time gave the famous ones of earth
a place in the sky, and traced their images in
groups of stars. And the lives of such as have
been great in their goodness, are to be remem



INTRODUCTORY.              13
bered for the cheering and guiding of those
whose voyage is not yet done, and over whom
the night still gathers. "The memory of the
just is blessed."
It is encouraging to realize what we are apt
sometimes to forget, that Christian heroes are
made of the same stuff as other men; and that,
whatsoever we may inscribe on the pedestals to
which we elevate them, they still say, " By the
grace of God, we are what we are."
The biographer, then, recognizes his task as
akin to that of the Christian philosopher. It is,
in all the historic details of his subject, to follow
and point ont, as far as may be, " the excellency
of the power" which is at work through all.
He would collect the admiration and love of
many, not to do service at the shrine of a sentimental hero-worship, that their faith should not
stand in the wisdom or goodness of men, but
in the power of Godo
" NOW  UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR
THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH
IN US, UNTO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY
CHRIST JESUS THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN"




14   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
CHAPTER IL
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD.
Infancy- Schooling —Early Work and its Trials — Young
Dreams - Religious Beginnings and Parental Influence - Anxiety for his Mother's Salvation -Brain Fever —Good Purpose
-Cottage Prayer-meeting- First Visit to a Methodist Chapel
-Band-meeting- Change of Situation —Removal to Swinderby.
JOHN HUNT was the third in a family of four
children, and was born at Hykeham Moor, near
Lincoln, England, on the 13th of June, 1812.
His father lived at the time, in comfortable circumstances, as the overseer or bailiff on a farm
belonging to a gentleman in Lincoln.  The
property, however, changed hands; and the
bailiff, being thrown out of work, removed
with his family to Lincoln.  Here things went
badly with them, and want of employment
brought the sufferings of poverty to their home.
So poor did they become, that the workhouse
seemed their only refuge, and, after remaining
two years in the city, they returned to their own
parish of Balderton near Newark.  Once more
the father got work, and from that time was
always able to support his family.
Such was the beginning of John Hunt's life.
He had from his parents no advantages beyond




BIRTH AND BOYHOOD.            15
the example of a sturdy and industrious honesty;
but for that he had more reasons to be thankful
than many others for their patrimony of wealth
and name. And little chance was there, even
forty years ago, for country children to gain
much learning. John Hunt's school-days were
passed under the auspices of the parish pedagogue; but his education was soon' finished;"
for at the age of ten years he began to work
on a farm, where, however, he seemed scarcely
in his right place. He was thoughtful and serious, and showed signs of mental vigor, so that
he could remember the clergyman's text better
than his companions; but this seemed his only
point of excellence. He was not handy at his
work, and a consciousness of inferiority annoyed
him. Farm-boys are susceptible of ambitious
feeling, and there is such a thing as emulation
in the filling of a dung-cart. Now John Hunt
could not handle a fork, or crack a whip, or tie
up a plow-line so skillfully as his work-fellows;
so he was held by them somewhat in contempt,
and nicknamed after a poor idiot in the village;
and, furthermore, because he seemed wanting
in robust health, he was recommended by the
rude, hearty lads around him to be a tailor.
But he bore their jokes as patiently as he could,
firmly declaring that he would never change his
business; which resolution he set forth so often




16  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
and so pertinaciously, that he carried with him,
for years after, the style and title of " Farmer
Jack.'
Yet, in the secrecy of his own heart, the boy
was meditating other things.  His father, when
a young man, had been a soldier; but deserted,
and joined the navy, where he saw some service,
and, besides being in several other important
actions, was present at the battle of the Nile.
On a winter's evening John had often heard the
tales of danger and bravery which his father
told with much energy, and he resolved to be a
hero. Though his father had deserted, the son
longed to enter the army; and in many a daydream saw himself rising from the ranks, adorned with every military virtue, doing deeds of
mighty prowess, commanding at last an army
which was always victorious, and then returning,
covered with glory and laden with unheard-of
wealth, to be the pride and support of his aged
parents. He never let any one see his air-built
castles until many years after, when he was
doing battle in a far different service; but he
worked on in the narrow circle of farm-life until
the age of fifteen, which he marked as an important period of his career.
Up to this time his religious history, such as
it was, is worthy of note, as showing within it
the germs of what afterward sprang up in so




BIRTH AND BOYHOOD.             17
strong a growth and such rich fruitage. Neither
of his parents could read, and they made no
profession of religion; yet they lived with strict
regard to honesty, and what they knew of moral
right; and the father held somewhat strong
views about the reality of God's providence, and
the power of prayer. The mother seldom went to
church; but her children were taught to admire
and practice all things of good report, while they
were warned against idleness, theft, swearing,
and other vices. They were trained to say their
prayers regularly, and always met with a severe
reproof from their mother, if they spoke in slight
or ridicule of any minister of religion.
John fully believed all his father said about
prayer and providence, and, with great simplicity, acted upon his convictions. He was
scrupulously regular in saying his morning and
evening prayers; and often, on leaving the
house to go to work, would say quietly, as he
shut the door, " Peace be to this house;" and so
went on his way happy in the belief that the
wish was heard above. In guileless consistency
he prayed about all his little difficulties and fears.
Thus he asked God to preserve him, when he was
frightened about thunder, or dogs, or gipsies,
or anything else that alarmed him; and he always ascribed his safety to the protection of God.
When about eleven years old, he was riding, with




18   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
another boy, on a favorite horse, which they were
taking, with the other horses, to turn out in a
meadow. The usually quiet animal threw its
young riders, and John Hunt was badly cut
about the head, either against a fence or by the
horse's heels; he never could tell which. But
the narrow escape seems to have helped his habitual trust in a merciful God, though he still
remained ignorant of the greater spiritual truths
of religion. He could read pretty well, and felt
much interested in the historical parts of the
Bible. But little inquiry was excited in his mind
as to anything further, except that he was sorely
puzzled with the words "for ever," as applied
to a future state of punishment. Thinking over
this again and again, though he felt no fear about
himself, he was full of dismay at the thought of
his mother being eternally lost, and often prayed
very earnestly for her salvation.
While John was quite a boy his father became deeply impressed by the appeals of some
of that simple and zealous order of Christians
called "Ranters."  He yielded fully to this influence, and for a time seemed to live in the possession of true religion. His son, however, took
a great dislike to the Ranters, and considered
them as fit objects for scorn and contempt, the
more readily as the father was evidently losing
much of the good he had obtained. In other




BIRTII AND BOYHIOOD.            19
respects, too, the fair promise seemed to be less
hopeful in the lad's heart.  As he got a little
older he became more skillful in his business;
and this fact, while it raised him to an equality
with his fellows, had also the ill effect of leading
him into closer companionship with them in their
sins.  He prayed less, and lost much of his earnest feeling about religion.  "However," to use
his own words, " he never served the devil half
so cleverly as he wished."
When sixteen years old he fell ill with brain
fever, which seemed likely to prove fatal.  The
thought of death was thus brought closer home
to him than ever before, and he was full of dread,
being conscious of his unfitness to enter another
world. Referring, years after, to this time, he says:
"I thought it would be of no use to promise
the Lord I would serve him, if he would spare
ne, as I had often made such promises and
broken them. The only way appeared to be, to
begin to serve God there and then, according to
the light I had. So I fell on my knees and began to pray.  After prayer I read my Bible in
earnest, but began with the book of the Revelation, which considerably affected me, though I
understood but little of what I read, having no
one to guide me."
This fresh  growth  of good  purpose was
strengthened by the news that a young acquaintMissionary among Cannibal,  2




20   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALSo
ance, who had been ill but a short time, had died
of the same disease as that from which John was
recovering.  He now began to seek more light;
and as he read and prayed on, with no man to
teach him, light came, and God's Spirit taught
the simple heart of that seeking one; and that
heart grew softer and softer in blessed penitence.
As John was getting stronger, some of his old
companions came to see him; but he found that
he could no longer sympathize with them, and
that their path and his must henceforth be
widely separated.  Confirmed by their visit in
his purpose to serve God fully, he went one
evening into the house of some pious neighbors,
and soon began talking about what was uppermost in his thoughts. He spoke of his past life,
and remembered, with peculiar bitterness, his
having been guilty of the sin of Sabbath-breaking. As he talked he began to weep; and then
the little company knelt down to pray, and John
prayed with them, earnestly seeking the pardon
of his sins. tlie went home comforted, and with
a full purpose to tell his mother all he felt. But
his heart failed him, and he cetermined to serve
God in secret. His mother, however, soon heard
of what had happened at the cottage prayermeeting, and asked him if it were true. He then
spoke to her freely, and stated his intention of
becoming a thorough and professed Christian.




B3IlETH AND BOYHOOD.            21
Neither she nor any of his friends opposed him.
Everything seemed to favor his religious improvement. His great want was instruction.
The sermons he heard at church did not contain
just that form of truth which his state required,
and he hungered for more knowledge.
As John grew stronger he returned to work,
and found, as his companion, a young man who
was a Mlethodist. At his request he went, for
the first time, to a Methodist chapel, and heard
a sermon from a local preacher.  The hearty
and devout sgiging of the congregation seems
to have affected him powerfully, and he thenceforth became a constant attendant at the chapel,
where his mind quickly opened to understand
the Gospel. Few of the good people with whom
he worshiped knew his real state, until the occurrence which he thus records:
"One Sunday night, after preaching, it was
announced tlat, on a certain night, there would
be a public bccandmeeting. What this meant I
could not imagine, and by this time I had lost
my Methodist companion; but I concluded that
a sermon would be preached on the occasion,
and determined to attend, if possible.  Accordingly, at the appointed time, I repaired to the
chapel, and found a leader standing at the door,
to prevent improper persons from  entering. I
was going in as usual, when he mildly stopped




22    A MISSIONARY A3MONG CANNIBALS.
me, telling me it was not a general but special
meeting, yet adding, that he had no objection to
my going in, as he believed I was seriously disposed.  I went in, and was nmuch struck with
the proceedings.  The leader gave out a hymn
and  prayed, and  then  told his experience.
Others followed; so that it appeared to me the
rule of the meeting, that all present should speak.
I felt it my imperative duty to rise and state
what I knew  and felt of religion; but tle
thought of doing so before a company of Christians made me tremble exceedingly. At length,
however, I summoned sufficient courage, and
told, in a few plain words, the exercises of my
mind.  All present seemed much encouraged,
and did what they could to encourage me to
continue seeking the Lord."
About this time he was leaving Balderton in
search of a place elsewhere, and set out with a
full purpose to acknowledge God in all his ways,
hoping to get a situation where he would possess
religious advantages. IHe went to the Stcatutes,
but was not engaged.  iHe then accompanied a
cousin to the house of a respectable and pious
farmer, who at once took him into his service.
The thing was done in a hurry. John had never
intended seeking a situation there, and felt that
he had not prayed about it. From the time of
his going there he was never comfortable. His




BIRTH AND BOYITOOD.           23
strength failed, and he was convinced that he
was not in his right place. In about a month
he left, and attended the market at Newark,
taking his stand among the servants who wanted
places, and fully trusting that God would direct
the right person to seek him out. About noon
a stranger came, and at once engaged him to
serve his daughter at Swinderby. He then took
him to a man who was to be his fellow-servant,
and whom John to his great delight found to be
a Methodist. This man at once assured his new
companion that the situation was just what he
wanted; that there was a Methodist society at
Swinderby, and that the lady he was going to
serve was well disposed toward religion. He
afterward found that this was all true, and at
once joined the lMethodist society, by becoming
a member of a class. The class-leader gave good
and profitable counsel to his young charge, who
greatly needed it; for of late he had been losing
ground. He still tried to serve God with steady
purpose, but did it rather from a sense of duty
than because his heart was in it. Whatever he
had of religion brought him no joy, and very
little peace. He had heard others talk about an
assurance of God's favor given by the HIoly
Spirit; but while this was the very privilege he
longed after, it seemed a mystery which he had
no skill to understand.




24   A AIISSIONAPY AMONG OANNIBALS.
CHAPiTER IlI.
CONVERSION.
Hears the Rev. John Smith preach - Penitence —  Salvation -
Temptation - Progress.
THE RPev. John Smith was now stationed in the
Lincoln circuit, and news came to Swinderby
of the power of his preaching, and of the conversion of many souls.  John Hunt determined
that he would take the first opportunity of hearing this good man, and, finding that he was to
preach at Thorpe, a place not far off, accompanied several others to the service.  HIe afterward referred to this memorable occasion, as
follows:
"There was nothing in Mr. Smith's preaching
that particularly struck  me.  The text was
This is a fithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners.' The sermon was plain, pointed,
and powerful, and some parts of it awful; but
the effect on my mind was rather hardening
than otherwise.  After the sermon a prayermeeting commenced, and, after some time, concludec without anything remarkable.  We who
were of the Swinderby party thought it time to
go home, and left the chapel for that purpose.




CONVERSION.                25
I felt much dissatisfied, as I was going away exactly as I came, and proposed to return to the
chapel and remain a little longer. To this our
party agreed.  A prayer-meeting was still going
on in the chapel, and some were seeking mercy..
Mr. Smith was praying with a poor woman who
could not believe in Christ; and, feeling what
was needed, he cried out, with all his soul and
might,' Send us more power! I knelt near him,
and remember, with some little feeling, I said'Amen.'  Immediately a most overwhelming
influence came upon me, so that I cried aloud
for mercy for the sake of Christ; while. I was,
in a minute, as completely bathed with tears and
perspiration as if I had been thrown into a river.
I prayed, as in an agony, for a few minutes.
Mr. Smith came to me and asked me what I
wanted. I answered,' I want my sins to be forgiven for the sake of Christ.'
" This was all I knew.  I had only one
thought, and only one way of expressing it,
either-to God or man.  Mr. Smith asked me if
I believed God gave his Son for me.  I said,
Yes.9 Hie then asked,'Do you believe that
Christ has died for you?' I said,'Yes.' He
then brought me to the point, and asked,'Do
you believe that God is satisfied with the atonement of his Son, and that now, for his sake, he
forgives you?' I could not answer this, but




26  A MISSIONARY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
cried to God for help, and was enabled to trust
in the sufficient atonement of Christ on my personal account.  At that moment I felt that pardoning love of God, and cried out,'I do save!
I do save! —intending to say,' e does save.'
Mr. Smith said,' No, it is Christ that saves you.'
That was what I meant, and what I then proclaimed with a heart full of'joy unspeakable.'
I exhorted all to join me in praising the Lord,
and had a most delightful sense of his love,
while we sang,'Praise God, from  whom  all
blessings flow.' We then returned home, rejoicing in God; but on the way I was tempted
to believe it was all a delusion, until the apostle's words were applied to my mind:'Above
all, taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked;' and the temptation was utterly dispelled."
Such was the place and manner of John
Hunt's birth into the new life. The man of
mighty faith who knelt by him as he struggled
out of the last bonds of unbelief, and uttered his
first incoherent joy-cry of freedom, was no stranger to such scenes.  He was not one of those
ministers who can content themselves with the
uniform absence of conversions under their ministry, getting comfort from certain sedative reflections about edifying the Church, instructing
believers, and so forth. John Smith did not




CONVERSION.               27
make one part of his duty a subterfuge, under
which to skulk from the performance of the rest.
His heart was too large, and too full of the love
of Christ, to let him interpret success as the mere
hothouse growth of a shut-in churchism; and
God, whose Gospel he honored as the Gospel,
honored him, and gave him to see hundreds reclaimed from sin, and made happy and holy in
Christ Jesus.
Little did the preacher think whereunto that
rough plowboy's conversion would grow; and
the plowboy himself little imagined what a
course then opened before him. That heart was
prepared by God's tilth; and there the seed lay
safe in God's keeping.
At first the religion of the young convert,
who was now about seventeen years old, did not
prosper; he noticed many inconsistencies in one
who professed to be a Christian, and made them
the subject of conversation elsewhere; and thus
a cloud was brought over his own spirit. After
a few months, however, this snare was removed,
and John was left alone among those who made
no religious pretensions. And now his heart
grew stronger in faith, and he advanced steadily
in the knowledge and love of God. The cloud
passed off, and the young Christian experienced
all the fresh brightness which belongs to the
morning of the new life. He thus describes it:




28  A MISSIONASRY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
"' In no part of my religious course do I remember having such near intercourse with God;
such tenderness of conscience; such delight in
his service, and such compassion for the souls of
others. I was persecuted by those around me;
but it was  folr righteousness' sake,' according to
their own acknowledgment."
The rigid morality and strict observance of
the Sabbath which were conspicuous in the
young Christian servant, exposed him to much
ridicule and annoyance; and he actually left
this situation at last, because his principles were
not sufficiently elastic and accommodating to
suit the looser notions of others. In regard to
all other matters, his situation was very comfortable; but his way to leave was plain, though it
was by no means so clear what was the next
step to be taken: and a time of painful anxiety
followedo But the lad's path was already being
turned toward the high career in which he was
afterward to be so greatly distinguished, but of
which then he had never dreamed.




CALL TO PREACIL                  29
CHIAPTER IVo
CALL  TO  PREACH -I
Another Sitiation — Reading — Self-cultture-First Public Address- Discouragement-A clear Call- Close Study and Success - Another Step - Prayer and Diligence - A Candidate for
the Wesleyan Ministry -t eceived for the Foreign rWork - Examination in London - Theological Institution.
JOHN I-IUNT was next engaged by Milr. Wilkinson, of Swinderby, for one year.  And an important year it was. The new master was a good
man; and, moreover, possessed books, to which
his servants had access.  Hitherto John's reading had gone very little beyond his Bible.  He
was now scarcely nineteen years of age, and had
read Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," a part of
the Miethodist Magazine for 1812, and a few
tracts.  "' This," he says, " was my only library,
for the first two years after I begun to serve
God."  But now  better times had come; and
the unlettered youth stood amazed and delighted, as all the treasures of all knowledge seemed
to him to be arrayed on the farm-house shelves.
Here he first saw the works of Wesley, Paley,
and Dwight, and looked with astonishment at
the manifold learning  of  Iorne's "Introduction," and other kindred works, each of which
seemed to open a new worldo  From  this time




30   A MISSIONARY AMNIONG  CANNIB3ALS
he began to be a student. He gave himself up
eagerly to the reading of Wesley's " Notes on
the New Testament;" but the -first book that
thoroughly got hold of him  was Mason on
" Self-Knowledge;' and it is impossible to calculate how far the wisdom of that book went to
lay the foundation of the young reader's character.  During the rare and scanty leisure left by
his farm-work, he read diligently; and new
thoughts filled his mind, and the beginnings of a
new life were in him, as he strode along beside
the team, or followed the plow.  Strengthened
by the wholesome and nutritious diet afforded
by the books within his reach, his mind begaln
to exercise itself; and lookers-on would never
have suspected how, beneath that blue smock,
there was a heart often beating high with the
consciousness of a power it scarcely dared to
credit.
Whatever else lie read or pondered, John still
kept his first book in the first place. As in all
his after life, so now, the Bible was the center
of his system  of study.  There his heart was
fixed; and though, as time passed on, his mind,
with growing vigor, went forth far, and gathered
much wealth of various lore, yet his heart was
fixed as at first, and everything he won was
stored up where his treasure was. Thus, at the
time now referred to, he was accustomed to busy




CALL TO PREACH.               31
his mind with a set subject, while his hands
were engaged in daily toil.  Once only does this
habit seem to have interfered with his regular
work.  Once his master gave him orders to take
a load of grain to Newark the next morning.
John rose betimes, and fed the horses, and made
due preparation for the journey; but while thus
employed, he must have got hold of some specially interesting subject for thought, for he harnessed the horses and set off to market with
an empty wagon! 7No doubt his meditations
were more profitable to himself than to his
master.
This, however, was quite an exceptional occurrence.  No servant more thoroughly served
his master. He was always earnest in everything, and would sometimes astonish his employer by the amount of work he would get through
in a short time.  Generally, the labor of his
hands was not hindered by the activity of his
mind. Some passage of Scripture usually formed
the topic of young H-untt's meditations; and he
set himself to find the main points contained in
it, and to trace out the truths which they indicated.  Sometimes a feeling would creep over
him, as though he were standing before many
listeners for whose benefit he unfolded the written word. But such a thought only startled him,
and was soon dismissed. Finding that he was




32   A MISSIONARY AMiOtNG CANNIBALS.
nuch the better for this habit of daily meditation
on a fixed passage, he spoke of it to some other
members of the society, and recommended thoem
to adopt the same plan. This seems to have
deepened the implression felt by some good people, who had marked the earnest piety of the
young man, that he was being prepared for a
life of special usefulness.
One day his master asked hIm to give a short
address on the following Sunday evening, when
there was to be no preacher at the Swinderby
chapel.  John was frightened at the thought;
but as several others, for whom  he had great
respect, backed the request, he gave a timid
consent.  At the time of service the place was
well filled with those who had assembled to hold
a prayer-meeting, and before these John stood
up in great fear. But his heart was full of
young, warm love; and somehow his thoughts'ound ready expression in fit words; and the
address which, perchance, would have offended
the nice ears of the refined religionist, nevertheless greatly warmed the hearts of those plain
villagers, and helped them  to go forth more
cheerily into their next day's toil.
They who had asked the young farm-servant
to speak at the prayer-meeting felt their conviction strengthened as to the elements of power which already began to show themselves in




CALL TO PREACHc              33
him; so they requested him, soon after, to address the congregation in a little Methodist
chapel in another village.  His mind was very
much disturbed by this application, and he could
not think it possible that he had or could have
any fitness for such employment. He told all
his fearss and trouble to his master, and the
good man answered in his own plain, honest
way,' If the Lord calls thee to the work, he'll give
thee tools to work with."
Somewhat enheartened, yet full of misgiving,
John, accompanied by a friend, went to the
place appointed. He had arranged his thoughts
very carefully, and all he intended to say was
clearly before him, as lie went over it again and
again along the road.  lHe reached the little
chapel; but when the time came for him to
speak his thoughts became confused, and then
took flight altogether; and this first appearance
before strangers was by no means a success.
Discouraged and sad, he returned home.  That
was a restless night for him. Allhe had thought
before about his unfitness for such work came
back with a force doubled by the remembrance
of his failure; and the only comfort lie could
find was in resolving never to meddle again with
what was clearly no business of his.
John's elders, however, still believed that lie




34  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNNIBALS.
was to preach, and urged him to make fresh
trial. There was in Swinderby a local preacher, in whose class John was a member, and
whom he afterward described as " a very pious
and clever man, and one of my earliest and
best fiiends."
This Ir. Blyton was appointed to preach one
Sunday at the village of Girton; but seeing
that something would prevent, asked John to
go for him. Ile could not refuse the urgent
request of one in whom he had so much confidence.  He went to Girton, and got through
the service more satisfactorily than at his former attempt. Some good people of respectability
and intelligence who attended the chapel were
much pleased with this early effort, and greatly
delighted the good man who had sent John, by
telling him that they hoped he would give them
the same substitute whenever he could not come
himself.
But the young man himself was far from satisfied, and, from this time, passed through a
course of the most distressing doubt and temptation, which lasted some months.  He shrank
with such unaffected terror from the thought of
his presuming, unbidden by God, to touch the
holy work of preaching, that for a while he
could not receive the encouragements of his
friends and fathers of the Church, or admit the




CALL TO PREACHe              35
fact which others rejoiced to see, that his efforts
had been made useful.  Yielding at last to the
judgment of those whom he held in high esteem, he allowed his name to be put on the circuit plan as an exhorter. On receiving the first
plan upon which his name appeared, he took it
into his room, and, shutting himself in, -spread
it before God; and then lie prayed earnestly
that he might know whether it was the will of
God that lie should preach the Gospel. As he
knelt, the answer came.  His doubts and misgivings passed away, and a clear conviction
came upon him that his duty thenceforth was to
preach Christ. From the moment when it was
first given, to the day of his death, that conviction was never disturbed.
At this important point in his history, John
Hunt was not only called by God to preach, but
received, with the commission, special grace to
fit him for the work. His piety increased, and,
under its influence, the noble vigor and earnestness of his character soon showed themselves.
Conscious of his want of culture, he caught at
every chance of training his mind, and was diligent in attending an evening school, where he
had lessons in writing and English grammar. He
soon became a favorite with the village congregations whom he addiessed. When first he appeared before them, many wondered to see such
Missionary among Cannibals.  3




36  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
a preacher come. His rough and somewhat ungainly appearance lost none of its effect when he
began to speak in rustic brogue; but as he talked on, among all his blunders, there was something that won the attention. He aimed at
nothing grand, but spoke with simplicity that
which he evidently thought and felt. When
next he came, the wonder was that he improved
so fast. Few had any idea of how he had to
watch and work to reach that improvement. He
was still a servant, and was too genuine a Christian to make religion an excuse for laziness, or
to cheat his earthly master under pretext of better serving his God. Some Sundays he had to
preach at a distant place, and could not get back
before midnight; but, though he might have
walked many miles that day, he was in the
stable attending to his horse by four o'clock the
next morning. Besides this, he very frequently
spent two whole nights a week in prayer and
reading the Bible, with Wesley's, Fletcher's,
and Watson's works. Nearly twenty years had
been lost, and " the King's business required
haste;" but the young watcher, working with
such intense effort, little thought how great was
the enterprise for which he was being fitted by
Him who strengthened his servant to gather in
months the fruit of years.
John Hunt, the plowboy, as he was still call



cALL TO PREACI.             378
ed, soon became a great favorite at the country
chapels in the Lincoln circuit, and the people
flocked to hear him, while many had good reason to be glad that they had ever listened to
his voice.
In the year 1833 the Rev. William  Smith
was appointed to superintend the Iincoln circuit, and, soon after his arrival, had an opportunity of hearing John HIunt preach in a village chapel. There was enough excellence in
the young preacher, notwithstanding his rustic
bearing, his awkward manner, and broad dialect,
to convince Mr. Smith that he was listening to
one who gave uncommon promise of future
power.  After the service Mr. Smith went to
speak to Hiunt, and was astonished to hear him
say that he was only a common farm-servant.
The minister then questioned him as to whether
he had ever felt any conviction that he ought
to give himself up entirely to the work of
preaching.  The young man  was evidently
startled at an inquiry which went at once into
that secret place of his heart, where, for some
time, there had been a confused moving of unshapen desires and vague longings after some
other sphere of action. It was not likely that
the plowboy would feel all he had felt, as he
found something in himself that claimed kindred
with the master-minds whose works he had stud



88  A 1MIISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
ied with such delight, and yet jog on as a mere
plowboy still.  The full-winged vigor, which
strengthened so fast, could not but feel some
impatience at the binding of the old chrysalis
shell. There is in all true genius an instinct as
unerring as that of the forest-bird which, hatched in the nest of some homestead fowl, moves
restless among the well-fed pensioners at the
barn-door, until, finding some day that its pinions have grown strong, it starts with exulting
cry from the low  ground, and makes straight
and swiftly away for the freedom of the woods.
John Hunt had genius, as true as ever bore up
some from the low level where once they walked to the highest and noblest fame. But he
had in him more than the impulse of genius.
A power, not of this world, wrought mightily
in his soul. The word of Him who called those
fishermen, so that they left their nets and followed him, had come to this youth.  As yet
the word was not all spoken; but the listener's
soul heard enough to make him  feel that he
might not always hold that plow.
When, therefore, Hunt was asked whether he
had thought of giving himself to the work of
the ministry, he declared that a sense of unfitness made him  shrink altogether from such a
suggestion. But he confessed that he had an
" ambition"-so he expressed it-"~ to go to the




CALL TO PREACIH               39
Cape, as a servant to Laidman I-Iodgson," the
missionary, who had occasionally ministered in
Lincolnshire; there, he thought, he might do
gardening and farm-work, and perhaps " a little
in teaching children in the Sunday school, and
in preaching to the English settlers.' This interview confirmed IMr. Smith's conviction that
the young local preacher was to occupy a position of greater activity in the Church, and he
was accordingly sent to some of the larger
chapels in the country places, and then into the
city.  He went on improving rapidly, until, in
the beginning of 1834, he entered the service of
another Wesleyan, Mr. George Briggs, of Potter
Hanworth.
During his residence in this place Hunt
gained much power as a preacher.  Not only
was he sought after in the country, but the city
congregations listened  to  him  with delight.
Judging him  by the standard of education and
refinement, le was seriously deficient; but his
defects were forgotten in admiration of his wellchosen and simple language; his rich imagination adorning the solid, logical structure of his
discourse; the might of earnestness by which the
fire in the preacher's heart mastered his hearers,
until sometimes the whole audience bowed before the uplifting of that hard, rough hand, and
sobs and tears replied to those earnest, though




40   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
ungrammatical appeals. The secret of his success is given in a scrap which lie wrote about
the time of his removing to Potter IHanworth:
" I see, to be useful as a public speaker, I must
be eminent as a private Christian."  And then
he upbraids himself for not having visited the
sick diligently, or reproved sin faithfully.
While many admired and sought him, he did
not seem to be lifted up by their praise; but the
growing consciousness of his own defects kept
him  very humble, and led him  to continued
prayer. The power which he exercised in the
pulpit he had gained in the closet. What seasons of intense pleading were passed there, none
can know but He who "seeth in secret!"  On
one occasion he had retired before preaching,
and a young man went to speak to him, but
quickly came back, saying that the preacher had
not noticed him entering the room, but seemed
so rapt in communion with God that he had not
the heart to disturb him.
On a Sunday morning he often went, as early
as four o'clock, to see another local preacher who
resided in the same place, and who still remembers him with reverent affection; and these two
would diligently prepare themselves by conversation and prayer for the work of the day.
It was now generally known that Hunt was
to be proposed as a candidate for the Wesleyan




CALL TO PREACIH               41
ministry. The first step was to get the recommendation of the circuit quarterly meeting. This
was -given unanimously and heartily in March,
1835. In the following Miay he passed the district meeting, and was accepted as a preacher on
trial by the conference of the same year.  HIe
had never lost his first bias of inclination toward
the mission work, and it was at once decided
that he should be sent abroad.  I-Ie still clung
to the idea of going to the Cape, and hoped
that he should receive an appointment to that
colony.
When he came up to London to be examined,
with other candidates, before the missionary committee, his superintendent minister had to send
the usual communication about him, containing,
among other things, some sketch of the candidate's character and attainments.  Mr. Smith's
letter about this Lincolnshire farm-boy amused
the secretaries, who thought it a piece of goodnatured extravagance; but when they came to
examine the young man, they very readily acknowledged that he was far beyond the average
standard. It was decided that Hunt should be
sent to the Theological Institution, which had
been established at Hoxton the year before.
There were some who regarded this step with
anxiety and almost with fear. They dreaded
the effect of such an entire change upon one in




42   A MISSIONAIRY AMONG CANNIBALS.
whom they felt the deepest interest. They saw
the need of refinement, but felt alarm lest, in the
process, some of the pure metal might be lost.
These were not among the objectors who, almost
invariably uneducated themselves, can see no
need of an educated ministry, and who hold that
there can be no increase of learning or mental
culture except at the expense of piety. Those
who followed John HIunt to London with their
prayers were the first to acknowledge the benefit he derived from his residence there, and became zealous supporters of the institution, upon
which they looked at first with shyness and mistrust.
Hunt himself rejoiced at the prospect of going
to I-oxton; and spending the latter part of the
time in Lincolnshire with Mr. Grimes, of Waddington, had leisure to prepare himself more
fully for regular study.




STUDENT LIFE.                  43
CHAPTER YV
STUDE NT.LIFE.
Progress - Advice to a Class-leader- Plan of Daily Devotions -
Letter to Dr. Bunting - Second Session at Hoxton - Christian
Holiness- Spiritual Iistory - The Rev. John M'Lean's Visit
to Hoxton - Revival - Sanctification - Rapid Improvement -
The Preacher- The Man - Oxford - Third Session began.
IN  September, 1835, John Hunt entered  the
Theological Institution, which was then under the
government of that most reverend man, Joseph
Entwisle.  There were about twenty young men
in the institution, and among these the Lincolnshire man  soon  became a general favorite;
though his blunders in reading, his ungainly
carriage, and provincial brogue, sometimes provoked a smile.
It was a great change from farm work to student life, and at first the young countryman
found himself suffering from lieadache; but before long he was able to apply himself with all
his characteristic earnestness to his studies, and,
as might be expected, his progress was rapid and
sure.  Hle became warmly attached to Mfr. Entwisle and the tutors, and won the unceasing
esteem and love of his fellow-students.
As a preacher he was frequently employed,




44   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
and often with marked success. About two
months after his arrival in London he writes to
a friend:
" The Lord has made me a blessing since I
came to London.  O that I were more holy!
then I believe I should be more useful. I am
afraid some will be lost because I am not more
holy! But why should this be the case? My
God is willing to give me all the salvation
which Jesus died to purchase for me, and willing now.  Lord, I do receive more of thy salvation while I am  writing! I do receive by
faith an. increase of holiness.  Lord, help me to
believe, and all is mine!
Give, give all my soul requires,
All, all that is in thee.''      Let us not be satisfied with being ordinary
Christians.  Let us pray and believe, until praying and believing become habitual. I believe
it is possible to live in the Spirit to such a degree that it would be as natural to pray and believe as to breathe.'9
To the same friend, who had recently become
a class-leader, he wrote soime time afterward:
"I am very happy that I have now to think of
you and to pray for you in an oficial character.
I think this is one of the most important periods
of your life.  Although I have not sustained the
office myself, perhaps I may give a little instruce




PROGRESS.                45
tion on this subject.  I think, then, that every
class-leader should be a diligent student of personal experience.  You must in this respect be
always at home, reading your own heart, attending to all its workings, and making experiments.
You will find: is of great use. In connection
with reading yuur own heart, you must read and
study, as time will permit, Mr. Wesley's' Sermons and Notes on the New  Testament,9 in
which you will find religion taught in the same
way in which God teaches it to every child of
his, in his own experience, by his Holy Spirit.
These things, of course, must be subordinate to
the study of your Bible. And, with respect to
that blessed book, we must always be scholars:
I mean literally such. We must never give up
the practice of committing Scripture to memory.
We never speak to or for God better than when
we do it in his own wordcs.  Recommend this
plan to your charge, and follow it yourself.
"As soon as you can, it will be well to ask
them to pray in the class.  They will often get
more spiritual good in this way than in any
other. Try to make them active.  When you
can, take them with you to visit the sick; and
use every possible argument to cure their natnral shame of religion.
" But you know all these things; and I beg
your pardon for saying so much on the subject.




46   A MISSIONARY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
Since I last wrote, I have not been so well in
health as formerly; but I am  now getting better.  With respect to my experience, it has
varied very imuch-too much,'O how wavering is my mind 9! Sometimes I have been getting on well; at other times I have gone the
contrary way; so that I fear I am not much advanced.  Perhaps you think me rather backward in stating my Christian experience.  It is
not for want of Christian love to you, or of
Christian confidence in you. No, the one is pure
and fervent; the other firm  and unwavering.
But the reason (if I have one) is, that I am
ashamed of it: not ashamed of the religion I
have, but ashamed that I have so little.  I find
myself. reproved, however, for this, in your honest confession of fault and unfaitihfulness.  I
have much cause for such confessions.  I am  a
very ungrateful child, and sometimes suffer very
much on account of my unfaitlhfulness.  However, I have much cause of gratitude to my longsuffering God.  IHe is good! He is good! 0
that my heart were filled with love! 0  that
my lips could speak his praise!  I have found
the Lord good to me in my public engagements
lately.
Tis worth living for this, to administer bliss
And salvation in Jesus' name!'
"I enjoyed the missionary anniversaries very




PROGRESS.                47
much, and I trust was afresh baptized with the
missionary spirit.  We had very pleasing intelligence from  Africa, the place, I expect, of
my future labors. It is probable that I shall
have another year in the institution. I hope I
shall.  I am  just getting into my studies, and
another year would be of much more use than
this has been.  But I must submit to the will
of my heavenly Father and his Church."
Toward the close of this his first year at the
Theological Institution, Hunt had adopted the
following plan for his devotions at the beginning
and close of the day:
"1. Commence the day with praising God for
the mercies of the past night, and repeat the
Lord's Prayer. 2. As far as possible, lay out
the business of the day. 3. Bring every part of
this business before God in prayer, and ask his
help against the probable dangers of the day.
4. Read a portion of the New Testament on my
knees. 5. Read a portion of the Old Testament,
and pray for my friends, relatives, the Church,
and the world. Altogether this will occupy an
hour.
N" Night.-1. Commit to memory a passage of
Scripture.  2. Self-examination; confession 
thanksgiving; prayer."
With much anxiety, and far more satisfaction
to the judges than to himself, Hunt passed the




48   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
examination at the end of the year. He had
now learned enough to make him more hungry
than ever after knowledge, and was full of fear
lest he should be taken away from I-Ioxton before he had made further progress. In writing
to Dr. Bunting, the president of the institution,
he says:
" Such is the sense which I feel of my
privileges in the Wesleyan Theological Institution, that I regard my coming to it as the most
important event of my life, my conversion to
God excepted.
" Among the many privileges which I have
enjoyed in the institution, the fatherly and pastoral care of our honored governor, the Rev.
Joseph Entwisle, has not been the least important and useful.  From  him  I have received
much Christian counsel and advice. He has
endeavored to correct my errors. in reading,
writing, &c.j and has given me much instruction concerning Methodism  generally, and the
duty of a Methodist preacher in particular.
These instructions, together with his holy example, have been, and I am  sture will be, of
great service to me. He has always endeavored, and I trust not without success, to impress upon our minds the important truth, that
the great work of a Christian minister is to' save
himself and them that hear himn'




PROGnESS.                49
"The instructions which I have received in
Christian theology from our honored theological
tutor, the RLev. John Hannah, have been of the
most beneficial character."  After sketching
the theological course, he proceeds:   I have invariably retired from these lectures with a deep
sense of my own ignorance, and with new and
exalted views of the authority, excellence, and
truth of the Bible. And I trust that, in some
degree, my mind has been stored with its truths,
and my heart with its grace."
He then goes on to enumerate his other studies,
all of which had, of course, been purely elementary.  Hle had begun to enjoy researches
into History, Logic, Astronomy, Electricity, and
Chemistry, but was paying special attention to
English Grammar, Geography, and Arithmetic.
In concluding, he writes: "I have preached
eighty-eight times since I have been in the
institution, and I hope I have not labored in vain.
"Allow me, sir, in conclusion, to say, that
such is my view of the importance and responsibility of the Christian ministry, my own unfitness for the proper discharge of its various
duties, the good which I have already derived
from the institution, and the adaptation of everything connected with it to make me' a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed,' that I earnestly
request that I may stay another year."




50   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
The importance of Hunt's continuing a student at Hoxton was felt by others as well as
himself; and in August, 1836, he resumed his
work, after having visited his home, and preached about thirty times during the vacation.
This session was remnarkable in the course of
John Hunt's studies as the time when he began
to learn Latin and Greek.  But it is far worthier
of note in the religious history of the studentpreacher.  He returned to IHoxton dissatisfied
with his own degree of piety, and with a conviction of the need of holiness, which seems to
have oppressed rather than stimulated him. IHe
addressed himself diligently to the subject of
Christian holiness as a part of his theological
studies, and a solid foundation of well ascertained truth was the result.  Already his views
on this great matter were clear, well assorted,
and carefully guarded.  Some who have taught
a recklessly loose doctrine of perfection might
learn, with advantage to themselves and their
disciples, from the young student.' I am very much afraid," he says, writing to
a friend, " of people who have exalted views of
-sanctification lowering the standard of justification.  I think this is not a needless fear. I have
known some who have professed to enjoy entire
sanctification, who have asserted the impossibility
of forgiving our enemies, and of loving them




PROGRESS.                 51
that hate us, and of blessing them that curse us,
in a justified state. Now I am sure this is contrary to my experience, and I think to yours,
and I think to the word of God."
The more Hunt searched into the teachings
and promises of the Bible concerning holiness,
the more he reproached himself with living unblessed by the great good which he saw within
his reach.  A notable crisis in the young preacher's life was close at hand; and it is well that
of this very time we have a brief record, given
by himself.
"Nov. 4, 1836. I now, in the fear of God,
commence keeping a diary.  I think it will be
of use to me.  And as this is a very important
period of my life, I have no doubt that what I
may write will be useful to me in future (lays.
I am now in a poor state in my soul. I have
enjoyed muchl more religion than I enjoy at present.  I have been very unfaithful to my God;
and, although I constantly purpose to be more
devoted to him, I am as often unfaithful to my
purpose, or I fail in performing it for want of
more strength. I trust in Jesus for all that I need.
"6 SacttrclcGy 5. I bless God, I think I have
had a better day to-day.  I went this afternoon
into the town with tracts, and found many poor
creatures glad to receive them. Some of these
are wretched indeed.  I hope I feel for them;
Missionary among Cannibals.  4




52  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
but I do not feel half enough. To-night I went
to a prayer-meeting.  I professed to be in
earnest for full salvation. 0 that my future life
may give evidence that this profession was a
true one!  I need, I very much need, this
blessing. I know it is the will of God that I
should haveit. Owhyhave I not? Lord, save
me, I beseech thee, for Christ's sake!
"Sunday, 6. I had not so much comfort
in preaching as I generally have. I think, however, that I am  making some progress in religion.'MXonday, 7. I think, on the whole, I have
made some improvement in my spiritual concerns this day. But I want to be. more holy.
I am full of sin and am not fit either for God's
service here or for his heaven if he were to
call me. Jesus, let me know  my interest in
thee for full salvation.  Nothing but this can
fully fit me for the important work of preaching the Gospel. 0 what are all other qualifications? Lord, save me 
"Tuesdcay, 8.  I think I am  making some
improvement in the things of God. I have
heard Brother I{. to-night, and I think I shall
be more earnest than I have been to save sinners.'"Wednesday, 9. I have had a comfortable
day to-day. I believe the Lord is leading me




PROGcESS.               53
on in the paths of righteousness for his Name's
sake. I want to be more, much more devoted
to God. I expect I shall have to go to Africa,
and I am sure I am not at all fit for such an
undertaking in my present state. I want more
of everything, but especially religion.  Lord,
save me, for Christ's sake!
" Thtrsday, 10.  I have had a tolerably
good day. I have to study very hard, perhaps
harder than I ought; but I have much, very
much, to learn; and there are many things
which I must learn here, or I will never learn
them at all.  But what use will it all be if I
have not a proportionate degree of religion?
Thank God, I may have this! I may have as
much of the best of all gifts as I am willing
to receive.  God has placed the whole of the
Gospel blessings within my reach. I know I
have only to'ask and have whate'er I want.'
"F.riday, 11. I have had a good day.  I
think I make some improvement; but I am not
cleansed from all sin. I feel that a want of full
salvation is a real hinderance to me.
" Tuesday, 15.  My silence so long speaks
against me and this is only one witness. Conscience also speaks, and I find I am not getting
on so well as I have been. I was at Gravesend on Sunday, and preached three times, from
Matt. xxii, 37; Mal. iii, 16; Acts xiii, 38, 39.




54  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
I had a good day, and I was made a blessing
in some degree. I want more of God. Last
night I heard Mr. Dawson.  A blessed man
he is.
Wednesdcay  23.  On Sunday I was at
Norwood. I preached twice and held a lovefeast. I had a good day, and heard what I had
never heard in my life. A gentleman told me
that he attended a lovefeast at Brixton the Sunday before, and out of twelve that spoke, eleven
enjoyed entire sanctification.  What a blessing!
Glory be to God! But I don't enjoy it.  I find
it is enjoyed by some in the institution: -
professed it to-night in the class-meeting, and I
believe        is near to the kingdom  of God.
Lord, help me! I am far from it yet.
"r Thurscday, 24. I have had a better day, I
think, although I am far from being happy. But
I do not expect.to be very happy until I get
fully sanctified. I seem to be a long way from
the kingdom of God. I know it is my privilege.
Lord, quicken me, for thy name's sake! Amen.
l XMonday, 28.  I bless my God for his
goodness to me. If I have not very much deceived myself, I have had a good day to-day. I
was at Waltham Abbey yesterday and at Copthall. I preached in the morning from,'We
love him, because he first loved us.' In the
afternoon from,'Be careful for nothing,' etc.




PROGRESS                55
In the evening, Acts xiii, 38, 39. I had a good
day, and hope I was made a blessing to the
people. More of the young men are getting
full salvation. Glory be to God! I hope I
shall soon be one of them. Lord, help me!
"' T7esday, 29. Thank God, I have had a
good day to-day!  I am  getting nearer the
kingdom of God, and I hope soon to enter in.
I feel the Lord is ready to save me. There is
a most blessed feeling among us in the institution at this time. I hope the Lord will arise,
and maintain his own work among us, and
sanctify us all."
The time now referred to was indeed memorable at Hoxton. Not long before, the Rev. John
M'Lean had visited the institution, and addressed the students in his own warm, earnest way.
His appeal went on sounding in the hearts of
his hearers after he had gone, and day by day
they were roused more fully.  It was evident
that a fresh power was at work, quietly but
certainly, among the men.  When they met
they wore a more serious look; and, passing
by the study doors, one might have heard from
some of the rooms the suppressed pleadings of
a man in an agony of prayer. At the household worship, morning and evening, the same
power showed itself in the intense feeling with
which the hymn was sung, and which caused




56  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
many a response to the petitions of the student
whose turn it was to conduct the service. Then
at the class-meeting, one day, a brother praised
the Lord, and told how he felt that " the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleansed from  all sin."
That thanksgiving cheered on several who had
been secretly weeping before God and longing
to be made holy. Then they were drawn together by the common desire, and from one
study and another there was heard the voice of
those who cried after deliverance, and the exulting praise of those who felt that now sin had
no more bonds for them. Those were glorious
days in the old institution house.  Men got
blessed there who have carried blessing to many
since. Hearts were hallowed there which have
brought the same power of purifying into many
a Church and many a home since. Arms got
strengthened there for the work and the fight,
in which they have wrought and battled as conquerors since. And some, in whose breasts the
glory of the Most High then shone, wear that
glory on their brows in paradise now.
When the rich baptism  came from heaven
upon that band of students, John Hunt's heart
opened to receive it. Of late he had been again
and again troubled by finding that he had not
lost all tendency toward former evil. Sometimes such discoveries made him fear lest, after




PROGRESS.               57
all, he should become a castaway. He knew
that the same grace which, through faith in Jesus, had already changed his heart, while it
brought remission of past sin, could also end the
perpetual conflict by which only he had since
kept his ground. He had known this long; and
now the time came when he wholly yielded himself to the working of that grace. Let him tell
the history of it himself:
"I was praying in my closet, and saw very
clearly that God's plan of saving was through
faith in Jesus. I therefore came to the atonement just as I was, polluted indeed, but not so
much so that the blood of Christ could not
cleanse me. As soon as I ventured I found the
Lord faithful to his promise, and the blood of
Christ at that moment cleansed me from all sin.
Since then (about three weeks before) I have
had constant peace and sometimes ecstatic joy.
I have felt no sin, and consequently have been
preserved from those troubles which inbred corruption used to cause. I now find daily what
for years I have thought to be impossible, to live
without condemnation. Thank God, all is peace,
and calmness, and love! I begin in the morning to praise him the moment I rise, and thus
endeavor to begin, continue, and end the day
with God.
"I think it is possible to receive fresh bless



58  A MISSIONARY  IAMONG CANNIBALS.
ings every moment, and to honor God every moment. Why not? Glory to God! it must be
his will; and if it be my desire and I have
faith, I see nothing to withstand it."
This great religious quickening at the institution was no passing excitement, and its effect
was far more than the introduction of an enthusiastic mysticism among the students.  The congregations before which they had to minister
felt that a new power was upon the young men
at Hoxton; and much Church indifference was
disturbed, and many sinners awakened by tbeir
preaching.  Instead of yielding to the thought
that they must wait until their full ministerial
employment for opportunities of general usefulness, the brightened light within them  showed.
them  the evil and wretchedness which were in
their own neighborhood. So they took the poorer districts as the scene of work, and using the
offer of a tract as an introduction, went fiom
house to house trying to do good, and not without marked success.
As the session wore on, John Hunt, with his
heart overflowing with holy joy, grew rapidly in
all knowledge. Already there was a great outward change in him. Much of his roughness
had gone; but all the sterling worth of the man
remained uninjured.  His appearance, manner,
and dress were in keeping with his character.




PROGIRESS                  59
As he stood up to preach, everything about him
struck the observers with the idea of power.
His tall and well-proportioned framie-lmassive,
but not stout, broad of chest and large of limbwas the true type of the soul within.  When he
spoke, good and solid thoughts came forth, with
natural utterance, in plain, manly speech, sinewy
and strong; no affectation, no tinsel, nothing
weak, nothing small.  Yet, with all this power,
there was nothing unwieldy or vulgar. True, it
wanted no keen critic to discover whence he
came; for his words had a northern sound about
them, and the preacher had something of the
farmer-look still; but his frank, expressive face
had become pale with thought and hard study,
and there was a masterly light in his clear,
steady eye that commanded respect.  And as
he went on, warming as he preached, how that
eye would flame sometimes! and what a token
of might was the stretching forth of that long
arm! and in every sentence or action there was
a manly grace, as far from all coarseness as from
a finicking dandyisnm
By his friends he was greatly loved.  And
no wonder.  He was a man; a man among the
crowds of the human race who call them-selves
men, and are not.  For verily there are those
who have naught of great manhood but the
form; and sone have been thrust high up, and




60   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
crowned with bay, or laurel, or gold, or other
glitter, who would have to go back to childhood
again to get a chance of becoming MEN. In virtue, then, of his simple manliness of character,
John Hunt was greatly beloved. A  cheery
brightness made his face shine, and his whole
manner was free and happy among friends;
though when, as sometimes it happened, he fell
among grand people, he was manifestly ill at
ease in the unaccustomed restraints of 6 company."  But when cbt ome, he was a companion
and a friend to rejoice in. He looked at a subject in a clear, common-sense fashion, and talked
accordingly. No tinsel, frippery, or sham had
any charms for him.  He sought after the.
thoroughly good and real; and gathered a great
store of such sterling wealth more quickly than
most men. Yet he was by no means of that
hard, cast-iron temperament which affects to despise the tender and beautiful. His heart readily
softened into pity, and was made glad by beauty
everywhere. Then, too, he spoke out with such
an unmistakable clearness, and all the while
looked at you with such a bright honesty, that
you felt he could never deceive any one. Yet
he was not one of those rude troublers of all
peace who rejoice in wounding and disturbing
by what they call their plainness, a decent name
which they give to the barking of their currish




PROGRESs.                 61
vulgarity. John IBunt had in him the essential
principle of all true politeness, (a sensitive regard
for the feelings of others,) in the. absence of
which, the elegances taught by professors and
governesses are but a sorry makeshift. The pursuit of a great object, and constant intercourse
with the loftiest truths, raised the man, while the
power of a deep and fervent piety made him
fruitful in every good word and work.
At the close of this second year's study Hunt
passed his examinations with great credit, and
was engaged during the vacation to work in the
Oxford circuit for some weeks.  Before leaving
-Ioxton he was glad to learn that he would
probably return there, and continue his studies
until the time came for him  to go abroad.
Toward that time he looked  with  longing.
Nothing bent his first missionary purpose, and
daily he prayed for fitness to preach the Gospel
in Africa.
"I am now," he writes to a friend, "as you
see, at the grand city of Oxford. It is a most
beautiful place, to be sure. I think God is
making me a blessing to the people here. The
congregations in Oxford, and in the country
places too, have increased much, and there is
certainly a deeper interest felt in religious things.
I have all the respect that I can possibly desire;
but I want to see a more signal work of God.




6 A MISSIONARY AMONGG CANNIBALSo
I thank my God, for myself, I continue to give
myself to him, and he gives his blessing to me.
Last night we had a missionary tea-meeting, and
I got almost to the top of my missionary feeling.
We had a very affecting time indeed, and I
trust the fruits of it will be seen another day.
I think I can say my heart is more than ever in
the missionary work.  I have been rather pained
of late to find people so anxious to keep me at
home.  I give them  credit for their affection
and motives, but not for the simplicity of their
religion. I think true religion is truly missionary, and am  glad for the heathen to have the
Gospel at any price."
Elsewhere he says:  I think I have not made
holiness so prominent as I should have done. I
intend to preach on the subject to-morrow if all
be well. I suppose some here are opposed to
the doctrine or to the manner of stating it. I
am  only anxious to be faithful and useful. I
think the greater part of the people here are
right-hearted. I trust we shall have a blessed
work of God. I do not think it will be so unless they have an increase of holiness. Lord,
help me! I pray for an increase myself; this
is the first step to a revival of God's work."
In August Mr. Hunt returned to Hoxton, full
of affectionate regard for 6" the dear people at
Oxford,' of whose kindness he spoke in the




PROGRESS.                63
strongest terms. The remaining months of the
year were spent in hard study and frequent
preaching.  In all his laborious preparation,
Africa was uppermost in his thoughts, and he
worked on to get his mind more fully furnished
and equipped, while he liked to think that his
agricultural knowledge would help him to raise
the condition of the Kaffirs.
At this period his public advocacy of Christian missions is worthy of note. His speeches
on this great subject were very telling, and left
a deep impression on his hearers; the effect of
which was seen in much of that intense interest
which was universally felt in the mission of
which Mr. Hunt afterward became such a distinguished member.




64   A MISSIONARY AMONG-  CANNIBALS.
CHAPTER VI
-MISSION APPOINTIMENT.
" Pity poor Fiji " - Test -- Triumph - Leaving Hoxton -- Visit to
Lincolnshire - Marriage - Colleagues - Ordination -Letter to
Dr. H-annah.
WHILE Hunt's heart and mind were fixed on
Africa, as the place of his future service, a great
cry reached England from the far Pacific.  In
Tonga and the Friendly Islands the Wesleyan
missionaries had been at work for some time,
and with great success.  Within two hundred
and fifty miles of these islands lay the larger and
more important group of Fiji, which was frequently visited, in the way of trade, by the Tongans, who brought back horrible tales of what
they saw and heard. After a time two missionaries were sent from the Friendly Islands, to try
to open a mission in Fiji. They soon found that
but a little had been told of the dreadful condition of this group, where the most revolting
cruelties and systematic cannibalism were all
but universal.  Then was sent to England that
appeal, "' Pity poor F-iji," which was issued from
the Wesleyan mission house, and stirred the
Methodist societies throughout the kingdom. It
awoke the strongest feeling among the young




MISSION APPOINTMENT.           65
men at Hoxton, and Hunt felt as much as any;
but still he regarded it as a settled thing that he
was to go to Africa. In the beginning of February, 1838, he received a summons to the mission house, where he was asked whether he
would go to Fiji. Startled at such an unexpected request, he returned to Hoxton much troubled,
and, making his way to the room of a fellowstudent, said, with quick, excited tones:
"They have proposed that I go ts Fiji."
His friend felt almost shocked at this sudden
announcement, and deeply sympathized with
Hunt, whose whole frame seemed writhing with
an emotion he had never shown before. He expressed this sympathy, and spoke of the perils
and hardships of a mission to those cannibals.
" O that's not it!" exclaimed the other, almost
passionately.
"What is it, then " Hunt's strong form was
almost convulsed by some intense feeling. At
last he said:
"I'll tell you what it is. That poor girl in
Lincolnshire will never go with me to Fiji; her
mother will never consent 1"
It was with no craven fear that the young
man trembled, but with the yearning of his
great heart toward her he had faithfully loved
for the last six years, and who had nobly consented to share the missionary's life anywhere.




A6   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
But the dreadful things just heard about Fiji
made him fear on account of that gentler one
who so long had leaned on Ilis strong love. His
friend advised him  to write at once to Mliss
Summers, who was then at Leeds on a visit, and
to all who were concerned; and trust in that
God who, if he gave the call, would also make
the way plain.  And, feeling the matter to be
too great to admit of anything but simple plainness, he sat down and wrote to 6 that poor girl
in Lincolnshire" as follows:
" MY DEAR HANNAH,
"6 I have some strange news to tell you, and I
am  not able to use many words in making it
known; you must therefore excuse my abrupt-ness. I have been fixed upon by the missionary
committee to go to the South Seas.  You must
therefore immediately return home, and make
preparations for becoming a missionary's wife to
a most remote station for twenty years.  No
one knows my feelings, dear, for our dear firiends.
I hope the Lord, who has led us hitherto, will
still guide and help us. I never had such difficulty in seeing my way. I believe it is of God;
it is entirely unsought for by me. I need say
no. more. May our God help us and bless us in
this most important and distressing affair!  I
shall be at Newton, if possible, on Thursday. I




MISSION APPOINTMENT.           67
hope to see my dear-my more than ever dearHannah at the same time. We have only a
month or five weeks for everything.  God bless
my dear!  J. HUNT."
Whatever doubts the writer of this letter had,
it is clear that he had none concerning her to
whom he wrote. Their mutual love had been
consecrated, as their earliest offering, to God,
without any conditions, and both hearts were too
true to draw  back.  Thus, when Mr. Hunt
wrote, it never entered his mind to ask any
opinion; but he simply stated the decision of
those whom  he felt bound to obey, confident
that she who had promised to become the missionary's wife would not fail him now. Yet
others might seek to put difficulties in the way;
and, until the answer came, Hunt went about
among the students wearing an appearance of
dejection, at which they wondered.  After a
little while he hastened to the friend to whom
he had confided his fears, and, with a bright
face and cheery voice, cried out,
It's all right!  She'll go with me anywhere!"
There are some, yes, many,' who profess
and call themselves Christians,"' who would not
have hesitated to tell Miss Summers that she
would be justified in refusing to go. She had
Missionary among Cannibals.  5




68  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
been brought up in comfort; she was not of robust health; and the privations and dangers of
such a mission as that to Fiji were very great;
and there are many Christian parents who
would have refused a daughter for such a work.
Their children, genteelly religious, may take a
Sunday-school class, or a tract district; but what
is to become of their expensive education,.and
their elegant accomplishments, if they go to
some foreign mission station?  So they must
stay at home, and practice Christianity made
easy. Verily, they have their reward. Poor
things! it might have been greater if they had
been less respectable.
Within a few days Mr. Iunt's appointment to
Fiji was settled; and before the meeting of the
committee where the formal decision was given,
he had so fully made up his mind that he was to
go, that he packed up his books and clothes
ready to start at once for Lincolnshire. The
parting with his fellow-students was hard work.
"They seemed," he says, " as if they could not
let me go, such was their affection. They made
me a present of Bloomfield's Testament and
Robinson's Lexicon, and left a deep impression
on my mind of their sincere love to me. This
was all pleasing to me, and will serve, in my
future life, to unite me to the institution in
affection and in prayer. We had a prayer-meet



MISSION APPOINTMENT.           69
ing before we parted; and a melting time it
was to us all, and to me in particular."
About one o'clock on the 14th of February
the formal decision of the committee was given;
and by half-past two Hunt was on the coach
starting for home. Before five o'clock the next
morning he alighted at the toll-gate near Balberton. He knew the man at the gate as a fellowChristian, and had written, intrusting to him the
task of telling the news about his appointment
to the folks at honme   This duty had been
judiciously performed; and after making some
inquiries, and resting a while, the traveler hastened to visit his parents, whom he found calmer
than he expected.
The next fortnight was spent among his old
friends in Lincolnshire. He preached nearly
every night, and sometimes in the morning as
well; but wherever it was, and at whatever
time, the people crowded to hear him.  He
writes: " My message was received with gladness, and much good was done. Blessed be
God!"
Neither were more substantial marks of esteem
wanting; for contributions to the missionary's
outfit came in on all hands, so that he describes
himself as 6 laden with gifts."
On March 6 Mr. Hunt married Miss Summers, of Newton-on-Trent; and in a few days




70   A MISSIONARY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
after brought her to London, to make final arrangements for their departure.
The stirring appeal, " Pity poor Fiji," had
wrought more than excitement among those
who heard.  New  and enlarged contributions
were frequent; and a good lady in Lincolnshire,
Mrs. Brackenbury, of Raithby Hall, guaranteed
the expenses of Mr. Hunt's outfit and passage.
The same lady nobly promised to pay ~50 annually, for three years, toward his support, if
the committee would send out two missionaries
with him, instead of one, as they had resolved.
Another was forthwith selected; and  James
Calvert, who had been, for a short time, at Ioxton, was appointed to accompany AMessrs. Hunt
and Jaggar to Fiji.
On the 27th of March the young missionaries
were solemnly ordained in the Wesleyan chapel
at Hackney, and many an overflowing heart
wished them  Godspeed.  About three weeks
after the whole party left for Gravesend, accompanied by the four general secretaries. Two
days before embarking, Mr. LHunt, writing to
his beloved tutor, Dr. Hannah, on several subjects, ended his letter in this characteristic way:
"Accept of filial love to yourself and Mrs.
Hannah. Love also to your dear family. I
claim you as my father; and I humbly demand




MISSION APPOINTMENT.               I
that, when you bless your numerous children,
some natural, others spiritual, and others ministerial, whom you nourish and feed, you will'bless
me, even me also, 0 my father!' Let me have
your blessing, your paternal blessing. At your
family altar, where your heart beats highest with
fervent affection, there remember me and mine.'  aI am and ever shall be, your affectionate
sons                             C',  J HUNT,9




72  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS,
CHAPTER VII.
DEPARTURE AND APRIVAL.
Voyage out - Sydney- United Farewell Service -  Letitia --
Tonga —Arrival in Fiji-First District Meeting —Appointment to Rewa.
ON the 29th of April, 1838, the mission party
sailed for Sydney, followed by many an earnest
prayer for their safety and happiness. Nothing
worthy of note occurred during the voyage. Mr.
HIunt spent the time on board in diligent study;
a thing which many have resolved to do in like
circumstances, but few accomplish it. Family
prayer was held in the cabin morning and
evening, and preaching twice on the Sunday.
Among the mission party, class-meetings were
regularly held, much to their enjoyment and
profit. In all these services Mr. Hunt took a
prominent part. Every one on board respected
and loved him, and he tried to do all the good
he was able among the sailors as well as the
passengers.
On August 24 the vessel anchored at Sydney, and the mission party received a hearty
welcome from their brethren M/Kenny anid Watkin. Mr. Hunt and his companions remained in
the colony about two months, during which time




DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL.              3
they visited the principal towns, and attended
missionary meetings, and preached in the different chapels. Here they were afresh strengthened for their work, and cheered by the evident
success of their efforts. The good people in
Australia were delighted with their visitors, and
Mr. Hunt soon became as great a favorite there
as he had been in England. In the colony, too,
were some who, like those at home, would
fain have held back the missionary from  his
special work. The inducements offered to Mr.
Hunt to remain in Australia were made as
tempting as they could be. Why should he go
any further? Hiere was abundant opportunity
for useful work. He had already had a long
voyage, quite long enough to constitute him a
missionary. If he would stay in the colony he
should have every comfort secured to him; but
at Fiji, among those disgusting savages, he would
have to lead a miserably uncomfortable life; his
dear young wife there, not very strong, would
be exposed to suffering and insult, and the people yonder were by no means particular as to
whom they clubbed and cooked. But all this
cost had long since been reckoned; and they
little knew the man they dealt with who thought
to keep John Hunt back from his duty by any
forebodings of difficulty, or allurements of personal comfort. The motives which directed his




T4  A MISSIONARY AMO-NG  CANNIBALS.
conduct were far beyond the reach of caprice;
and he could not regard his commission to
preach to the cannibals the unsearchable riches
of Christ, as a matter foo him to play with just
as people chose. He valued the affection of
those who would have seduced him from his
right path; but he thought no more of their
religious principle than he would of that of a
missionary who would have forsaken the island
work, while comforting his conscience with some
such cordial as "a wider field of usefulness in
the colony."
On October 25, 1838, the missionaries left
Sydney.  The Rev. John Williams, of the London Missionary Society, who soon afterward
lost his life among the cannibals of Erromanga,
sailed with a party of fellow-laborers on the
same day.  On the previous evening a united
farewell service, at which all the missionaries
with their respective friends were present, was
held in the Baptist chapel. The two vessels lay
several miles off, near the Sydney Heads, and
the two missionary companies went in the same
steamer to join them. lMany loving friends accompanied them thus far, and many more parted with them on the shore, with tears and the
breathing of earnest blessing.  The time on
board the steamer was spent in singing and
prayer, and with such  fitting  dismissal the




DEPARTUlE AND ARRIVAL.            75
missionary bands set out on their great enterprise.
The party bound for Fiji embarked on board
the "Letitia," a small and shaky schooner of
seventy-three tons' burden.  The accommodation was of a very miserable kind, and the passengers had hard times of privation and inconvenience for twenty-six days, after which they
reached Tonga.  During a stay of about ten
days in the Friendly Islands they supplied the
mission there with fresh stores, and visited the
principal stations; and being made glad by the
greeting of the brethren at work in the Islands,
and by witnessing the renewed wonders of the
Gospel among the people, they left for Fiji on
the 19th of December, and anchored off Lakemba
on Saturday, December 22. The next morning
the whole party came ashore, and spent thankfully their first Sunday in Fiji.
Within the next few days the missionaries
held the first Fiji district meeting, under the
direction of the Rev. David Cargill, M.A., who
had been on the station for about three years.
The important question of the most efficient disposal of the reinforcement was well considered;
and taking into account the inexperience of the
new corners, it was resolved that no fresh station
should be tried for the present. Mr. Cross, the
companion of Mr. Cargill in the opening of the




76  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
mission, was now ill at Rewa, and had received
permission to remove to Australia.  Ilis place
had to be supplied.  Rewa was a long way off,
on Viti Levu, at the other side of the group.
It was no light matter for a young man to go
therewith his young wife, to live alone among
a savage people, of whose manners and language
they were altogether ignorant.  Mr. Hunt was
requested to undertake this service, and forthwith gave his consent,




MISSION  WORK —BEWA. 
CHAPTER YTIIL
MISSION  W ORlK — REWAo
Entrance on actual Work - First Attempt at Preaching in Fijian -
Flood - Progress in the Language - Namosimalua - A Priest's
Dreaml- Return of the King - Tokens of Success - Intimacy
with the Natives - Appointment to Somosomo - Visit to Viwa
- First Attempt at Translating - Reacing - Persecution -
Sympathy.
ON January 3, 1839, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt sailed from Lakemba in the " Letitia," which steered for Moala, an island about half-way to Rewa,
at which the captain wished to trade.  The natives, however, refused to have any intercourse
with their visitors, so that, after standing off and
on for some time, the vessel sailed for Rewa.
The cause of the captain's disappointment proved a great advantage to his passengers; for on
reaching the Rewa roads, on the 7th, they found
that, had they been a day later, they could not
have landed their goods for some time, as the
king  was about starting, with all his canoes,
to attend a feast at the island of Kandavu.
On this memorable day, the date of Mr.
Hunt's entering on his actual work, he thus
writes in his Journal:' Jan. T, 1838.  This
morning we came in sight of Rewa, and in the
afternoon anchored safely in our I desired haven.'




'18   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
We have long and anxiously looked for it; and
for apparent wretchedness, it comes up to all
our preconceived notions.* Our anchorage was
about five or six miles from the mission station,
our way to which was up a most beautiful river,
said to be more than one hundred miles long.
The island looked exceedingly lovely as we sailed along the winding stream. Nature all appeared charming till we saw the masterpiece,
man; and a sight-and especially the first sightof a Fijian is very appalling.  The people were
much surprised to see us come; and stood nearly naked, staring and shouting with astonishment, as we passed. Mrs. I-unt, especially, was
an object of wonder, as many of the natives had
only seen one white woman before." On reaching the station Mr. Hunt found that Mr. Cross's
health was so far improved that he had resolved
not to leave, but to stay as long as possible to
help the younger missionary, whose heart was
much lightened by this decision.
The same evening they called on the king of
Rewa, who kindly undertook to land their goods
on the following day; and though the distance
was so great, and there were seven or eight canoe-loads, yet all came safely ashore before the
* Rewa, at this time, presented a very cheerless appearance, as
a great part of the town had been destroyed by fire, and was not
then properly rebuilt.




MISSION WORK  -EWA.              79
next night.  Mr. Hunt says: " I never saw such
dispatch at any of the other islands.  We
brought a Fijian with us from Tonga who had
embraced Christianity, and his applicationl to
his book was most gratifying. He might have
been making some Newtonian discovery, he was
so intent on learning to read. He was making
a discovery of greater importance-' that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' 0
that every Fijian knew this glorious truth!"
Mir. Hunt began his missionary work with all
the earnestness of his character controlled and
directed by the strongest religious devotion.
Writing at this period of his history, he speaks
of himself as 6 determined by God's grace to
live entirely to his glory, and the advancement
of his blessed cause."  How unwaveringly he
kept to that determination the following pages
will tell.
While establishing his home among the people of Rewa, the new' missionary set himself
diligently to learn their language.  Day by day
he received fresh and terrible proofs of the degradation and cruelty of those among whom lie
had come to dwell; and every discovery of this
kind made his longing more intense to be able
to communicate the treasures of purity and love
of which his own heart was so full. His first
attempt to address the people in their own lan



80  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
guage was made.in about a month after his arrival, and the event is thus recorded in his
journal:'" Feb. 18. Last Wednesday, Mr. Cross having
gone to Mbau, I had to take the service in the
afternoon. I had composed a sermon, intending
to preach a week before; but the rain prevented. Of course I had to read nearly the whole
of my sermon; but the people were, in general,
very attentive, and I had for the first, a comfortable time."
Frightful accounts of cruelty, butchery, and
cannibalism  frequently reached the station, or
came under the actual observation of the missionaries, soon proving that, much as they had
heard, the half of Fiji's horrors had not been
told. Amid it all, Mr. Hunt writes:
"I feel myself saved from  almost all fear,
though surrounded with men who have scarcely
any regard for human life.  We are in the hands
of a God whom  even the heathen fear when.they hear of him. The people at LakeInba say
that their god has actually left the island, because our God has beaten him till his bones are
sore! The people are really afraid for the safety
of their gods, and some of them have an idea
that Christianity will prevail. The king says
it must be so;' for who can stop it? It will be
the religion of all."'




MISSION WORK-R EWA.            81
A  week after his first attempt Mr. Hunt
preached again' with some comfort," and found
himself able to say a little without notes, " but,"
he simply remarks, " perhaps not very correctly."
It was an advantage that, while he was thus
stumbling through his first efforts in speaking
the native tongue, the king and chiefs continued
at the feast at Kandavu; so that the congregations before whom he practiced was scanty; and
composed of the commoner sort of people.
In the early part of March a heavy rain fell,
and the river became so swollen as to overspread
the country for a considerable distance.  The
mission-house, which was built on a raised terrace, was surrounded with water, and the servants were able to swim in the garden.
Under the date of March 18 Mr. Hunt says:
I am able now to take two or three services in
a week. I have to use rather copious notes;
but intend to do this for some time to come, as
they will do for the people to read after they
have heard them until they can have something
better.
" I want much more religion. There is need,
in preaching, of the power which is necessary
to make it the sword of the Spirit, and'the
power of God unto salvation.' I believe that
this increase of power will be given when I
have more of the Spirit myself. I desire and




82   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS,
determine to make known nothing among the
poor Fijians but'Christ and him crucified.' 0
that my speech and my preaching may be
with the demonstration of the Spirit and with
power!"
Just before Mr. Hunt's arrival in Fiji a profession of Christianity had been made by Namosimalua, chief of Viwa, a small but important island off the coast of great Fiji, on which
Rewa is situated. Namosimalua had been one
of the greatest monsters of crime that ever Fiji
produced, and hundreds of men and women
had fallen beneath his club. There was never
any ground for hope that this man had become
converted; yet his profession of religion was
certainly attended by the giving up of many of
his evil practices, while he at times warmly espoused the cause of Christianity.  What his
actual state of heart was may be judged from
the following fact. Ile ordered a chapel to be
built on his island, the site chosen for which
was a plot sacred to the old religion, and sacred
trees, growing there, were cut down to make
posts for the new building. At first he determined that none but the Iotu people, or Christians, should help in the work; but afterward
the assistance of the people generally was solicited, with an intimation that if they refused
they should be trampled to death! When the




MISSION WORKP —EWA.              83
chapel was finished, the chief thought it important that a large flag should be attached to
a neighboring tree, with something painted on
it vaka Papalangi, in English style.
Whatever was the personal state of Namosimalua, his countenance and help were of great
use to the mission, and there were already forty
persons in Viwa who professed to be Christian,
In Rewa, also, the power of the Gospel was
beginning to be felt.  Several poor creatures
were saved from  being buried alive, and the
missionaries were encouraged by seeing the indirect influence of the truth.
A priest had a dream, which he published, to
the following effect. His god came to him and
told him that he was going to leave the land.
Hie was not afraid, he said, when Mr. Cross was
alone, for he thought it possible for them all to
live together; but now Mr. Hunt had come he
was very much afraid, for Mr. IHunt was so
very tall. lIe feared that he should be killed
if he remained at Rewa, so he was preparing to
leave at once.
On the 2d of April the king and his retinue
returned from  Kandavu.  The occasion was
celebrated with all Fijian pomp. About twenty
gayly decked canoes-some of them very large
— passed up the river with the king, who was
accompanied by nearly a thousand men, whose
Miisionary among Caunibal.  6




84   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
immense white turbans, and fantastic folds of
painted  cloth, helped to make the spectacle
more striking to the strangers, who had seen
nothing like it before.  In the afternoon the
missionaries visited the king, and were well received.  Taking the position he assigned them
near himself, they witnessed the ceremony of
presenting food to the king and his party. Provisions in vast quantity and great variety were
brought, with most scrupulous attention to prescribed form.  Every attitude was in perfect
order; and, as many scores of bearers advanced
and retired in long procession, every hand and
foot was moved in strict conformity to the same
rule.  A dance then took place, performed by
the ladies, surrounded by the admiring eyes of
many hundreds of the people. But, according
to Mr. Hunt's account, it must have been. anything but an exciting affair.
"The whole ceremony," he says, " consisted
in taking a particular step very deliberately and
uniformly, and in putting their hands into particular postures.  A  company of well trained
infantry could not be more exact in every movement either of the hand or foot."  This lively
exhibition lasted an hour, and finished the ceremonies of the day.
In this great festival the missionaries received every mark of respect from the king and his




MISSION  VWOK(-REWA.             85
chiefs, and diligently used the advantage, then
and afterward, to urge these men of influence
to forsake their false and cruel religion and accept the blessings of the Gospel.  On the 15th
of April Mr. Hunt writes:
" I have preached at Singatoka this evening
to a large congregation of natives, some of
whom were very attentive, and most of them
remained until the service was concluded. I
endeavored to explain to them the nature of
repentance and faith, and some of them seemed
to understand what was said.
"I am now in much favor with some of the
chiefs.  How long it will continue I know not.
I place no dependence on the friendship of heathens. Two of them, Thokonauto and Vativuaka, call me their friend, and seem really to have
a strong regard for me. I instruct them as much
as I can in the religion of Christ, and they seem
pleased with all they hear from me. Vativuaka
went to the king the other day to ask whether
it would not be better for them  all to embrace
Christianity. The king said Vativuaka might
if he pleased; but he-the king-must wait and
look after the land. It appears that the greatest
chiefs have not courage to embrace religion before the king, and of course all the people are
of the same mind. Some of the chiefs assembled
in the king's house the other day to consult




86  A MISSIONARY A3MOING CANNIBALS.
about a feast, and one said they had better begin
by talking about Christianity. 6 Are we to embrace it?  he asked, 0or are we to take all the
people away 2' The king said,' Why talk about
the Lotu?   Do you wish to Lot P' Another
chief said,'You may all Loft;u  I alone will remain.' This man and another have universally
a bad reputation, and I am afraid will be very
troublesome. The Lord has their hearts in his
hand.  It is rather remarkable that two of the
worst men in Rewa have embraced Christianity:
one, a most notorious man, some time since;
and very lately another, who, though a Tongan,
is said to have eaten more men than any one in
Fiji."
The changed lives of such men as these could
not but awaken interest and inquiry; but the
people were afraid to hear the missionaries, lest
by listening they should seem to have gone over
to the new religion, a step which few dared to
take until their rulers set the example.
M[r. Hunt worked on with unfailing diligence,
striving, by hard study at home, and by frequent conversations with the people, to get a
thorough knowledge of the language.  Sometimes the fiiendliness of the natives became a
sore trouble.  They are wondrously quick in
* Lotu is the native word for " religion," but is now the name
universally given to Christianity,




MISSION WORK-REWA.             87
reading character, and soon found out the _frank
kindness and warm  generosity of the missionary's heart. There never was amore thoroughly unselfish man than John Hunt, or one who
found it harder to say 6 no 9 to a plea for help.
The natives knew it, and worked their knowledge as much to their own profit as his personal
loss and the sacrifice of comfort at the missionhouse. " We are much teased," he says, "with
the visits of the people. They seem to think we
have nothing to do but to talk to them."
Such constant and familiar intercourse, however, served to make Mr. Hunt better acquainted with the true state of the people. And the
more he knew, the more their burden of evil
seemed to weigh down his own heart, and he
toiled and prayed the harder, that he might gain
power to spread in Fiji the Gospel of Christ.
He thus meditates on the results of his inquiry:
"Some have said that the Fijians are comparatively a virtuous people. Those only have
formed his opinion of them who have had only
to buy their women and their turtle-shell for
muskets and powder. We who have to convert
them to Christianity find it very different. All
the virtue they possess is a willingness to gratify
the lusts of others when, in doing it, they can
gratify their own. It is remarkable that those
who talk the most about their virtue are the




88   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
most afraid of thenm; so that they dare not walk
about among them unless well armed with pistols, cutlasses, etc."
In the following month Messrs. Cargill and
Calvert visited iewa, to join the missionaries
there in discussing some important affairs connected with the mission. The visit is thus recorded by MIr. Hunt:
" fay 10. To-day we have the pleasure of
seeing our brethren Cargill and Calvert from
Lakemba. We heard last night that they were
off Nukulau, and I hastened at once to fetch them
in the canoe.  ly heart danced for joy on hearing of their arrival, and most gladly did we welcome them  to our shores.  It has been agreed
that I shall go to a new station, Somosomo. To
this I have consented, trusting it is, as it seems
to be, an opening of Providence.  We have
mentioned our going to some of the chiefs and
people, who disapprove of it much."
Toward the end of this month Mrr. Hunt
visited Viwa, and the mission prospects continued to brighten.  The following is from his
journal:
"June 18. Since I wrote last a chief of some
importance has embraced Christianity.  This is
good at this stage of our work, for we want a
little influence.  The people are munch afraid of
disobeying their chiefs; and no wonder, for




MISSION WORK —-REWA.           89
they have not many degrees of punishment
here; most crimes are capital."
On the same day Mr. Hunt mentions his first
attempt at the work of translating, in which he
afterward reached such distinguished success,
and by which he has blessed Fiji to the end of
time.  And concerning this work, thus writes
the man who, not long before, followed the plow
on a Lincolnshire farm:
"' I have now been in Rewa five months and
a week, and begin to think it time I tried to
translate a little. I conmmence with the Gospels,
principally because I have more help in them
than in any other part of the Scripture. I have
a part done to my hand by Mr. Cross, and a
translation in the Lakemba dialect by Mr. Cargill. I don't intend to call any man master, but
to think for myself. This has been my plan
hitherto, and I intend to pursue it. My plan is
this: 1. To read over the chapter for translating
in the Greek Testament, and examine particularly any word about the meaning of which I
have any doubt. I read Bloomfield's lNotes, and
Campbell's Translation, and any other books I
have, to assist me in ascertaining the meaning of
the text. 2. After having, as I think, mastered
the chapter, I commence translating. I use as
my standard for the text the Greek Testament,
together with the English version; and for the




90   A MISSIONARY AAMOITG CANNIBALS.
translation, not any man exclusively, but myself,
all the natives I can have access to, and the
translations that have been already made."
While thus engaged, Mr. Hunt gave attention
to general reading, and was studying with great
delight Blackstone's " Commentaries." He says,
too, "I read an account of Byron the other day,
and of Swift to-day."  And then the Methodist
missionary in Fiji goes on to moralize about the
lordly poet: "Poor Byron! I pity him much.
Hfe lived a wretched life; and the best proof
one can have of such a man's unfitness for death
is, that he thought himself tolerably well prepared. I feel determined to live nearer to God.
I am beneath what I should be. I am not in a
right element. I pray, and read, and write, and
preach, and use all means perhaps; but I do not
use them in the Spirit. I want more Bible religion.'Full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,'
is the character I aim at."
Before long, the opposition which the truth is
sure to provoke began to show itself in Rewa.
The conversion of a chief of some influence has
been mentioned just above. Another chief, of
still higher rank, was offended at his decision,
and charged one of the Christians with persuading him. To punish this man, he went to his
house and took away an ax and the greater
part of his property.  Shortly after the great




MISSION WORK —REWA.            91
man seemed to repent, and sent for the Christian
to drink yaqona- the native grog-with him in
token of peace, saying that he always felt unhappy when he had wronged the Christians.
However, on the following Sunday the same
chief sent to borrow an ax of the Tongan convert, who had formerly gained such celebrity as
a cannibal. But now he was trying to conform
to all the requirements of the religion which he
had lately professed, and refused to lend the ax
on the Sunday, but promised to let the messenger have it on the next day. This made the
chief furious; and he declared that he would
have revenge, not only on the old Tongan, by
taking his ax by force, but by plundering all
the Christians. In the middle of the night,
therefore, he collected above five hundred men,
and, putting himself at their head, visited and
robbed nearly every Lotu family in Rewa, taking away all they possessed, except the grass on
which their mats had been spread. It was considered a wonderful thing that, where life was
less respected than property, no one, in all this
attack, was injured. The sufferers bore, with
noble cheerfulness, " the spoiling of their goods.'
Mr. Hunt remarks:
"The Fijians are naturally very covetous, and
for them willingly to part with anything is quite
contrary to their nature; and I believe nothing




92   A  TMISSIONAIY AMIONG CANNIBALS.
would have enabled them to do so but the grace
of God. I am thankful, for this as well as for
other reasons, that the thing has happened, as it
has given me the opportunity of seeing Fiji
Christians in the fire, and, all glory to the God
of grace! they bear the test well.
"1 am thankful, on another account, that we
have had this persecution. It has led me to
examine my own heart before God; and the
result has been that I have humbled myself before him, and have determined to trust more
fully in the cleansing, as well as the atoning
blood of Christ, and to devote myself in heart,
and mind, and soul more fully to God."
The missionaries went to the king to complain
of the outrage which had been committed.  He
was very angry about it; and the chief-his own
brother-who had perpetrated the offense, was
severely reproved. This, however, only tended
to irritate him  yet more, so that, in the king's
presence, he threatened the missionaries; at
which the king was very much enraged, and,
giving his brother a club, seized one himself, and
prepared to fight. The chiefs present now interfered; but the king said significantly to his
brother, "If you injure the missionaries I will
begin to eat chiefs."  All knew the meaning of
the threat, and the offender was much alarmed,
and begged to be forgiven.




MBISSION WORK-~EEWA.             93
"We have had," writes Mr. Hunt, " many
an anxious hour during the trials of our faith.
We know so much of the native character as to
know that we need always to be ready to part
with our property and our lives too. We have
endeavored to turn our care into prayer; and
God has, in some measure, sanctified our sorrow and anxiety by turning our mourning into
joy."
The following extract shows what skill M r.
IIunt had in giving comfort to those who suffered. It is from a letter written to Mr. Calvert,
who was then at Lakemba, passing through
trouble:;" We are very glad to learn, from the note we
have received to-day, that your minds are kept
in peace, and that you'possess your souls in
patience.'   Let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.' The will of God is your entire salvation;
and sometimes the way to a full meetness for
heaven, as well as to heaven itself, is through
much tribulation.   Indeed, those who  have
washed their robes and made them  white in the
blood of the Lamb, passed through their tribulation at the same time that, by faith, they washed their robes; and perhaps their tribulations
were the principal means of bringing them to
trust in the blood which cleanseth from all sin.




94   A  IISSIONARY AMONG CANNIIBAS.
If our troubles are not equal to theirs, our blessings may be as great. We may possess the
same purified nature, and be with them before
the throne, and serve God day and night in his
temple.
"We feel much for our dear friends at Lakemba, and especially for MIrs. Calvert; but we
can only help you and them by our prayers. I
have no doubt that all will be right. Duties are
ours, events are God'so"




SOMOSOIO.                          95
CHAPTER IX.
SOMOSOMO.
Ill Fame of the New Station - Miserable Passage - Cheerless Reception - Mission-house - Horrible Scenes - Letter to Mr. Calvert  Affliction —An Evening Service -— Death of the Firstborn-Letter to Mr. Cargill-Strangling-Trouble and Annoyance - Enduring Faith - Plan of Theological Study - Small
Success - A Cannibal Feast - Danger and Deliverance - Christian Love - Letters on Entire Sanctification commenced - Visit
to Rewa - Extracts from Correspondence - Love to the IIeathen —War and Cannibalism- Domestic Affliction — Arrival
of the "Triton    Visitation Tour- Great Peril- Alarm at
the Mission-house — Mrs. IIunt's Illness —Letter to Mr. Calvert- New Mission-house- Style of Preaching to the Natives
- Divers Occupations - Appointment to Viwa - Sketch of the
People - Retrospect of the Mission.
ON  July  15  the' Letitia"  again  arrived  at
Nukulan, which is off  the entrance of the river
leading to Rewa, bringing the missionaries who
were  to  occupy  the  station  on  Mr. Hunt's reinoval, and work the printing-press which they
brought with  them.   They  were  accompanied
by MIr. Lyth, who had arrived from  the Friendly
Islands, and  who, to Mr. Iunt's great comfort,
was to share the toil and danger of opening the
Somosomo mission.*+
* Somosomo, a town of great importance, and one of the chief
centers of power in Fiji, is built on the shore of the picturesque
and fruitful island of Taviuni, which lies off the south-eastern extremity of the large island of Vanua Levu.




06  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALSo
Mr. Hunt, though very poorly at the time, at
once made active preparations for the removal.
He felt some pain at leaving a people in whom
he had taken great interest, to go to a place, the
savage inhabitants of which were regarded, even
in Fiji, with something of the same horror that
the Fijians generally are thought of in England.
This was entirely new ground for the mission;
for no Christian agent had visited it, and no one
belonging to the place had joined the Iotu.
IMr. Lyth says of it:
"Its intercourse with the more frequented parts
of the group was rare and uncertain, and ships
seldom called there.  No white man, at the time
of our arrival, resided on the island. One, a
Scotchman, who had touched at a neighboring
island, on his way from  the windward to the
leeward part of the group, had, but a short time
previous to our coming, been barbarously murdered for the sake of the little property he possessed."
It was not likely that the knowledge of these
facts would enliven the prospect of going to
dwell at Somosomo. It was true that the king
had begged that missionaries might come to his
town; but it was because he hoped they would
bring good store of axes, hatchets, knives, and
other articles of European manufacture, whereby
he and his people should be enriched.  The




SOMIOSOMO.               97
position, however, was very important.  The
chiefs of Somosomo ruled over many islands, and
the authorized presence of missionaries at the
head town would be the most efficient charter
for the Loti in all the tributary tribes. Then,
too, those very horrors and abominations which
would have supplied the best reason for not
going near such a den of fiendish cannibals, also
furnished the missionaries with the most powerful motive to settle themselves there.  The
greater the evil, the more need of the cure; so
they went, and took with them  the Gospel to
Somosomo.
ir. Hunt, in telling how they regretted parting with the Rewa Christians, goes on to say:
" But the difficulty of leaving Rewa and going
to Somosomo only affected us as mortals: as
missionaries we thought nothing of the privations or trials we might have to endure. We
expect to sow in tears, as confidently as we hope
to reap in joy; and therefore trials and privations are words seldom  used by us, and things
that are thought much more of by our dear
friends at home than by ourselves."
On the 22d of July Messrs. Lyth anld Hunt,
with their wives, embarked for the new station,
accompanied by Mr. Cargill, and came to anchor off Somosomo on the morning of the 29th.
3ir. Hunt was very ill during the passage, and




8   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
all were about as uncomfortable as being shut
in a wretched, filthy little schooner could make
theni. MIoreover, the vessel had a steward who
in all respects was as dirty as itself; and a captain who got drunk on arrack, the fumes of
which mingled with the foul stench of the hold,
which had nothing to divide it from the cabin,
where the missionaries and their wives spread
mattresses over chests and boxes, and tried, with
but sorry success, to sleep at night. Although
the people had made such a stir about having
the missionaries, yet, now that they were come,
no one greeted them; their arrival was treated
with  the coolest indifference as they went
ashore and quietly made their way to the king's
house. Here they found the king, Tuithakau,
a fine old man, above seventy, with a frank and
kind face; and his son the regent, Tuikilakila,
nearly forty years of age, and of almost gigantic stature and frame. The missionaries were
well received, and Tuikilakila at once accompanied them to mark out a site for their house.
They then returned to the vessel, and spent the
Sunday on board. The next morning they were
all to land.  Canoes filled with half-naked
savages, the most ferocious cannibals in Fiji,
crowded about the schooner, to the great terror
of the captain and crew, who kept strict watch,
with all.the boarding nets up, over their ill



SOMOSOMO.                99
famed visitors.  One canoe is brought close
alongside to receive the mission party; and as
the ladies are lifted into it, men stand on deck
at either side with loaded muskets and fixed
bayonets, to keep off the people among whom
those ladies and their husbands are going to live.
All reached the shore safely, and what was more
surprising, none of their goods were stolen.
For the temporary accommodation, as he said,
of the visitors, the king gave them a large house
of his own, which, by the help of Mr. Cargill
and a carpenter from Rewa, they soon fitted with
doors and windows.  The house was divided
into three principal rooms and a small study by
partitions made of boxes, packing-cases, and
mats; and, says Mr. Hunt,' we were comfortably settled -in our new  house on the second
day."  And there they had to live for two years,
during which time the king would not let them
build a house for themselves.
Very soon the missionaries had fearful proof
that the reports they had heard about Somosomo
were true. About the time of their arrival news
came that Ra M}bithi, one of the king's sons, was
lost at sea; and it was forthwith ordered that all
his wives should be strangled, that they might
accompany him to the land of spirits. At once
the missionaries entered upon their work of
mercy, and went to the king, to pray for the
MAi.sionalr amnong Cannibal,  7




100  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
women's lives.  Tuithakau was very angry at
their interference, but consented to make further search, to ascertain whether the report of
his son's death was true.  It proved to be correct,
and the women were doomed.  Mr. Hunt pleaded hard with the ruling chief, Tuikilakila, on
behalf of his daughter, who was among the
condemned ones; but the only reply he could
get was,   I have great love to my brother."
The rest is thus told in his jburnal:'On the morning of August 8 we heard the
cries of the poor females and their friends, and
soon they were unmercifully strangled.  We
were obliged to be in the midst of it; and truly
their cries and wailings were awful. Soon after
they were murdered, they were brought to be
buried about twenty yards from our house."
This slaughter of sixteen women was followed
by a kind of festival, which lasted for several
days and nights; and at midnight the inmates
of the mission-house were startled by the hoarse
blast of conchs, and the hideous yells and whoops
of the dancers.  Many men and women suffered
the amputation of a finger-joint in connection
with this festival; and the whole concluded by
the distribution, one afternoon, of one hundred
baked pigs, one of which was sent to the missionaries.
The strangers continued to live peaceably in




SOMOSONMO.               101
the king's house, and were treated kindly by
the people; but their attempts to teach seemed
of little avail. The old king, indeed, professed
to be Lotu, though he never showed any good
result from it. The people came willingly to
hear preaching, and. seemed attentive to the
missionaries, who soon got hold of the peculiarities of the dialect.
In a letter to M1r. Calvert, dated'August'th,"
Mr. Hunt writes: " I have been reading the
Life of the Rev. John Smith, and like it more
and more. 0 what a blessed state of communion with God did he maintain! When I think
of imbibing his spirit, the devil says:'It will
not do for a missionary; if you were in England
it would be all right.' I know he is a liar; yet
I practically believe him. I am determined by
the grace of God to try.  Help me, my dear
brother. We are engaged in a glorious work:
let us do it well.  There is inuch to discourage
us, but God is sufficient for all things. I feel
for you now you are alone; but remember your
reward is increasing amazingly now you have
these special trials.  Do not let unbelief say,' Nay, not for me; I am so unfaithful.' Unbelief
makes God a liar.  Do not listen to it, my
brother.  6 These light afflictions, which are but
for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory' Your perpetual




102  A MIISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
trial of being alone; alone, with a bad king;
alone, without being thoroughly acquainted with
the language; alone, among tlieves and robbers; will make your eternal reward much
heavier in glory.  Glory is worth the price.
Cheer up! God is with you, and he will yet
make you' rejoice with joy unspeakable.'' I hope the Lord will spare your dear child
to you. I shall often take her to the throne of
grace. Tell her mother to give her to the Lord;
and my prayer shall be, that she may hear the
word of the Lord while she is but a child."
As the year advanced, sorrows and troubles
thickened about the missionaries. In September
an epidemic influenza, of a very obstinate kind,
visited Somosomo.  As this broke out during
the visit of some Tongan canoes, the people said
angry things about it being the disease of the
Loit. Then Mrs. Hunt fell ill with the prevailing disease, and, before she recovered, was
attacked with dysentery, which brought her
very low, and made the prospect of her speedily
becoming a mother very alarming.  At this
anxious time, the presence and affectionate attention of Mr. Lyth were an indescribable comfort, as he had formerly been educated for the
medical profession. Such seasons as these prove
the importance, nay, the necessity, of giving to
missionaries a medical training to such an ex



SOMOSOMO1.               103
tent, at least, as will enable them to treat ordinary cases.  It was now a time of sore trial for
Mr. Hunt.  Writing about it to Mr. Calvert, he
says:
"1 I began to realize the sorrows of being left
alone in this land of need with a feeling quite
new to me. Weeping, a strange thing with me,
began to be pleasant, and my mind was most
severely agitated, though most divinely supported."
Earnest prayers were offered on behalf of the
sufferer, and  help  came.  The disease was
checked, and the next day, Mr. Hunt says:
" We forgot our sorrow for joy that a man was
born into the world."
But none of these things, deeply as they
stirred the loving heart of the man, had any
power to move the missionary from  his great
work.  On the day when he received his firstborn, as from God, after recording the event in
his journal, he says: "I have not been able to
do much this week in consequence of having to
be nurse. It is some time since I had a good
night's sleep; but,
Labor is rest, and pain is sweet,
If thou, my God, art there.'' My dear wife is doing well, and I hope I
shall soon be able to resume my translations,
etc., with renewed diligence. I have done four




104 A   1MSSIONARY A3MONG.CANNIBALSo
or five chapters in a rough way. May God,
even our own Gocld make us thankful for all his
mercies, and continue to bless us, for his name's
sake."
The light which had gleamed in upon the
anxious and fearful ones at the Mlission-house
was not to shine long.
" October'7. We have had a week of severe
trial: our little boy has been very ill. We have
scarcely any hope of his recovery. It is a great
trial to us to think of losing our dear babe; but
we must leave it with Him who cannot err.
Last night I preached from James i, 2-4. I
trust that we shall be enabled to count it all joy
when we fall into divers temptations.  One of
the greatest trials connected with losing our
little boy will be the reproach which the heathen will cast upon religion and us. I expect
they will say to us,'Where is now thy God?'
The circumstances of that Sunday evening
worship were altogether remarkable, having
none of such common-place machinery of devotion as architectural beauty, or ceremonial pomp,
or artistic aids to the service of God. In the
middle of a great, gloomy house, nearly all roof,
there was a chamber, divided from  an apartment on either side by thin matting some six or
or seven feet high.  In this chamber stood the
preacher with a visible congregation of two mnen




SOMIOSO1O.              105
and an invisible audience of two women.  His
hearers whom he could see were Mr. Lyth, who
had just been at the evening service of the
natives, and Joseph Rees, a young Englishman,
who owed his life to Air. Hunt's coming between
him and a furious chief, who had already broken
his ribs. The two invisible listeners were the
two missionaries' wives, each with a new-born
child, Mlrs. Iunt's child dying. Therefore the
preacher spoke fitly and earnestly about the trial
of faith; and by that faith great peace and holy
joy came to the worshipers, and the old thatched
place seemed as near the gate of heaven where
God gives alms as even a cathedral.
In a letter to [Mr. Calvert, written at this time,
Mr. Hunt says, after stating that there was no
hope of the babe's life: "Here then we are, my
dear brother, in the furnace of affliction.  But
what?  Has God forsaken us? 0 no! Glory
be to him, he is with us in all our afflictions,
and will, in his own time and way, deliver
us out of them  all. We would not alter anything if we could. We only say,  Thy will be
done.'' lly own mind has been prepared, in a certain sense, for what has happened. I had long
had an impression on my mind that some great
trial awaited me; but I looked for it from without.  In this I was wrong. My mind, however,




106 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
was somewhat prepared by such impressions,
and the prayer to which they led, and for what
may yet come.'It is the Lord; let him do what
seemeth him good. "
On the 10th of October, after suffering for
twelve days, the child died. Writing to Mr.
Cargill, the father thus tells of his loss:
" I was careful to have him baptized in the
beginning of his illness, and his name was John.
A perfect image of his father, according to his
mother's opinion: and who would dispute the
point   But this fair image of his father was
torn from our fond embrace; nay, not torn, but
taken from our arms, into the arms of a father,
who loves him more than we could, and who
loves us, though he has deprived us of what he
so kindly gave. [Never shall I forget the patience
with which his dear, tender-hearted mother bore
this, as well as all the trials that preceded it.
The only thing which revolted her was laying
his dear body among the slain of Fiji. If he
could have been buried in Tonga, or any Christian land, the trial would have seemed much
less. But another baptism of the Spirit enabled
her to bear this also; and before our child was
taken from us, we had freely given him back to
God. My mind is cheered with the hope that
his body will rise with many who will be the
children of our missionary toils in Fiji, and who




SOMOSOMO.               107
will accompany him, and perhaps some of us,
from this part of the world, to sit down in the
kingdom of God. We laid his dear remains in
our garden, and the king sent some of his first
carpenters to build a nice house over the grave.
Not a word have I heard said on the subject by
way of reproach to religion."
The grave of this little one was the first consecrating of Fiji as the missionary's burialground.  The soil has become very wealthy
since then.
After reviewing all the recent troubles, lir.
Hunt proceeds: 6 But we have had our blessings as well as our trials; and blessings with
our trials and by means of our trials. We have
had spiritual peace and prosperity; have become
further instructed in the power and blessedness
of religion, as well as the pleasure of seeing
some promises of success in our work.  The
people have, in general, been very kind to us.
They have attended to the means of Christian
instruction with evident marks of pleasure and
interest. They listen with great attention to
the word of life, and many of them  seem  to
understand much of the good tidings which we
have brought. We have commenced our school,
and it seems to promise well; and we have made
some attempts at enlarging our sphere of usefulness. On the whole we thank God and take




108 A   IISSIONARY AMOONG CANNIBALS.
courage, praying for his abundant and continued
blessing."
The very next entry in the journal is this:
"We have had another evidence to-day of
what heathenism  does for this people. A poor
old woman, nearly dead with weakness and the
infirmities of age, was strangled just before our
door.  Notwithstanding all this cruelty, they
are kind to us."
If a bright spot were to be found, Mr. Hunt
would find it; and many a cause of annoyance
and even suffering is never mentioned in his
journal. For some time the mission party were
not allowed to put any fence round the house,
or at the windows, which the heat compelled
them to keep open. Thus all chance of privacy
was lost; and the natives, led by curiosity or
baser motives, stood at the open windows.
Once, when Mrs. Hunt was bending over her
dying babe, she looked up to see dark, savage
faces, laughing and mocking at her anguish.
Among other sources of trouble was the capricious temper of the tyrant chief, Tuikilakila.
One day this great savage, in a flaming passion,
flung open the mission-house door, crying out,
"Aut sc8 cud.tru sacc!-I am very angry!"' Ie
then seized Mr. Hunt and Mr. Lyth, one in each
hand, and drew them  toward the door, where
he had left his club.  But God took care of his




SOMOsOMO).              109
servants.  Their words prevailed, and the chief
released them, striking Mr. Lyth contemptuously
in the face as he did so. Thus the threatened
violence was averted; but these furious fits of
passion on the part of the chief were very
alarming.
The friendship of the great man was sometimes as annoying as his rage was terrible. For
example, when the mission stores were very low,
he would come and eat the meal which had
been obtained with great difficulty; or, when
very gracious, he would kneel down, and thrust
his face into that of the missionary, and, with
expressive grimaces and remarks, watch the
stranger's way of eating, while the plate was
swept again and again by the observer's ample
beard.
It required a strong faith in the workers to
keep to their work on this mission.  In the
midst of the worst abominations of Fiji they
toiled on, and, but little success appearing, they
hoped and trusted that there was good done
which they could not yet see. To Mr. Hunt's
earnest heart this must have been a sore trial,
and he wrote: " Our prospects are rather mysterious. The work of God is going on, I doubt
not; but we have not much appearance of good."
It was sowing-time; and, as the precious seed
fell and was hidden, the sowers watched, and




110  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
watched, eager to begin the ingathering.  But
the harvest was not to be yet. It was a time
of discipline, which, by the long withholding
of outward encouragement, strengthened the
faith which it tried.  Mr. Hunt persisted in
believing, and his colleague says of him:'" Such
faith and patience, perseverance and equanimity,
under circumstances so difficult, were highly
characteristic of the man, and inspired all the
rest with courage and with hopes of success."
And again:' The want of direct fruit of our
labors, of a spiritual kind, was greatly calculated
to discourage and retard effort. But it had no
such effect on my friend's mind.  His motto
was,' Onward: he looked at the promise of God,
and believing that, depending on him, we should
not labor in vain.  He received every instance
of indirect usefulness as an answer to prayer,
and a pledge of future blessings. He pleaded
with God with holy boldness, and' against hope
believed in hope.' The result was, that while
all around us was wilderness, our own little
inclosure was as a'field which the Lord had
blessed.' I can never forget the happy seasons
we enjoyed together in our social means of
grace."
The Lord had a great work for his servant to
do hereafter.  His hand was to give to the
Fijians the New Testament in their own lan



SOMOSOM.O.              III
guage; and he had yet to stand in the highest
places of that hard-fought mission field, and see
renowned strongholds fall before him.  Wherefore he was taken to Somosomo for a time, that
he might gain power and skill. And here he
worked with all his might. To Mr. Calvert he
sent the following plan of theological study,
which he himself was pursuing:
"1. I think it of great importance to pay attention to studies of this kind in our own language. It will prevent our losing what we have
spent much time and prayer in acquiring, and
will greatly tend to our spiritual as well as mental improvement.
( 2. I think it quite necessary to have a plan,
in order to secure time and to save time; for a
good plan will do both.
" 3. My plan is this: I devote every Saturday
to this kind of work. I am not to be diverted
from it by the multiplicity of other engagements.
I am  determined, when I am well, to devote
this day to this work. But does not this interfere with my preparations for the Sabbath? lNot
at all; for I have two parts of every day: one
to attend to any special work, and the other for
such things as may be necessary. The morning
is the time for one thing; the afternoon for
many things.
" 4. However excellent other works on theol



112  A MISSIONARY A3/MONG CANNIBALS.
ogy may be, I can make best use of what I have
studied.  I therefore make my own notes of
lectures my text-book. I am now going through
the Epistle to the Romans.  I rewrite my notes,
and add anything I may be able to think for
myself, as well as anything I can beg, borrow,
or steal from  others.  I intend, by the help of
God, to go through in this way all that I have
of Dr. Hannah's.
" 5. I have it in my mind to write a treatise
on Christian Perfection.  I intend to state the
subject in a few short propositions, and then
treat the Scripture proofs and illustrations, historically. I then intend to explain and illustrate
every passage in the Old and New Testaments,
in which I think the doctrine of perfect love to
God and man is contained.  I turn my attention
to the subject on my own account entirely. It
has already been made a blessing to me, and I
believe it will be; and for this reason I pursue
the subject, intending, by the blessing of God,
not to be an author, but to gain personal improvement in this great subjecte
6. I want to make'for myself a table of
contents of every chapter in the Bible, including
the following particulars: 1st. a clear statement
of the subject or subjects in each paragraph.
2d. The aspect under which it is there presented.
3d. The spirit or strain of the sacred writer,




SOMOSOMIO.               113
This will assist me in understanding the word
of God.
"I must have something on hand to keep me
right.  I cannot live unless I am on full stretch.
I get to reasoning and other useless things if I
have not better employment.'" Blessed be God, we have been wonderfully
supported in our trials.  The Lord has been
nigh unto us, and I trust he has sanctified our
troubles to us. I am more than ever convinced
that religion is the proper remedy for man in
his present state, and therefore I more heartily
seek it, and more fervently recommend it to
others.  I am more than ever convinced that all
the religion of the Bible is attainable by me,
and all who believe, as I do, that it is necessary
to eternal life.
" We go on praying and preaching, sometimes
to many, sometimes to few. What is in the
future we cannot tell.'Duties are ours; events
are God's.' 
At the close of 1839 there was not much to
report concerning the Somosomo station.  A
building had been rudely fitted up for a chapel,
and a regular order of public services was established.  The mnissionaries had succeeded in
saving the life of an old woman who was painted
ready for strangling, and they had let no chance
slip of teaching the people.  Mr. Hunt had




114 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
completed a rough draft of the Gospel according
to St. Matthew, in Fijian, and had translated
Genesis and part of Exodus.
At the beginning of 1840 things looked darker
than ever at Somosomo.  One day eleven dead
men were dragged just in front of the missionhouse.  They had been killed at Lauthala, a
neighboring town, to avenge the murder of a
Somosoman by some of the inhabitants. With
exact and ceremonious order, the corpse of a
chief was set apart for the god, and the others
divided among the several tribes. The chief's
body was quietly and skillfully cut in pieces
within a few yards of the mission-house, and
the other bodies were taken to different quarters
of the town, where they were speedily cooked
and eaten.   The people seemed to become
doubly savage after their horrid feast, and some
of the chiefs came and tried hard to get up a
quarrel with the missionaries, who for some time
were nearly without food; for the people feared
to supply them, lest they should incur the wrath
of their king. The missionaries applied to him
again and again; but they and their offerings
were slighted. On one occasion the king said:
"      o, I will not let you have food. Jehovah
may give you a pig.
When this answer was reported at the missionhouse one of the party said:




SOMOSOMO.               115
" Now I believe the Lord will make him give
us food, since he himself has put us into the
hands of God."
And so it fell ont. In a letter Mr. Hunt says:
"'We felt our circumstances peculiarly trying;
but having no help but our God, and no object
but to live or die in his cause, we cast ourselves
on his mercy and calmly waited the end. At
length we determined to try again what kindness would do, and took the king a present.
We asked the direction and blessing of God
before we took it, and our dear wives continued
in earnest prayer, while we were away, that we
might be guided aright. The Lord heard prayer.
The king received us kindly, was much pleased
with our present, and gave us a pig as an offering, he said, to Jehovah. This ended the whole
affair.
"' One day, during a storm, one of the chiefs
told us they had been consulting about us, and
the result of their deliberations was that we
should go away, for they did not intend to
embrace Christianity.  We told them plainly
that we should not go till we were driven
from them. Thank God, for my own part, I
feel my love to them increases with their ingratitude and enmity; and I am  determined
to spend and be spent in trying to do them
good, until God and his Church shall receive
Missionary among Cannibals,  8




116 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
me from  them.  This is the sentiment of us
all"
In Mr. Hunt's private journal, it is written,
under the same date as the above letter: "I
thank God especially that I can love these my
enemies most cordially and heartily; so that if
they will only allow  ime to live, I will spend
my strength for their welfare."
For some time past Mr. Hunt had thought
of writing his own views and the friuits of his
Scripture searchings on his favorite subjectChristian holiness. He had stated this to Mr.
Oalvert, and during the voyage out from England
they had held much earnest converse on this
great topic. In reply to some inquiry of M1r.
Calvert's about this plan, he writes, March 18:
"I had laid aside almost the thought of building any of the castles on the ground which I
built in the air some time ago. And, what is
worse still, I was becoming more careless about
the enjoyment of this blessing than I was some
time since. I think I am  stirred up by your
letters to be more in earnest about the blessing
myself, and to be more determined to write
something on the subject. As to the plan on
which I should proceed, my present opinion is
that you and I should correspond on the subject,
and whenever opportunity serves write a letter
expressly on it. Observe well, I do not mean




SOMOSOlO.                117'
that we should have a controversy on the subject, but a free, fiiendly, sanctified, theological,
and experimental correspondence."
Thus were commenced those Letters on Entire
Sanctification which afterward Mr. Hunt carefully reconstructed, but did not live to complete
fully.  After his death they'were published,
and dedicated, at the writer's request, to his
beloved theological tutor, Dr. Hannah. This
volume of Letters is certainly one of the most
judicious, sound, and well arranged systems of
teaching on Entire Holiness that has been written, and is full of the vigorous and hearty piety
of the writer.
In a letter to Mr. Calvert, dated April, 1840,
Mr. Hunt says of himself: " I am sure I love
God; and scarcely dare say I do not love him
with all my heart. But when I try to think so,
a great number of things start up before my
mind which are inconsistent with perfect love;
and a still greater number of things that are
wanting in me, such as I think a person has who
has perfect love.  Well, may I not hope that I
have perfect love in a small, very small degree?
I am willing to acknowledge that I have the
least degree any man ever possessed who had it
at all; but have I not the least degree? I think
this is my conclusion.  I feel I have an entire
repose in the blood of Christ. I love his name,




118  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
his book, his people, his work. I feel I love my
enemies.  I can bless them that curse me. I
could give a list of such things in my favor; but
then I could give a greater on the other side.
What then am I to do?'This is the work of
God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent.'
When I do this all is clear, and I feel God is
pleased with me, and Christ saves me to the
uttermost. So it is thus: when I look at myself,
I am discouraged; when I look at Christ, I am
encouraged and comforted."
In June, 1840, Somosomo was in great excitement on account of the arrival of three vessels,
two of them  belonging to the United States
Exploring Expedition, and the other a trader.
One of these brought intelligence that the good
Mirs. Cargill had just died at Rewa. Mr. Hunt,
with his usual loving spirit, determined to go
and give what comfort he could to his sorrowing
brother. Commodore Wilkes, who showed every
possible kindness to the missionaries, offered to
convey Mr. Hunt to Rewa. While he was there
the district meeting was held, and the affairs of
the mission carefully examined. In returning
to Somosomo he was compelled to make a long,
circuitous passage, during which he spent many
days in an open boat.  This exposure cost Mr.
Hunt a severe illness, from the remains of which
he never fully recovered, but he uttered no syl



SOMOSOMO.                119
lable of complaint.  On getting once more
settled, he wrote:
" Our work at present seems to be to stand still
and see the salvation of God. I am not sanguine
at all, nor at all afraid. This is my general state
when I am in trouble.  I seem as if I dare not
say,'The Lord will deliver me;' I can only say
that he will if he see that deliverance will be
best.  Praise the Lord, he does wonderfully
preserve us. Don't fear, my friends.  Praise
God, and put your whole trust in him for yourselves and for us.
" In our work we seem  to labor in vain, but
faith can never come to such a conclusion. I
would not believe such a thing if all the philosophers in the world were to tell me so. If we
preach Christ's truth he is with us, and his presence is not in vain.'He must reign till he
hath put all enemies under his feet.'
"I love these poor wretches, obstinate as they
are; nay, I sometimes wish I could love my
brethren as much as I love them.  And if I,
whose heart is so destitute of compassion, feel
thus, what a fullness of love and truth there is
in those words which enforce on us the duty of
interceding for all men I'For this is acceptable
in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have
all men to be saved and come to the knowledge
of the truth.' God does not only not will that




120 A 3MISSIONARY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
any shouldc  perish, but he does will that all
should be saved; and how does he will it who
gave himself a ransom to accomplish it 
" I want more of this will. I want sympathy.
God sets a mark on the men that sigh and that
cry for the abominations that are done in the
midst of Fiji.  And if he should say to the
destroyer,' Go through Somosomo and smite;
let not your eye spare, neither have pity,' he
will also say:' But come not near any man on
whom is the mark.' If God should permit us
even to fall by the hands of the rebels, we shall
go to heaven with the mark upon us."
At the time this was written Somosomo was
preparing for a war which lasted till nearly the
end of the year. During this time the cannibal
feasts were more frequent, and barbarous ceremonies were constantly taking place in the town.
The ovens were so near the mission-house that
the smell from theml was sickening; and the
young king furiously threatened to kill the missionaries and their wives if they shut up their
house to exclude the horrible stench. Among
all perils and annoyance Mr. Hunt steadily and
earnestly went about his work, always, to use
his favorite expression, turning his care into
prayer.
The year 1841 opened with rumors of fresh
wars, whereby the mission, as far as Somosomo




SOMOSOMO.               121
itself was concerned, was greatly hindered,
though the consequent influx of strangers gave
the missionaries frequent opportunities of teaching those whom, otherwise, they could never
hAve reached.
"With respect to our work," Mr. I-unt writes,
"we are much as usual.  We preach daily,
visit sometimes, and have a few scholars. We
seem to be doing but little, though I am sure I
work hard; and so do all, so far as I am able to
judge.  For some time past I have been prospering in spiritual things, and much blessed in
reading and studying the word of God."
In February and March all the members of
the mission household were ill, and Mr. and
Mrs. Lyth lost a child by croup, and buried him
under- the little house where Mrs. Hunt's baby
was laid. In June the survivors were in good
health again, in time to enjoy the great event
of the year. the arrival of the " Triton" missionship, bringing the general superintendent, Mr.
Waterhouse, with the latest letters, some more
than a year old, from England.  During Mr.
Waterhouse's visit the district meeting was held
at Lakemba, and Mr. Hunt accompanied the
general superintendent thither, and to some of
the more distant stations at Vatoa and One.
As the " Triton" came near Somosomo, on her
return, the natives gathered numerously on the




122 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
hillside at the back of the mission house, the
inmates of which could hear them exulting because she had missed the safe anchorage and
was making direct for the rocks, where her
destruction seemed inevitable.  The savages
grew  wild with excitement as they watched
her perilous course and made sure of a rich
prize. Their proposal to fasten up the ladies,
who were anxiously expecting the return of the
missionaries, in the house was distinctly heard
by their intended victims, who thus were made
aware of their danger.  A few seconds of dreadfill suspense, and then a mad shout rose as the
vessel struck on the reef, and the crowd, with
fierce cries and whirling clubs, rushed down to
the shore, and embarked for their work of bloodshed and plunder.  The king was from  holme,
and there was no one to restrain the people.  It
was a terrible time for the ladies of tie missionhouse.  Their Fijian servant smote her breast
as she cried out: IScI kcsc6 2Ca waqca! S/  kcasa
n awacqct!"-'~"The ship is fast  The ship is fast!"
One of the missionaries' wives went aside
and knelt, and looked up, and prayed: "Almighty  Jesus, we need thy help!!. And as
she came out again she met one of her companions, who was greatly agitated, and said:
"Don't be alarmed,  There will be nothing the
matter."




SOMTOSOMo.               123
They opened the door and looked forth over
the water to see the' Triton" gently gliding
off into deep water before the canoes could
reach her.
Soon after this Mrs. I-Iunt was again taken
seriously ill, and the sorrowful fear of losing his
beloved wife was added to Mir. Hunt's difficult
and discouraging mission work. At the close
of the year he wrote to Mr. Calvert:
" I am much obliged to you for your sympathy, which I need in my present circumstances;
and as you are my bosom friend I shall tell you
a few of my troables, that I may still have your
sympathies and prayers.
"My dear wife has been  afflicted several
months together, and a long time must yet elapse
before she will be strong.  She is just now able
to get up for about an hour, and with my help
walk twice or thrice over the room. Miany times
it seemed almost impossible that she should recover.  I have of course been the principal
nurse all the while, and my time has been taken
up. These things are a sore trial to nie, because
they keep ine fiom the other duties of my calling.  I am almost persuaded at times to think I
am of no use, and that the Lord will not accept
of me as lis laborer, but I would not yield to
temptation. I make my case known to God, and
he will I trust make my way plain before mel




124 A MISSIONAEY AMONG  CANNThBALS.
At present I feel it is my work to humble myself under his mighty hand.  My  prayer is:' Lord, spare her, and grant that we may live to
labor in Fiji.' If I am of no use I make one,
and am  better than none.  I hope for better
days.
" Your kind remarks on my papers encouraged
me.  I had almost given all up on this subject,
but I will begin again by the help of God.
" You see I am rather low, but it is not inconsistent with joy in the Lord.  Considering my
circumstances I am generally very happy.  Mr.
Lyth is very kind.  I believe he fully understands Mrs. Hunt's case, and has treated it in
the best way."
At the beginning of 1842 it was arranged
that Mr. Hunt should attend to the towns and
villages round about Somosomo, while his colleague took charge of the mission work at home.
In addition to this increased labor, and the nursing of his sick wife, lfr. Hunt was employed in
building a new house, as the place where the
two families had resided together was very unhealthy, and in other respects undesirable.  A
house had been erected for Mr. Lyth near the
slhore, and dMr. Hunt thus describes to his wife,
for the benefit of her friends in England, the
establishment which he was then completing.
" Our present dwelling-house is about fifty-six




so5rOSOAO.               125
feet long, and twenty-six wide inside.  It has no
less than twenty upright posts to support it.
The roof is well wooded and thatched; the walls
reeded and lined with mats.  The bed-room at
the south end is floored with boards, except a
small part of it which you wished to have as a
store.  The middle of the house is made into a
large dining-room, in which we have a small
native fireplace, which is very convenient when
we are ill. The dining-room is separated from
the bed-room  by a reed-wall, lined inside with
nice native cloth. At the north end of the house
is my study, which is separated from the diningroom in the same way as the bed-room, but it is
not lined: I don't know why.  I have also a
little store in my study.
"The front of our house is open to the sea,
and is not more thanforty yards from it.  About
ten yards from the sea is our outside fence, and
ten or fifteen yards nearer the house is another
well-built fence.  These fences inclose two gardens which'are your own, and planted with
bananas, Cape-gooseberries, pine-apples, and
native shrubs of various kinds. The gardens,
as you know, are not planted at randonm. Both
your head gardener (myself) and your under
gardener (NToah) have endeavored to make them
as useful and pleasing as possible.  We have
rows of tall bananas, and nice walks, and every



126 A 3[ISSIONATIY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
thing in fact is clone so as to meet your own
views of neatness, order, and utility.  On the
other side of the house, and near to it, is a small
house for the people to wash and iron in, and
which you will find convenient.  Further back
is the kitchen, and, at a short distance from this,
the servants' house.  These houses and a fence
form the boundary of the kitchen garden, which
is beautifully situated on the side of a hill. The
hill is just sloping enough to allow of its being
planted until you get about half-way up, and
then it is nearly perpendicular to the top.  The
garden part is planted with bananas, taro, kumeras (sweet potatoes), beans and peas, (a few,)
which are all growing most luxuriantly.  The
part not planted by us is planted by nature with
nice shrubs, etc., one of which has a beautiful
flower now in full bloom.' Over this nearly perpendicular mountainside flows, or rather falls, a stream of fresh water,
everrflowing.  It comes to the bottom of the
mountain, and is there turned inside the garden
so as to run quite through; then, forming an
angle, it empties itself into the sea.
" This is a brief sketch of our premises.  In
the same inclosure is Mr. Lyth's house, with
appendages similar to ours.  The chapel, which
is near the center, and Moses's house, complete
the mission establishiment,




SOMiOSO10.               127
Mrs. Hunt now began to get better, and her
good husband entered more heartily than ever
into his work of study, translation, preaching,
and visiting.  The following extract fiom a sermon on Matthew xvi, 24, shows his style of giving the truth to the natives:
"' We must not only deny ourselves but take
up our cross, which I explained as consisting in
those things which are difficult to us.
" Religion is difficult, especially to new beginners, because of the badness of our hearts; and
it is impossible for those who think they can be
religious of themselves without praying to God
to help them.
" Religion is difficult. And what is not that
is useful   A garden-full of grass is very easily
grown, but of what use is it?  A bad canoe is
easily made, but it is of no use. A bad house
is soon built, but it is of no use. Good gardens,
canoes, houses, axes, knives, whales' teeth, etc.,
are all difficult to get, but they are useful.  Medicine is sometimes very bitter, but it is very
useful. So it is with religion.  Our minds don't
like it, but it is that by which we live.
6 We don't like repentance and faith in Christ,
and to keep the commandments of God, but
this is the way to live.
"Your way of treating your sick is much
easier than ours. When persons are sick you




128 A MISSIONARY AMIONG  CANNIBALS.
ieglect them, or bury them  alive, or strangle
themn. This is very easy. We watch our sick,
give them medicine, and feed them.  This is
difficult, but our sick often recover and yours
die.  Ours is the difficult way, but it is the way
to live.  Yours is the easy way, bult it is the way
of death.  So it is with your religion. It is
easy, but it is the way of death.  Ours is difficult, but it is the way of life.
s But our religion is not always difficult.  It
is only so when we first begin. By and by it
becomes easy.  When we obtain a new heart
then our way is easy. Begin, then.  Don't mind
the difficulty.o
In March Mr. Hunt writes: "I am  thankful
to say my dear wife is once more well. It is
wonderful' how the Lord has raised her up.
You cannot imagine how she was reduced, or
how quickly she recovered. Praise the Lord, O
my soul! Amen and amen."
All was thus bright at home, and the missionary went more cheerily than ever about his
work; not content with the fixed regulation
duties of his office, but catching at every chance
of doing good. Thus, while he continued his
studies with laborious care, applying himself to
the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, and effecting
translations into Fijian of the most masterly
kind, not forgetting to keep up his reading in




SOMOSOAMO.              129
English theology and general literature, he made
himself known among the natives as their friend
by a thousand attentions and helps, which introduced them  to comforts and advantages they
had never dreamed of before. In all times of
their trouble he was peculiarly kind. -It was no 
uncommon thing for him to act as nurse as well
as doctor to the sick. Stooping very low to get
in at the little doorway, he would make his way
to the mat whereon the patient lay, and' then
busy himself in preparing arrowroot at the fire
in the middle of the floor, at the risk of scorching or scalding his fingers in pouring boiling
water out of the great earthen pot which did
duty as kettle in the native establishment.
Such continued efforts on the part of the two
missionaries could not fail to do some good; but
the results were, with some cheering exceptions,
general, mediate, and not of that kind which
can be clearly stated or represented by figures.
The time of Mr. Hunt's residence in Somosomo
was near its close; for after the district meeting
held in August, 1842, he went to occupy the
Viwa station, vacated by Mr. Cross, whose illhealth suggested the plan of his removal to
Somosomo, where he might be under the medical care of Mr. Lyth.
At the time of Mr. Hunt's leaving Somosomo
he thus sums up his experience on that station:




130 A  MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.' Somosomo has been a place where every feeling of our nature and every principle of our
religion has been tested.  We believe that we
have been made a great blessing at Soniosomo,
though the fruits of our labors do not yet fully
appear, nor perhaps will at present."
In a letter written on board the missionary
brigantine "'Triton," while Mr. Hunt was on the
way to his new station, he gives the following
truthful description of the'people of Fiji, and
of some ascertained results of the mission:
"6 You have heard a great deal on the dark
side of the character of the Fijians, I have no
doubt, and of the vileness of their moral character too much cannot be said.  Some of the
worst features of heathenism, in the picture
drawn by St. Paul in the first of Romans, are
too observable in them not to be seen even by
a stranger.
"' The Fijians, however, have some characteristics which make them very interesting to me,
and make it a pleasure to labor among them.
" They are an industrious people.  Their
houses, gardens, plantations, and canoes are a
proof of this. I was astonished to find a people
so deeply depraved in such a state of civilization in these respects.
"' They plant as much as provides abundantly
for their wants, though in many instances they




SOMOSOMO.                131
do not enjoy the fruits of their industry, from
their custom  of feasting.  These feasts often
occur, and a large number of people assemble
at them for the purpose of eating, trading, etc.
The chief of the town where the feast is held
considers it his duty to provide very large quantities of food, partly out of respect to the chiefs
and people who come to the feast, and partly
that he may obtain a good report in other lands.
The object indeed is not so much to feed the
people as to have a very large heap of food.
They cannot eat the whole of it, and consequently very much is thrown away; and thus the poor
people, who have had to supply food to the visitors, see the fruits of their labors thrown into
the sea through the foolish ambition of their
chiefs.  The chiefs are, however, many of them
as industrious as their people.  They are not
ashamed of soiling their hands, or of cultivating
their land.
" The Fijians are also a commercial people, in
their way.  They do not sail to other lands for
the purpose of trading; but among themselves
they trade a great deal. Some tribes, who are
much employed in sailing from island to island
to attend feasts and bring the tribute of the
small islands to the principal chief, never plant,
but obtain their food by purchasing it with native pots made by their wives, baskets, whales'
Miesionarv among Cannibals.  9




132. A  IISSIONARY AM3ONG CANNIBALS,
teeth, etc., or receive it in repayment for their
services to the chiefs.  These men are great
traders. Some call them the Jews of Fiji; and
Jews many of them  are in many respects, and
it is very difficult to make bargains with them,
except for their own advantage.' The female part of the population attend to
making native cloth, pots, etc. Even the wives
of the chiefs are employed in printing the cloth,
and in superintending the making of female
dresses (likus) and other things.
You will see from these remaks that there
is a good deal of variety in the occupations of
the Fijians, and that the people are naturally of
an active disposition.  Government is easy (I
mean easily attended to) in these islands. There
is no regular code of laws in existence at present,
except some regulations which have been left
here by American ships of war, and which are
not as yet regarded by the people in general.
The law of the land is the will of the principal
chief, and he appoints any person he may choose
to inflict punishment when he is offended. Perhaps the greatest crime a man can be guilty of
is to offend the chief.  For stealing they often
cut off the fingers of the offender. For adultery
the female's nose is cut off, especially if she was
the wife of a chief. Sometimes both parties are
punished with death. Some of the chiefs are




SoXSOOOMO.              133
exceedingly cruel, even to their wives and children, and the whole of their subjects live in constant fear.  Others are kind, and enjoy the
affections of their people, who seem glad to be
entirely devoted to their pleasure.
"In war the Fijians are anything but brave.
They generally succeed more by stratagem than
by fighting; and in some instances none are
killed  on either side, except by what might
properly be called kidnapping.
"Thle domestic character of the Fijians is by
far the best part of them in my opinion. They
really have a good idea of comfort in their families.  In some instances I have seen great affection manifested by the different members of a
family to one another; and in preparing their
food, comfortable houses,.and  cleanliness in
their food, utensils, etc., they are astonishingly
clever.
" But there are such contradictions in.their
character that it is a very difficult thing to form
a just idea of what they really are.  Children
who seem to have a good degree of affection for
their parents will, nevertheless, strangle then
when they are sick or old, especially if the
parent requests it. I have seen a woman of high
rank led to her grave alive, and strangled there
by her own sons, who appeared to enjoy the
horrid act. The contradictions in their charac



134 A MISSIONARY AMIONG CANNIBALS.
ter are partly to be attributed to custom, and
partly to that fickleness of disposition which is
the characteristic of men who have no education, no good example, no knowledge of God or
his word, and, consequently, no fixed principles
of action; and who, in addition to all this, are
under the god of this world.  Custorm, Satan,
and their depraved hearts entirely govern them.
Custom  is one of the great tyrants of Fiji, and
to its powerful influence a great part of the
murders and much of the cannibalism  of Fiji
may be traced.  A native will do anything if
it be vacka-Fiji, that is, according to the custom
of Fijji; and until they have had intercourse
with missionaries for some time, they think their
own customs are the most excellent in the world,
and that it is impossible to improve them.
" When we first went to Somnosono the principal chiefs were quite impatient of reproof.
They did not hesitate at all to say that the customs of eating human flesh and strangling were
good, and considered us their enemies because
we lifted up our voice against them. We did
not desist, however, until we had told them  the
truth; and we soon saw  the result, in three
instances especially: A  town had been taken
in war without a man being killed; a large canoe has been launched, and has made her first
voyage, without a single instance of cannibalism;




SOMOSOMO.               130
and the Somiosomo people have feasted their
superiors, the iMbau people, for several weeks
without a single dead body. In the first instance
we were one cause, instrumentally, of the people
being spared; in the second, perhaps, the only
cause; and in the third, perhaps, the only cause
too; but we had not directly to interfere, for the
influence which truth had on the minds of the
people made our interference unnecessary.
"6 Thus is custom overcome, Satan's power is
broken, and the reign of passion is checked;
and even Fijians are beginning to think, and to
allow reason to have a place in their conduct of
life. I am quite persuaded that nothing but
missionary labor could have effected this; and
it can only effect it instrumentally. If we could
have seen chaos, in darkness and confusion, we
should not have doubted that God'had spoken
when' there was light.' No power but his can
effect a change in the heart of man, and without
this we labor in vain' to teach these people
better customs."




136 A  MISSlONARY  AMONG CANNIBALS,
CHAPTER X.
VIWA:  1842, 1843.
The new Station - Nlamosimalua -- Trainiong of Native Teachers -
light and Dark - Various Engagemnents - Death of Mr. Cross -
Letter to Mr. Calvert - Chairman of the District - Visitation
Tour — Searchings of HI-eart - Unbelief- School Work - A
Day's Record - Letters to Mr. Lyth -- To Mr. Williams - Literary Work - Kindness imposed upon - Letter to Mr. Calvert,
-MET. and M.RS. HUNT reached their new  station
safely on August 30, 1842, just three years after
the commencement of the mission there by M/lr.
Cross.
Viwa is one of the small islets which rise from
the reef on the eastern coast of Na Viti LevuGreat Fiji.  At the  time of the missionary's
arrival it was of great political importance, and
one of the most valuable dependencies of Mbau,
the seat of the highest power in the group.  It
offered great advantages as a mission station, in
consequence of its being only two miles fiom
Mbau, where as yet the missionaries had been
unable to gain a footing, and because of the frequent visits it received from people belonging to
all parts of Fiji.  The chief of Viwa, Namosimalua, was, as already stated, a man of great
noteo  For some years he had been prominent




VIWA.                 137
in every conspiracy by which Mbau was troubled, and every war by which its greatness had
been increased. In all these scenes Narnosimalua distinguished himself by his craftiness in
council and stratagem, while his fame as a warrior-was deemed bloody and savage even in Fiji.
This man had renounced heathenism  and professed to be a Christian. It is too true that he
never was really a Christian, yet he kept to his
profession of it in the face of the displeasure
and threats of the powerful king of Mbau. In
addition to this, he befriended the missionaries,
while he strictly refrained from  all the more
terrible crimes Whiich had hitherto darkened his
character, although in point of domestic morality he showed but little change.
Under Mr. Cross's diligent care a good work
had been begun in Viwa, and Mr. Hunt found
a hundred and twenty persons under religious
instruction, many of whom  cheered him  by
plain tokens of a change of heart. Eight native
teachers were being employed in the places under Mr. Hunt's care.
The case of the native teachers had long engaged the serious and anxious attention of the
missionaries, and Mr. Hunt had considered the
matter with all his usual thoroughness. Many
good, soundly converted young men had come
out from the more prosperous scenes of the mis



138  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
sion, and slhowed a strong desire to convey to
others the blessedness with which their own
hearts were filled. The extension of the work,
too, called for more ministering than the few
missionaries could render, and thus native agency was already in general use. The land was
being sown with the seed of the first harvest.
It was about the training of these native
Christians that Mr. Hunt had thought so long
and so seriously, and several young men were
now under his care. This made a very formidable addition to his other engagements; but
nothing was neglected.  Indeed, he enjoyed
hard work. lie said he could only live "on
full stretch," and every day proved it.  Then
this training work was especially a labor of love,
and he took it up and carried it on with great
zest and delight.  The management of this important branch of the mission had been intrusted
to him by his brethren, so that he was engaged
in writing simple lectures on theology for the
native teachers on other stations, as well as in
the instruction of those under his personal care,
to whom he lectured three times a week at six
o'clock in the morning.
Living in Viwa was very different from the
residence in Somosomo.  Many of the people
were Christians by profession, and some in reality; and as the chief protected and helped the




VIWA.                139
Lothz, the missionary and his wife had many
comforts to which they were strangers at Somosomo, while they were saved from witnessing
some of the horrible things that had so distressed
them at their former station. Yet even in Viwa
the old practices of heathen Fiji were not wholly
abandoned: witness this extract from TMr. Hunt's
journal:
"October 22. This morning a number of
women came from  Mbau to strangle a poor
woman to whom I had been giving medicine
for some time. I succeeded in preventing them
from strangling her, but- they very nearly succeeded in burying her alive unknown to me. I
thought I should like to see how she was going
on, fearing they would be doing something with
her, and when I got into the koro (town) I
understood that Verani, the nephew of the chief
of this place, had ordered- her to be buried. I
immediately went to him, and found him digging her grave with his own hands. I urged him
by all means to desist, and succeeded..  He
ordered the grave to be filled up again, and
engaged to leave the woman to me. He rubbed
his hands together, saying,' Dear me, I have
dirtied my hands for nothing;' evidently somewhat disappointed. I saw the woman before I
went to him, and found that she did not wish to
die, and seemed much pleased at the idea of




140  A AMISSIONAlRY AMONG CANNIBALS.
trying a little longer. Iatn-tiMara, a Mbau chief
to whom she belongs, had sent word for her to
be strangled. I gave her some medicine and
food.  She did not seem at all willing to die.
A message came next morning to inform me
that she was dead. I expect they assisted her
after all, though they said they did not."
The next entry shows something of the various
character of Mr. Hunt's employment:
" October 24. We began in good earnest to
floor the study. I have been a good deal employed with the men, and have only had time
to write up my journal from the coming of the'Triton.'
6' 25th. I have written my lecture on' Justification.' I have some difficulty in finding good
words. We shall be some time before we are
well understood on some of these points, for
want of fit words. To-night I have commenced
a short catechism, which is to be the basis of the
quarterly and yearly examination of my pupils
on the subject of theology.  I have got through
the Evidences.
"'I shall soon be tired of employing such
workmen (the carpenters) and do the work myself. I want more religion, and trust in the
mercy of God in Christ for it.
6"26th. I have written my lecture on the
Witness of the Spirit, and got to the end of the




VIWA.                 141
Divine Attributes in my catechism. My carpenters have been three days and have not got
all the boards ready to put down yet. Wesley
(a native teacher) preached to-day on'If the
dead rise not, then is Christ not risen.' A bit
of good Gospel toward the close cheered me
very much.
"27th. Prepa red my lecture on Regeneration.
Got to the'image-of God in which man was
created' in my catechism. Began translating
1 Corinthians.
" 28h. Spent in temporals chiefly.
"29th. Prepared for the Sabbath.
" 30th. Preached three times to-day in native
and once in English."
To his friend, lilr. Calvert,'ir. Hunt writes:
" I have at present a Lasakau canoe at my
service, so that I am well off. I have good
prospects, plenty of work, and  pretty  good
health. I preach three times on the Sabbath,
and intend to give three lectures a week and, if
possible, visit Ovalau once a month.
"I feel as if I were in sunshine, and I am
always a little afraid in such circumstances. I
pray that I may always speak tremblingly."
During the following month Mr. IHunt finished
his lectures on the Doctrines of Christianity,
and began to prepare a course on Geography.
His house was now made more comfortable,




142  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
and he felt thoroughly settled in his work once
more.
On December 8 the sad intelligence of Mr.
Cross's death at Somosomo arrived, and on the
following Sunday Mr. Hunt says: " This morning I led the prayer-meeting, and preached at
ten o'clock on the death of Mr. Cross.  It was a
time to be remembered of a truth.  Many wept,
and so did I, as heartily as I have ever wept
since I left England. I trust the event may be
made a blessing to some of the people here. My
text was,'Having a desire to depart and be with
Christ; which is far better.'"
In January and February, 1843, Mr. Hunt
was very poorly, and unable to work so hard as
he wished; but a visit to Rewa did much toward his recovery.  In March he visited this
place once more and wrote to Lakemba:
" I am now at lewa, as you will see from the
date of this; and I am sorry to say I am  here
again on mournful business. Our friends here
(Mr. and irs. Jaggar) have been called to part
with their little girl.  We have buried the beautiful clay to-day. She was a most lovely little
creature, and her temper was as sweet as her
features were pleasing.
"' Here are four belonging to the mission families lying in the same spot, awaiting the morning when' the dead in Christ shall rise first.' 0




VIWA.                 148
glorious day! Could we but more fully realize
it, how perfectly unreal would all we can enjoy
in this world appear to us! Well,'let us hasten
to the day,' that we may be quite ready when
the Son of man shall come.  It is a cheering
thought to me that death, as well as the judgment, should be called the' coming of the Son
of man.' Death is the servant of Christ; but
he never comes to the faithful without his Master; so that the dying saint can say,' Come,
Lord Jesus, come quickly!' a much better dying speech than that which Mr. Pope has devised.
i]ere is the grand secret of an easy passage to
another world, as well as how to live usefully in
this.  To become acquainted with the Saviour
is true wisdom.  0 my Saviour, forgive my
neglect of thee.  The Saviour of my dear babes
and me. Take my body, spirit, soul for thyself,
in time and in eternity.  Amen, amen.
" Miy health is not so good as formerly, I think.
Sometimes I amn quite poorly.  Thank God, he
sanctifies it, so it is all well. We are doing better at Viwa than wTe were.  Sometimes I find it
difficult to preach; but I have been able hitherto
to take all my appointments.".At the death of Mr. Cross his place as chairman of the Fiji district was filled by Mr. Hunt,
and thus his already abundant labors were increased. For some time he had been anxious to




14-  A 3ISSIONARY AMOING CANNIBALS.
sail round Na Viti Levu, the large island off the
coast of which Viwa was situated.  Many tribes
of great importance inhabited districts and towns
upon the shores of Na Viti Levi which had
never been visited by a missionary, and Mr.
Hunt resolved to explore this new ground.  In
the beginning of April he started from Viwa on
the voyage, which lasted about six weeks. The
old and very small schooner in which he sailed
had poor accommodation for passengers; but Mr.
Hunt had a marvelous way of making himself
at home anywhere, and the trip was very satisfactory, as it gave him the opportunity of visiting some places where the Gospel had never
been preached, and of forming an acquaintance
with several chiefs of considerable influence.
Now and then adverse or failing winds detained
the vessel, when her distant anchorage prevented
any one going ashore.  Even these occasions, at
a time when he was very anxious to get home,
were most profitably employed by the missionary. The following extracts are from his private
journal'Fridcay, 28th7, (lApril.) To-day I set apart for
abstinence and prayer for a speedy  passage
home and prosperity in my soul and work, as
well as for my dear wife, who I am afraid will
now begin to be anxious about me.' M     yonday, ctf c 1. We made a trial to-day to




VIWA.                  145
get on a little, but we did not make very much
way.  I was praying all day for a fair wind, a
clean heart, and for my dear wife. I am afraid
she will be much concerned for me now. I want
more patience than I have to keep me confortable when I am from home in this way.
"'aescdcay, 2. We got under way to-day, but
found it of no use, as the wind was not fair and
became very strong, so that we were obliged to
come to anchor again. The wind increased and
blew almost a gale before night, and continued
strong all night, so that we were tossing about
with the sea, though in as good a place for shelter as we could find. To me it was a profitable
though a heart-searching time.
" Wecrlesdcy, 3. To-day we were at anchor
all day without being able even to make an attempt at sailing.  It was a good day I trust to
mie. I feel much more resigned to the will of
God than I did, and my faith is somewhat increased.  O for the full image of God! I want
the wisdom, the righteousness, the true holiness,
the light, the love, the peace and joy in the
H-oly Ghost, which I know is the privilege of all
the children of God, and therefore mine. I feel
I have not this image.' 1I. I am very ignorant.  I have but little of
that' unction of the Holy One' by which St.
John says believers knlow all things. (1 John ii,




14-6  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
20.)  I do not always know what is the will of
God as to what I should believe and teach and
practice. I have not the unction of the spirit
in prayer as I ought to have.  I have not the
unction of the spirit in my studies and preaching, which is so needful to make me wise to win
souls.' II. I have need of righteousness-inward rectitude. 1. Of desire, so that I shall never desire
anything but what pleases God and is calculated
to benefit man, and constantly and strongly to
desire this.  2. Rectitude of cbectioqs, so as to
love nothing but what God loves, and to love in
the manner in which he loves: to love him supremely, his people with complacency, and the
world with a pity like his.  And because I cannot imitate him in the degree of my love, I am
to love him with all my heart and mind and
soul and strength; and all and every man as
my own soul. 3. Rectitude of conscience; a conscience so awake that it cannot be surprised,
so just that it cannot be bribed, so pleased with
that which is right that it shall be cause of constant joy, so pained with that which is wrong
that he who has it cannot sin:  a conscience
void of offense toward God and men.' 4. Where
this is the case there will be rectitude of will.
Our will must thus be lost in the will of God.
Thy will be done' will be ouir constant prayer,




VIWA.                 147
by us, in us,' on earth as it is done in heaven.'
Here is the rule.  What I mean by entire resignation to the will of God is this: to be fully
persuaded that God orders all events, both great
and small; to commit ourselves, body, soul,
wife, family, property, influence, character, all
into his hands, and to believe that whatever
happens is best, and so fully to believe this as to'rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in
everything to give thanks.' We may pray at
all times, but we may not murmur or repine
under any circumstances whatever. In all these
respects I have need of righteousness.
III. I have need of true holiness.  Much
that is contrary to the will and nature of God
remains in me. Pride, envy, malice, uncharitableness, impatience-which sometimes torments
me exceedingly, and more or less every daycensoriousness, slander, evil-speaking, deceit,
hypocrisy, unbelief, worldly-mindedness, lust,
anger, the fear of man, want of meekness and
long-suffering, or, to sum up the whole, an awful
want of love to God and man. Thus do I need
holiness. I trust none of these evils reign in
me, but I have had daily proof that they exist
and strive to rule.
The natural result of this want of holiness is
a corresponding want of happiness and usefulness. I-ow often my happiness is hindered and
Missionary among Cannibals.  10




148 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
almost destroyed by pride. How easily pride
is wounded, and how painful is the wound.
"Envy is itself misery.  It repines at another's welfare, and prevents us enjoying what we
have, though we may have much more than
they.
"11 aigce reserves the things which make me
miserable to-day to continue my misery. It is
the storekeeper of misery.  Unchfritableness
prevents me feeling the happiness of complacency in others, by leading me to undervalue
their excellencies.
"Impatience-Wishing and desiring and longing for things over which I have no control to
be different from what they are, such as winds,
weather, health, etc., etc., whereas I ought
calmly to rest in God, after having done what I
can. Impatience toward men: I expect more
from them  than I ought, and am  dissatisfied,
angry, or disappointed when they do not act as
I think they should.
" Censoriousness, slcnder, and evil-specaking
always leave a sting behind, and hinder me from
enjoying the company of those I slander, because I am  not sure whether they have heard
what I have said against them or not.
"Deceit toward men leads me to fear I have
not their confidence, because I know I do not
deserve it; and hypocrisy toward God can




VIWA.                 149
never consist with confidence in him who desires
truth in the inward parts.
" Unbelief is a fruitful source of misery.  It
is the parent of a thousand needless fears, and
prevents me from  drinking of the rivers of
pleasure which faith in Christ and in the promises of God secures.
" Yorldly-mindedness-a desire for more of
this world than is needful for holiness and usefulness; a desire of riches or honors, or the
pleasures of sense or the imagination, or such
things as shall make us appear of some account
in the world. These things are all more or less
difficult to obtain, and when obtained they do
not give satisfaction, but produce a painful desire
for more.  Disappointment and dissatisfaction
always accompany a worldly spirit."
In pointing out how these several forms of
evil not only mar happiness, but hinder usefulness, especially in a missionary to the heathen,
Mr. Hunt says of unbelief: "How this locks up
my spiritual sense to the moral and spiritual
world  I How indistinctly I see God's wrath
against sinners, and its terrible consequences!
H-ow seldom  my soul hears the weeping and
wailing and gnashing of teeth of the millions of
the lost! I  ow indistinctly I see the arm of God
stretched out to save all who are not actually
lost!  And how little my soul is aroused when




i150 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
I hear him tell me to go and declare his willingness to save  How little I feel the love of the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to a ruined world,
and how coldly I make it known! I can use
and hear the words God, Christ, the Holy
Ghost, heaven, hell, lost, saved, and such like,
with little emotion. 0 God, where is my faith?
Surely if it was alive it would associate these
words with burning ideas, which would influence
every power of my body and soul. Now, I
beseech thee, give me faith, and let me not live
another moment without its full exercise. How
little faith have I in my prayer or my preaching.
I do not see and feel in my soul the things I
pray about and talk about as a botanist sees
plants when he describes them, or as an actor
on the stage, or a poet, sees and feels fictions of
the imagination. But how much more intense
ought the feelings and views of faith to be!"
In inquiring how he may lose all evil and
gain all good, Mr. Hunt likens himself to the
leper, and says, "Like him I come to Christ. I
fall down at his feet. I worship him. I believe
it when I say,'Lord, if thou wilt thou canst
make me clean.9- I not only believe that he can,
but that he is my friend; that he died to cleanse
me; that'he is able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them.' I confide




VIWA.                151
in him, hang on him, and pray,'Lord, increase
my faith.' I have not so strong a faith as I wish
to have, or such as his power, wisdom, and love
warrant and his word invites; but what I have
bring peace and some joy, which I know is in
the Holy Ghost."
Ten days after the above was written Mr.
I-Iunt was still detained on the voyage, and felt
much for his wife, who he knew would be painfully uneasy about his safety. It was Sunday,
and after preaching to the crew he was very
dejected, and wrote: "I felt my situation, and
was much concerned about my dear wife; but,
above all, I felt my unworthiness and worthlessness. It seemed as if I had done wrong altogether in leaving home, and in everything I had
done since I left home; and, indeed, all that I
had ever done seemed wrong. I felt very much
for some time, and then the) Lord lifted up the
light of his countenance upon me and gave me
great peace. I felt happy all the day, so that I
could have shouted aloud in praise to God. I
could trust in Jesus as my perfect Saviour, and
rejoice greatly in his love. I trust my Ilannah
(Mrs. Hunt) feels every. moment as I felt then.
Praise the Lord! It was a seasonable manifestation of his love. I felt I could come to Christ
as my perfect Saviour; that I could come now,
and just as I am, without waiting to be better;




152  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
and I felt a strong confidence in the unchangeableness of the love of Christ, believing that
nothing can separate me from his love to me a
poor worthless worm."
After four days more Mr. Hunt reached Viwa,
to the great comfort of his wife and friends, who
had been much alarmed at his long absence.
On his return he again applied himself to the
instruction of his students, and his favorite work
of translating. Before the end of the year he
also had an English and writing school in full
operation, his scholars being the children of
white residents, a few of whom had settled and
married native wives on the island of Ovalau.
The domestic aspect of the mission-house was
now brightly changed by the birth of a little
girl, whose coming brought a father's joy into
the loving and tender heart of the missionary,
and helped him to engage the more happily in
his great toil. Here are one day's occupation
and notes:
"Taught a day-school.  Four Levuka* boys.
Two Viwa boys, learning English, read the last
lesson in the First Books to-day. Translated
part of the baptismal service from the Liturgy.
Had the men's writing school.  Loko died. My
little girl nicely. Did not enjoy my morning's
* Levuka is the chief town of Ovalau and the residence of the
vlwhites.




VIWA.                153
devotions as well as usual, not using my usual
help to devotion, the Litany. Did not enjoy
my walk till I began to think of perfect love.
Read the latter part of the first volume of Milner's Church History. Should like to see a
good Church history by a thorough Methodist; I
mean, a manl who lives in the full enjoyment of
perfect love.
6 Conversed at tea with Mrs. Hunt on anxious
care. There are -two kinds of care. One is
anxiety to do our duty, which is right. The
second is anxiety about providential events,
which is wrong."
In writing to Mr. Lyth, in September. Mr.
Hunt shows how fully he himself has this right
anxiety to do his duty. 6 I see more than ever
that two things only are worth my attention,
holiness and usefulness; and I am more than
ever determined to devote myself to these two
things. I love holiness more than ever, and
have had a larger baptism of the Spirit who is
most fitly designated Holy. But still I am far
from being as holy as I ought to be. I have
also a great desire to be useful, though not so
great as I should have. I cannot yet say,'The
zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.'
But what must I do to accomplish what I
desire  For I am sure I have a good deal to do
with bringing about the accomplishment of my




154  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
own desires, which are not my own, but the gift
of grace divine. In the first place I must settle
the matter with God, that I will, by his grace,
be wholly his, and that I will trust entirely in
the blood of Christ for full salvation. This
God requires, and it is essential, as perfect love
and its fruits can only be the results of perfect
faith.
"My consecration to God must include these
three things besides: 1. A determination by
his grace never to indulge in any conversation,
follow any pursuit, or read any books not in my
conscientious opinion calculated to increase my
holiness and usefulness. 2. That I will attend
to all things which I believe are calculated to
help me in these two particulars. 3. I will allow a
considerable portion of time every day to be spent
in reading the word of God and prayer, that I
may know what I should do and what leave
undone in order to be entirely holy, and as useful as it is the will of God I should be.
" One thing I must keep in mind, and that is
that I must fully believe that my heavenly
Father is of the same mind as myself in these
particulars, and that he will manage my outward
affairs so as to promote my holiness and usefulness as well as bless the use of the means. There
are two classes of means of grace: those which
we use, and those which God uses. Those which




VIWA.                155
we use are called in the old Minutes,' Instituted
and Prudential.' Those which God uses are of
two kinds: such as are particularly calculated
to make us thankful, and those that are more
particularly calculated to humble us. All our
blessings and all our trials are intended to be
means of grace."
In another letter to the same he writes:
"During the last six months I think I have enjoyed more religion than I ever did in Fiji: but
I am  not uniform; I fluctuate a good deal.
Sometimes I think I so love God that no evil
has any place in me. Then again I feel the
stirrings of evil either from my heart or from
the devil. So you see I am weak, or I should
know more certainly what is from the devil and
what is not. My morning devotions are usually
seasons of good to me. I generally use the
Litany in private prayer in the morning, and
am often blessed with enlargement of heart and
freedom of speech before the Lord; and I believe that I both feel and see answers to prayer.
Then I am  often dull at family prayer, and
sometimes get a little irritated with the boys
in the forenoon, or get a little nervous about
something that goes wrong.  My Sabbaths are
good days, only I want to have seven in a week.
And why not?  Why am I not as spiritual over
writing as in preaching? Because I am weak




156  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
in faith. I see a great deal yet to be done in
me before I am like my Lord and Master."
To Mr. Williams, who had just removed to
Somosomo, he writes: " I am very thankful to
hear of your personal, family, and public prosperity, and trust the Lord will enable you to
preach the Gospel successfully at Somosomo
also. You will, no doubt, meet with new trials
in a new place; but you will have new mercies
also; and I hope you will be so taken up with
mercies, and have so much to do for the Giver,
as not to feel the presence of less pleasant things.
Live fully to God, my brother, and then all will
be well. It appears to me to be folly to expect
perfect happiness without perfect holiness. And
why not expect perfect holiness?  Is not this
the ure?Z' Cannot Jesus Christ do as much in
the way of saving as sin and the devil have done
in the way of polluting and debasing us? And
will he not?   For this purpose was the Son of
God manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil.' Are not pride, envy, malice, uncharitable feelings and conversations, anger,
fretfulness, peevishness, (often called nervousness,) love-of the world, unbelief etc., all works
of the flesh and of the devil? Jesus the Son of
God will surely save us from all these our sins;
for we are his ransomed, believing people. Let
us pray for each other, that all the purposes




VIWA.                 15
of our dying Lord may be accomplished in
us, and that he may have the glory of fully
saving us.' I must now give you a little news, and good
news it is. My dear wife and child are doing
nicely.  The little girl is'very fat, and seems
hearty.  You have been blessed with a living
offspring, and you cannot feel the suspense, the
painful suspense, of those who, like us, have had
to part with all that have been born. We rejoice that God has blessed us again; but it is
with trembling. I trust, however, we can say,'Thy will be done.' We are both trying to give
God our hearts, and in doing this we give him
our will and with it our all; for a man's will is
his all: when that is given there is not much
kept back. We can then sing:'Father, into thy hands alone
I have my all restored;
My all, thy property I own,
The steward of the Lord.' "
During the year Mr. Hunt had traveled about
eleven hundred miles, chiefly by water. lie
says, in a letter to England:' One place in my
circuit is about a hundred miles off, and another
about seventy, and a third thirty. Besides, I
have made a missionary tour round an island
called Na Viti Levn, about three hundred and




158  A MISSIONARY AMONG- CANNIBALS.
fortv miles in circumference, and preached the
Gospel to the people of five different tribes
or kingdoms who have never before seen a
missionary."
At the request of Mrs. Cross, Mr. Hunt had
commenced a memoir of her late husband, which
he afterward completed and sent to England,
where it was published.  At the same time he
worked at intervals in writing upon holiness, and
sent what he wrote to Mr. Calvert.  Iis theological lectures and short sermons in Fijian were
also being prepared for the press.* In connection
with his translating, he set himself to compare
the various dialects, as far as they had been
ascertained by himself and the other missionaries; and his arrangement of the points in
which they differed on either side of the strong
line of agreement running through all, was clear
and philosophical.
But the work of the mission was hindered by
niore formidable differences among the people
than those of dialect. For a long time threatenings of war had disturbed that part of Fiji in
which Mr. Hunt was placed, and in the latter
part of this year the long conflict between Mbau
and Rewa commenced.  Another cause of constant anxiety was thus given to Mr. Hunt, not so
* These were published from the Mission press in March, 1844.
under the title of gNa Vanah Lekalekal  " Short Sermons."




VIWA.                 159
much on his own account, as about the missionary who was at Rewa in the very heat of the
war, and with whom no direct communication
could now be held.
This invariable unselfishness, together with an
intense sympathy for those who were in trouble,
was one of the main features in Mr. Hunt's character. The chief of Mbau comes to the missionhouse and begs a blanket. Just then the family
is rather troubled by their scanty supply of this
very article; but the chief gets the blanket. A
messenger disturbs the missionary at his studies
by announcing the frightful illness of some person a long way off. The good man hastens away
to the house of the sufferer, and finds that there
is scarcely anything the matter with him. This
is very annoying; but the missionary tries to be
patient, and goes home to his books again. If,
however, the case is really bad, he will give and
do all he can to relieve it. The natives know
this, and are never backward in applying to Misi
Oneti, as they call him. But toward his brother missionaries, when they are afflicted, his
tender love is beautiful. Thus he writes to his
dear friend Mr. Calvert, who was very ill at
Lakemba:
" I can only pray for you at present. This we'do here continually, both in public and private;
and the Lord, I believe, answers prayer. I have




160  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
great hopes that you will be spared to us and
your family. Look up, my dear brother! Thank
God, you are not afraid of death, or anxious for
life. What a blessing is religion.!  We feel for
you being alone, and wish you were at Viwa with
us a while. The air and company might be of
much use to you. The Lord will bring you here
if it be best.  He who numbers the hairs of our
heads also marks out our habitation for us, and
orders all events, even those which are, in our
esteem, of no more importance than a single
hair which we pluck out and throw away at
random.
"Thank the Lord, we are nicely. I am much
obliged for your concern about me. I conscientiously take care of my health. Good health
is a great blessing, and it requires great grace
to use it aright.
" Well, my dear brother, how does your soul
prosper? Tell me exactly where you are. I
am fluttering about the cross; sometimes taking
hold of Christ as a perfect Saviour, and feeling
something of the cleansing blood; then getting
away again, and temper rises, or some other
bitter thing.  I see it is all by faith. We
must fully believe, or we make nothing out;
not talk about believing, but believe with the
heart.
"6 How  is dear sister Calvert?  She has




VIWA.                 161'good report of all, and of the truth itself.
Do you good friends write to us about your
souls. Pray for us. Love us, and assure yourselves you are in our hearts to live and to die
with you."




162   A  MISSIONARY  AMONG  CANNIBALS.
CHAPTER XI.
VIWA,  1844,  1845.
Self-examination -Reflections -Economy of Labor - Letters to
Mr. Calvert - Hospital Engagements - Murder - Difficulty and
Hope -Baptismal Service  The Queen's Conversion- Letter
to Mr. Williams - Opposition to Mbau - First Time of presiding over the District Meeting - School- Voyage to Rotuma -
Revival-Verani's Conversionl-Birth and Death-Letter to
Mr. Calvert —Building, etc.-Another Voyage-Letter to
Messrs. Williams and Hazlewood- Penitent Prayer Meeting -
Great Revival - Letter to Rev. J. Watkin - War and Persecution - Review of the Year.
IMR. HUNT. began the year 1844, in his journal,
with this entry concerning the past and present:
" Thus closes another year of mercies. It has
indeed been such to us, and we have not made
anything like suitable returns. Lord, be merci-'
full to us, and still continue to bless us through
Jesus alone.
" I am  doing a little in my work, but get on
slowly.  I have been  doing something at M[r.
Cross's Memoir, and a little at Entire Holiness.
I have more work than I can do, and need more
time for both private and public duties, and
especially for pastoral duties. Certainly time is
not heavy on our hands in these islands.  We
might easily work ourselves to death by doing




VIWA.                 163
nothing but what seems necessary to be done.
Out of many necessary things, I am obliged to
attend to the most necessary. I feel it difficult
so to give my heart to God as not to feel anxious;
and yet I see clearly that loving God with the
whole heart is the perfect cure of anxiety. If I
feel anxious on behalf of any person or thing, it
shows that I have an inordinate attachment to
them. I want to love God so as to love everything else for his sake, so as to have no interest
or concern apart from him.'Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee; because he trusteth in thee.' I cannot
fully express what I want; but I see it, and
trust that the Spirit's interceding grace will' Swell the unutterable groan,
And breathe my wishes to the throne.9
"I sometimes feel a little hurried in spirit
through the multiplicity of cares and duties
which I have to think about.  This shows the
weakness of my faith, and leads me to pray for
an increase. I sometimes feel uncertain as to
the path of duty in particular cases.
" Last night a thought occurred to me, which
seemed satisfactory, as to the extent to which a
Christian should labor for the good of others.
We are doing too much for others, when we are
obliged to neglect our own souls, or when we are
Miasionary among Cannibals.   1




164  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
injuring our health. Our Lord, in his most busy
days, doubtless found time for private prayer.
Nay, he was determined to leave both the multitude and his disciples in order to secure this
object. We do not, however, see any excess
likely to injure the body either in our Lord or
his apostles. The same remark will apply to
self-denial. Labor and self-denial, to a certain
extent, are conducive to the health of both body
and soul; indeed, it is almost impossible to preserve either in a state of vigor without both of
these. But either labor or self-denial, carried to
excess, is undoubtedly injurious both to body
and soul. Care of the body was one of the
things recommended to Timothy by his inspired
tutor St. Paul. This, then, I think ought to be
my rule, until I can find another more agreeable
to Scripture and reason: to labor and deny myself so far as my health will permit, and no
further. At the same time, I believe that there
may be instances in which a man is called to
give up health, and even life itself, for the cause
of God and the souls of men; but nothing can
make this right but a clear sense of duty. Such,
I believe, was the cause with John Smith; but
it would be very wrong in any person to follow
his example in this respect- without his reason.
Nay, it is impossible that a man may be right in
imitating Mr. Smith, or any other excellent man,




VIWA.                165
merely from  admiring his character, without
ever inquiring whether it is the will of God that
he also should destroy himself for the good of
others. John Smith did not admire the plan he
adopted, but followed it because he believed it
was the will of God. He might be mistaken.
Be it so.'To his own Master he standeth or
falleth.' Certainly those are wrong who follow
him for no other reason than that they and many
others admired him."
Mr. Hunt did not seek by these reasonings
with himself to put a good face upon sloth, or to
make laziness do duty in the garb of prudence.
To some, discussions like these would be a vain
pastime, a beating the boundaries of their undone and uncared-for duty. Not so in his case.
Inactivity wearies an earnest soul more than
work. John Hunt was wont to say that he
must be "on full stretch;" but there were moments of intense zeal when, in the ecstasy of feeling, every faculty doing its utmost, a mysterious
fear came and warned him  that this crisis of
power touched upon utter weakness. He knew
that when the shaft flew furthest the bow was
nearest to breaking; yet he drew each arrow to
the head. It was because he felt himself in
danger of attempting too much that he thus
argued about the limits of enough.
Every man in health may work hard, far




1.6 6  A MISSIONAnY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
harder than many suppose, or are likely to find
out, and there will be in him a vital power making up for all the wear of toil. If a man keeps
np to that mark he glorifies his manhood; and
if a Christian he glorifies his God. But zeal will
thrust some beyond, so that they win grand success, yet at too heavy a cost. They overdraw
the current supply of strength, and intrench on
their capital, and thus their life is shortened.
Many have done this to gain learning, many to
win glory, many to get gold, and very many to
catch pleasure; and some, but not many, to
serve the Lord Christ. These last have not
allowed themselves to yield a slow and exact
supply of service, but have crushed the rich
cluster into one brimming cup of "wine which
cheereth God and man."  Might they not have
done more had they been more careful of themselves "  asks Prudence; and Faith answers:
"Wait till they all shine out hereafter, to judge
how  one star differeth from  another star in
glory."
No doubt the missionary was right in recognizing the principle that in some cases a man's
duty requires him to live in months the life of
years. On some special errands of enlightening,
God's lamps have to send forth so fierce a flame
that they are the sooner burnt out.  It is the
same duty that calls for the sacrifice, whether




VIWA.                167
the blaze be of zeal or of fagots. Yet, as Mr.
Hunt points out, no man is justified in seeking
the flame for the flame's sake. His call must be
very clear. Whether John Hunt had such a
call no man can tell. His business was urgent;
and he was placed, both as to time and position,
in such a momentous crisis of the Fiji mission
that a vast work had to be done in a short space,
and done not secretly, but with demonstration of
power. So the man of God wrought till he fell,
and while he laid down his rules of prudence,
passed further beyond them  every day.  Surveying the wide-spread evil around him, and
confident that the Gospel committed to him was
a sufficient remedy for it all, he regarded his
most diligent service as all too little. Thus he
writes: "I have now been five years in Fiji.
How  little use I have made of my time!'Quicken Thou me according to thy word.'"
Yet this hard sowing-work and tillage brought
great results of manifold good, and for the sower
himself the ripe fruit of comfort, which refreshed
him when his toil was all done. In his last ill- 
ness he said to Mr. Lyth: 6 This complaint has
been coming on all the last year. My headache
has been attended with much fever. Perhaps
I have sometimes exceeded my strength; but I
have no condemnation on that head. I could
not have done less with a good conscience. Is




168  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
it not a cause of joy that I have not that to blame
myself for'9
Cause of joy? Yea, verily, as full as that of
the man whose dying hour shall be lit up with
the sublime reflection:'" Whatever has been
done or left undone, I have always taken care
of myself."
The following letter is dated " Feb. 10, 1844:"
" MY DEAR BROTHER CALVERT, —I am always
glad of an opportunity of writing to you, and
much obliged by your losing no opportunity of
writing to us.  It proves that your valuable
friendship is as constant as I believe it is sincere. We are well and happy. We had a
blessed time last night; much of the sanctifying
influence of the Spirit was among us. We all
felt it, and gave God the glory. I wish you
could have been with us; yet the same Spirit is
with you. Only believe, and you shall have the
same blessed visitation. The' times of refreshing' come from  the presence of the Lord in
answer to believing prayer. We have been
rather dull some time, but are now all quickened.
"The good work prospers in our circuit gradually. We live in uncommon unity as brethren
and sisters. 0 may peace be preserved among
us, and increase yet more and more 




VIWA.                169
I am doing a little at translating. I have
done but little on our subject. I must do more,
or I shall not get on with anything well.. The
Bible is the text.book on the subject. 0 that I
may fully understand its meaning, especially in
the extent which has been so little understood
by many!' Verani is very anxious to Zotu. Sometimes
he is almost determined to risk all; sometimes
he hopes for a more convenient season. There
is a great change in him, and in the Viwa people generally; I mean the heathen. Pray for
us, that we may have saving power connected
with the truth. Believe me," etc.
VIWA, Feb'ardy 28, 1844.
"DEA), VERY DEAR BROTHER CALVERT,-I
have heard that Kamisese is about to sail to
Lau, so I write a line to say we are pretty welL
O how we long to hear from you! Your critical state of health makes it painful to be long
without knowing how you are going on. It is a
cheering thought that our heavenly Father and
loving Saviour are in every place. We are near
in him, and we trust you to his power, and wisdon, and love.
" As to writing, you command me. I do as
you tell me. -I had been a little down about
inability. etc.; but you stir me up and encour



170  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
age me. I send you a rough sketch of the
memoir (of Mr. Cross.) Perhaps you will be
disappointed in me. I do not feel so fully at
home as in writing on some other subject.
I do not altogether neglect our subject, and
cannot get on with other things if I do. The
Lord blesses what I write to my own soul, and
it furnishes a subject of conversation on a Sabbath evening for me and Mrs. Hunt. Last Sunday night we had:' Then will I sprinkle clean
water upon you,' etc. It was a good time. I
do not exactly preach; we sit down and talk
about it. Blessed be God! lie makes us very
happy in our lonely situation. We are both
trusting in the precious blood, and expect to
feel its full efficacy. I wonder how you are
going on.... Make full use of our blessed Jesus
and all will be well."
During the earlier months of this year several
conversions took place, and a good many made
outward profession of Christianity.  Growing
influence was gained by the administering of
medicine, and Mr. Hunt had quite a little hospital at Viwa. Day by day at a fixed time a
bell was rung, when very frequently as many as
thirty patients would present themselves, some
blear-eyed with ophthalmia, some scaly with
leprosy, and the rest suffering from divers ail



VIWA.                171
ments. Persons of importance were brought as
far as ninety miles, to be under the missionary's
dare.  He was remarkably successful in his
treatment, and in many cases the patients joined
the Lotu.
War continued to rage, and the heathen part
of Viwa still caused the missionary much trouble.
One morning after family prayer news came to
the Mission-house that a young man had just
been murdered on account of a crime of which
there was every reason to believe he was innocent. Mr. Hunt says:
" I hastened to the spot on the other side of
the island, and found the poor fellow laid on his
back, with one side of his head laid open, and
part of his brains on the ground. He was still
struggling and breathing, and seemed to know
us when we approached him. We had nothing
with us but a spade. By means of this, however,
we cut down a tree and got some cocoa-nut leaves
to make a litter on which to carry him to the
mission premises. By the time this was done
the people arrived with a mat and some native
cloth. We took him into my study, where he
lay till afternoon and then expired. We buried
him as a Christian, he having embraced Christianity; and, having never been proved to be
guilty of the crime laid to his charge, I thought
it would be wrong to allow him to be buried as




1  2  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
a heathen. The murderers were much afraid
that he would not die, and sent to me to have
him buried before he was dead. I sent to tell
them they should have his body if they took it
by force, but not otherwise; but to this they
made no reply. It is said there are two others
yet who have to be murdered before the affair
is finished. It has been a gloomy day. It is a
great trial.
" We were much cheered by letters from Mr.
Lyth and Mr. Williams, which were unusually
affectionate and exceedingly opportune. Thus
the Lord prepares us for our trials, and sustains
us under them. We trust also he will sanctify
them to us, so that we may have a happy issue
out of them. Fiji is very gloomy at present.
All is war, murder, and destruction. The war
between Mbau and Rewa is of the most malignant kind. Nothing but a revolution in one of
the places can settle it, humanly speaking. Almost the whole group is rent with discord. Still
the Lord carries on his work. Two embraced
Christianity yesterday, and our people are, I
trust, growing in grace. How much missionaries need the prayers of the Church, and the
promise,  Lo, I am with you alway, even unto
the end of the world!'' The prayers of God's people act in a powerful way on the interests of Fiji. There are now




VIWA.                 173
wheels within wheels. Some are moved by believing prayer, which will have a mighty influence in checking the work of destruction. Fiji
is not what it once was. It is not under the sole
dominion of the god of this world. There is a
Church in Fiji, and Christ will govern the group
for its establishment and prosperity.
" iMay 26. Yesterday (Sunday) was a good
day, a day of much of the presence of God.
The prayer-meeting in the morning was unusually good. After prayer in the forenoon service
ten adults were baptized. There was a good
feeling during the time I was proposing the
questions to the candidates, and impressing on
their minds the solemn engagements they were
then entering into. When they had answered
the whole of the questions I observed to them
that angels had witnessed their vows, and perhaps saints too; and if so their former pastor,
Mr. Cross, had with pleasure witnessed them. I
urged them to act consistently with their present
professions, and with many words exhorted them
to save themselves from an untoward generation.
Some already began to sob and cry, and showed
that it was with the greatest difficulty they could
contain themselves.
" Almost as soon as I commenced baptizing
the candidates the Queen of Viwa was completely overwhelmedo Her heart seemed liter



1 4  A MISSIONARY AMON0G CANNIBALS.
ally to be broken; and, though a very strong
woman, she fainted twice under the weight of a
wounded spirit.' She revived only to renew her
strong cries and tears., so that it was all we could
do to proceed with the service. The effect soon
became more general. Several of the women
and some of the men literally roared for the disquietude of their hearts. As soon as the baptism was concluded as many as could chanted the
Toe Deum. It was very affecting to see upward
of a hundred Fijians, many of whom were, a few
years ago, some of the worst cannibals in the
group, and even in the world, chanting,'We
praise thee, 0 God; we acknowledge thee to
be the Lord;' while their voices were almost
drowned by the cries of broken-hearted penitents. I weep while I think of it. What a
gracious God is our God! and blessed be his
glorious name forever!
" The queen came to our house after the service,' and with a countenance full of sadness
and eyes full of tears, said, i/isi Oniti, an sa
rere:'Mr. Hunt, I am afraid.' I directed her
to the Lamb of God and prayed with her. She
requested the use of my study, in which she
could pour out her soul to God without interruption. I of course let her have it, and there
she prayed until God spoke peace to her soul.
" We are thankful for this visitation. 0 that




VIWA.                 175
we may be able to retain the blessed influence
thus graciously vouchsafed to us, and may it increase a thousandfold! Amen."
Thus was the missionary greatly cheered, and
he greatly needed it; for war, attended with
endless barbarities, raged all round, and hindered the good work. But here, in the midst
of the gloom, a light shone out gloriously, making glad those who dwelt in its brightness, and
drawing the attention of those who lived in the
surrounding night. Writing to MBr. Williams at
Somosomo, Mr. Hunt says of the Queen of
Viwa:
"She is exposed to many temptations, and
will be much tried; but God is able to make her
stand. This is a drop.  O that we may have
the shower! The devil is very busy. The past
year has been one of conflict in this place. The
Lord has been working and so has Satan. O for
faith! If Brother Lyth should be stationed
here there will be a good work; he has more
faith than I have, and a better way of bringing
souls to Christ.
"This is the best local news I have to communicate. There is much,very much, bad news.
Fiji is in a dreadful state. But God is working,
and will work. There is much labor and suffering before us, my brother.  O that we may get
and keep at the feet of Jesus, and be clothed




1  6  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
with humility, patience, love, zeal, and living
faith! I have never yet been able to feel all
the depths of Ahmble love. Once during the
last year I seemed to sink into nothing, and 0
how sweet it was! But it was gone in a moment. It was to show me what I had not, that I
might seek it."
Mr. Hunt's hopes about the queen were for
the most part realized, and for three years she
not only remained firm in her religion but became very zealous in recommending it to others,
and not without success. After that time she
fell into unfaithfulness for a while, but was ultimately and completely restored. Inquiry was
aroused in the minds of many; and not only in
Viwa, but among the people of the royal town
of Mbau the good influence was felt, insomuch
that it was said that the Iotu formed for a time
the main subject of conversation in Mbau. The
chiefs were alarmed, for they heard it said openly,
"All Mbau is turning Christian;" and even some
of the king's wives had joined the Lotu. The
old man could not live long, and at his death he
must be honored by the strangling of many of
his wives; but if they Lotued they would declare strangling to be against their creed, and
thus oppose the due respect belonging to the
king's funeral. Therefore the;otu must be
checked. Many more were ready to renounce




VIWA.                 lVt
their old religion; but the fear of man prevailed,
and again the establishing of the mission in Mbau
was delayed.
In August the district meeting was held at
Viwa, and Mr. Hunt had, for the first time, to
take his place as the chairman. He thus writes
in his journal:
" Atugust 10. The' Triton' arrived off Viwa
to-day. We saw her yesterday, so that we were
somewhat prepared for our welcome visitors.
We were very happy to meet with bur old and
tried friends, Lyth and Calvert, and also to welcome two new ones, Messrs. Watsford and Hazlewood, to Fiji. They appear to be men in every
way qualified for their work, and I trust will be
a great blessing to Fiji. Our conversation turned
chiefly on the work of God in this part of Fiji.
That we had been graciously visited was plain
in the increase of our number of professing
Christians, especially in Mbau. The Mbau chiefs,
however, have seen good to oppose the work,
and for a time at least it seemed to feel the influence of the opposition.
"We now began to think of commencing our
district meeting. This was to me a great trial,
one of the greatest I have ever had to endure.
The idea of being chairman of the district seemed
to affect me but little when the news first reached
me; but when I had actually to take the chair,




17T8  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
and be thus placed in any sense over my brethren whom I sincerely thought better than myself, I was so affected that I wept aloud, a rare
thing for me, especially in the presence of others.
What my brethren thought of me I don't know,
but they urged me to commence the meeting,
which, however, I could not do, and Brother
Lyth finally commenced for me. After that I
was able to go on with more comfort and satisfaction; and the kindness and brotherly feeling
of all were great helps to me in the performance
of duties for which, above all others, I am
unfit."
The meeting went on and ended very happily,
and the missionaries once more returned to their
several stations, leaving Mr. Hunt at Viwa, to
continue his usual work. He had now commenced a writing school, and paid more attention to catechizing the young people. On a
Sunday evening, after the service, about twenty
of these, with any adults who chose to come, assembled in his study, ranging themselves round
the room, while he sat in the midst. He would
then ask one of them what he remembered of
the sermon last preached, and make the same
inquiry of each in turn. One would recollect
the text, another one of the divisions, or an illustration, or some particular remark; and thus the
sermon was pretty well reconstructed. After




VIWA.                179
all had answered, they were asked to make any
further remarks, or put any questions, as they
thought fit. Difficulties were removed and explanations given; and the class was in great
favor, especially with the lads, some of whom
received much advantage from it.
Toward the close of September Mr. tHunt
made a voyage to Rotuma, a lone island about
three hundred miles off, where some good was
being done by native teachers.  During this
journey, which occupied nearly a month, he
visited several of the more important stations in
Fiji, and returned encouraged and strengthened
to Viwa.
The mission establishment was now considerably increased; for the war and the ruinous condition of the house at Rewa had made the leaving
of that station necessary, so that the two Rewa
missionaries and their wives were residing at
Viwa.  In this little company there grew up
a holier love and quickened zeal; and they
"spake often one to another" of the things of
God and their great enterprise. As far as Mr.
Hunt was concerned, this association with his
fellow-laborers was of great importance. He
had but little fondness for merely business matters, and his duties as chairman had thrown upon
him more business than was either pleasant or
profitable. He did not go about his preaching
lMiEionir ry aong Cannibtls.  12




180  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALSo
work with the wonted happy freedom and sense
of power, and the life of the native services
seemed to wane. Several things had hindered
the mission families from holding a class-meeting; but these difficulties were at last overcome,
and as brethren and sisters they met together in
that social service to which, beyond all other
means of human ordering, Methodism has ever
owed its peculiar strength and vitality. Then
was that little community baptized with power
from on high; a new life seemed to quicken
them, and in their meetings for Christian fellowship they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
Very soon the effect of this reviving was seen
in the native services, and Mr. Hunt says: "I
began to feel in preaching something of that
saving influence which I used to feel last year,
when we were so graciously visited."  Just then
the missionaries were cheered beyond measure
by an event to which they had looked, and for
which they had prayed and worked for a long
time. The young and renowned warrior Verani,
the nephew of Namosimalua, the chief of Viwa,
became Christian. It was no empty profession
that he made; but in the face of strong opposition from the powerful Thakombau, and with a
certainty of consequent loss of influence and
wealth, he boldly but calmly renounced heathenism, and bowed the knee in the worship of




VIWA.                 181
Jehovah.  Mir. Hunt says of him: 6 Verani has
done remarkably well since he became a Christian. He has abandoned all his wives but one,
and has been married to her. IHe attends school
regularly, and will begin at once to meet in class.
Ile has been exceedingly attentive to the preaching of the word, and to all other means of grace,
since he began. He has, of course, some curious
notions, as many people have when they first
feel the working of divine grace. He has dismissed all his servants as well as his wives, and
wishes to cook his own food, nurse his own child,
and do such other things, as a kind of penance
for his past sins. I-e appears also to be very
desirous to abandon all connection with Thakomban and all his concerns, in which he is encouraged by some of his people who have great influence over him."
In the middle of March, 1845, another light
of joy shone in the missionary's home, when
another little girl brought blessing to the father's
and mother's hearts. And verily they needed
it; for Hannah, a frail child of unearthly gentleness, was sickening unto death; and having done
her angel errand, she got leave to wait till the
baby-sister filled her parents' arms, and then;
with a parting smile, went back to God. The
baby was a fortnight old when they buried
Hannah, and the father wrote, in unconscious




182   A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
prophecy, "A small tomb is raised over her dear
remains, to mark the spot, perhaps, when we are
living together again in a better world."  And
to Mr. Calvert he wrote thus:
"'VIWA, March 29,1845.
" MY DEAR PFRIEND,-Though I have written
fully to Mir. Lyth, and requested him to let you
and all the brethren see what I have written,
yet I cannot help telling you again my sad tale,
and also my tale of joy.
" Poor little Hannah! she is safe and happy
with God. I have now three in heaven. I thank
God that they are safe. I feel much my need
of them now  but 0 how awful the thought of
their living to sin against God and be lost!
Some of them might have been had they lived.
God knows; and he acts according to his knowledge of things, and not according to ours. Yes,
it is all right, though very painful. Poor little
dear! I did not think I loved her so much; for
during the first day after she died she seemed
essential to my happiness; I felt as if I could
not do without her. I feel more reconciled, indeed entirely reconciled, now. My dear wife
was wonderfully sustained.
"What a blessing that Verani has come in
among us. Thank God   I  hope he will be
faithful.  Some person wishes to sell him  a




VIWA.                 183
canoe for a musket; but he does not like to give
one, lest any of the enemy should be shot with
it.  He wishes to be right altogether.  Tie
wishes to be a poor man, and cook his own food,
and get to heaven.
"I have felt some power in prayer for Thakombau lately, and I think most of us have.  The
Lord can save him. I never thought he could
save heathens so easily till I saw it. How shall
we secure Ims power? Lord, help us! 0 how
worthless I seem! I want to be more united to
Him who is the sinner's all.
"I am doing a little on our subject. I never
enjoyed so much as lately, nor was ever so much
in love with entire holiness.
We remain your ever affectionate friends,'J. and H. Huir."
For two years Mr. Hunt had been busy in
building a new  mission-house, and had now
completed the first stone house erected in Fiji.
It cost much labor and watchful oversight, but
has been a blessing to the mission ever since.
The stone for lime and for building was brought
from  the reef, often by the missionary's own
hands. And many a valuable article of clothing or comfort from the family store was giveh
to pay greedy workmen, who would be satisfied
with nothing else. When, after all, the house




184  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
was finished, it was cheerfully given up for the
use of the mission printing establishment, and
thence issued the first Fijian INew Testament.
The translation of the Gospel according to St.
Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles was now
complete, after much diligent care bestowed
upon it, and many a walk up and down a favorite path, where Mr. Hunt would pace for an
hour together when he was in difficulty about
the best rendering of any passage. Other matters belonging to the educational and general
work had received full attention, and in May
Mr. Hunt started once more in Verani's canoe
to visit the out-stations.
While on this journey he wrote to the missionaries at Somosomo, Messrs. Williams and
Hazlewood, dating from Solevu, May 23, 1845.
"I am now, as you will see, visiting the outstations of this circuit. I find things in a very
encouraging state so far. We have had some
very good seasons, and the people appear to be
very much benefited by our visit. To God be
all the praise! We have one drawback to our
pleasure, and that is the somewhat severe illness
of Verani, our excellent chief, who is with us.
I trust the Lord will hear prayer and restore him,
Ind bless him with grace to go on as he has begun, zealously serving the Lord. We have his
large and commodious canoe and most of the




VIWA.                185
Viwa male population with us; the very men
and canoe that a short time since were in these
parts for the purpose of destroying their fellowcreatures.'Praise God from whom all blessings
flow!
"I am glad to hear of some turning at Somosomo, and hope that this is the first-fruits of a
glorious harvest. 0 that it may be so! You
have many trials, and I believe God will sanctify
them to you; and when he has tried you you
shall come forth like gold. We obtain blessings
in time of trial, and by the instrumentality of
painful events, which we can obtain in no other
way; and this, if there were no other, is a sufficient reason why we should be tried. I praise
God most for my trials, and doubt not you do
the same. Yet a little while and they will be
over. I feel eternity very near. I do not know
why, but it seems very near while I write. May
God make us all quite ready! Thank God, the
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all
sin. I was much impressed yesterday with the
thought of the quantity of the precious blood
which Christ shed. It flowed from his temples
when they were crowned with thorns, from his
back when he was scourged with cords, from
his hands and feet when he was nailed to the
tree, and from his side when pierced with the
* A large double canoe carries from eighty to a hundred men.




186  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
soldier's spear. This thought affects me much.
The provision to wash us from sin is abundant.
There is a fountain opened in the house of David
for the purpose.  May we all wash and be
clean 
But I must conclude.  The   Triton' may
come before I have another opportunity of writing. If she does, I shall hope to see you on our
way to the district meeting, and have the pleasure of your company thither.  I love you all
very much, and beg you to love and pray for
me.       Your affectionate brother,
" JOHN HUNT."
This visit to the out-stations, the details of
which were of the ordinary kind, ended with
Mr. Hunt's return, on June 13th, to Viwa,
where he found all had gone on well during his
month's absence. A few days afterward Messrs.
Calvert, Lyth, and Williams arrived at Viwa
from their several stations, where the district
meeting was commenced.  It was then adjourned to Lakemba, and in the course of it Mr.
Hunt preached, with  much  power, to his
brethren on his one great subject of holiness.
After the district meeting Mr. Hunt continued
in his usual course of work, and paid a visit of
oversight to several stations. On settling down




VIWA.                18 
again at Viwa his mind was taken up with the
state of the good cause, and with devising means
for its improvement. He and his brethren were
looking for larger success. Their own hearts had
been quickened, and their trust was sound that
others should share the gift of life; for there
is ever the closest relation between the state of
the workers and the condition of the work, and
God commits his grace to men's hearts, not as to
coffers to hoard itbut as to channels to dispense
it; and he who receives good, gets with it the
most effectual charge to do good. Wherefore
the members of the mission circle, being filled
with heavenly life themselves, looked to see that
life spread. Being aware of the dawn, they
waited for the day. And the day came.
Mr. Hunt, finding more earnestness of attention in the native congregations, suggested that
a "penitent prayer-meeting" should be held
every Saturday. It was arranged accordingly;
and when the time came an unusually large
number of people assembled. Mro Hunt opened
the service with singing and prayer, and then
went on to tell the people why such a meeting
had been called, for the confession of sin, and
pleading for God's mercy through Jesus Christ.
He then stated that any one who felt disposed
was to pray aloud, and Paul, a quiet gentle old
Christian, began to pray with much feelingo




188  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
All the people bowed down in solemn recognition of the manifest presence of God. And the
Spirit of life moved upon those prostrate hearts.
There was a general heaving, and then a sound
of quiet weeping and emotion that could hardly
be repressed. Neither could it be checked long.
A deep groan burst out, and a bitter cry answered it; and one after another sobbed, and called
on Jesus for mercy, until many voices joined in
prayer and weeping before God. Some would
have deemed it a sadly discordant noise; but
it made true harmony with the praise of watching angels.  Before long some who had been
Christians in name for months trusted fully on
Hiim whose religion they had hitherto only professed; and, feeling the joy which comes by
believing, they prayed on behalf of others, and
many cried aloud in an agony. The meeting
closed early, but the work went on. The penitents went to weep at home, and continued all
night in prayer.  And now the ingathering
began, and God's servants rejoiced before him
"according to the joy in harvest, and as men
rejoice when they divide the spoil."   For
several days ordinary business was almost suspended, and from many a house in Viwa, and
from the chief's house most of all, could be heard
far off the sound of those who mourned and cried
for mercy, mingling with the songs of those who




VIWA.                 189
rejoiced in the Lord. In some cases the strong
feeling produced a surprising effect on its subjects.  Most of the women fainted several times
during their distress, and the anguish of the men
was almost terrible to hear and see. Some, being thrown down on the ground, were hardly
held by four or five strong men.
Undoubtedly much of this passionate excitement could be traced to natural causes, and
philosophically accounted for. It has not been
confined to one or two instances, but many
times and many lands have witnessed the same
thing. Yet here is much that science has no
power to analyze; here are phenomena that
transcend all philosophy, except the soundest
philosophy of a childlike trust in God's good
Spirit. In later days, and nearer home, we have
been hearing of similar effects, and have had
them discussed psychologically, and classified as
peculiar forms of disease.  Would that the disease were epidemic among all the nations I for
a strange and sound health has come of it.
Some, fond of playing with edged words, say
it is largely if not entirely the work of the devil.
Then may the Churches have bright hope; for
they never witnessed a more authentic case of
Satan casting out Satan.    Righteousness, and
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," follow this
agony of soul, not after a new fashion, but as it




190  A MISSIONARY AMOONG CANNIBALS.
was in the beginning, when multitudes, hearing
Peter preach, were pricked to the heart.  When
men's hearts are elated with common joy will
they not shout? When men's hearts are broken
with sorrow will they not mourn? And never
did any sorrow wound the heart like the conviction of sin. There is no fear so appalling as that
of God's wrath, no reproach so keen and stinging as that of guilt in the light of his love. A
man who knows the love of God for the first
time as his, and feels himself rid of guilt and
gifted with pardon, never experienced any such
joy before.  Why, in what moves men most,
should they be most unnatural 
Mr. Hunt remarked about the most violent
cases of distress: "There was nothing silly or
wild in what they said; indeed, we were astonished at the manner in which they expressed
themselves, both in prayer and praise, and in
their exhortations to others, after they found
peace. Generally, after they obtained the favor of God and became a little calm, they would
begin to exhort those about them with amazing
power and fluency."  Again he writes:' Some
of the cases were the most remarkable I have
ever seen, heard of, or read of; yet only such
as one might expect the conversion of such
dreadful murderers and cannibals would' be.
If such men manifest nothing more than ordi



VIWA.                 191
nary feeling when they repent, one would suspect that they are not yet fully convinced of
sin."
This state of things continued for some time,
during which the missionaries and teachers were
employed continually-often at night as well as
by day-in visiting those who were in distress
about their souls.  In the public services the
excitement was very great, and tears of joy or
sorrow flowed everywhere, the preacher and
people sometimes joining together in overwhelming emotion. The Te D)enu  was chanted with
a nobler reality of worship than was ever reached by robed clerks and choristers at a warrior's
triumph. It was the fit victory-song of redeemed souls; and the dark faces quivered with joy
as they answered one another in that heathen
land, saying, "We praise thee, O God! we acknowledge thee to be the Lord."  But when
they reached the words, " Thou art the king of
glory, 0 Christ!" voices failed; and streaming
eyes, and broken cries of " Jesu! Jesu!' lifted
a more eloquent praise to God.
"During the first week of the revival," says
Mr. Hunt, "nearly one hundred persons professed to obtain the forgiveness of sins through
faith in Jesus Christ."  Again: " The result has
been most happy; the preaching of the word has
been attended with more power than before the




192  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALSo
revival.  Many who were careless and useless
have become sincere and devoted to God.  The
experience of most has been much improved, and
many have become, by adoption and regeneration, the sons of G-od.  Others have been much
established, and all feel that the revival has constituted a new era in their religious history.  It
has spread through the circuit.  Nakorotumbiu,
Nandi, Mbua, and other places, indeed, I think
every place, more or less, has been blessed.*
The people that sat in darkness have seen a
great light.  Many never understood till now
what we have been preaching to them for some
years. We were delighted when we last visited
the out-stations in this circuit.  We left them
all alive to God, and our ministrations in the
word and sacraments were most signally owned
of God.  The mats of the chapel were wet with
tears of the communicants at the table of the
Lord; and in many instances the ministers were
scarcely able to minister because of the glory of
the Lord."
Mr. Hunt gives his views on the general subject of Revivals in a letter to the Rev. J. Watkin, of New Zealand, written in 1846.  He refers to the late success at Viwa, and then to
* No news of the good work at Viwa had reached Ono; yet at
this very time there was a great reviving in that far distant island,
and many conversions were the result.




VIWA.                 198
the remarkable work of conversion which had
gone on in the Friendly Islands since.
"They have had another wonderful revival
at Tonga; something like the one you were favored to promote several years ago, (1833, 1834,)
the fruit of which has been very great. I am
quite persuaded that this is the blessed means
which God has particularly chosen for converting the world.  It is a way of saving souls
which lays the pride of man in the dust. We
like to have souls saved in connection with the
gradual use of means, so that we can philosophically trace the event to its cause.  But the
blessed God goes out of our ordinary way,
pours contempt on our philosophy, and, by
means we should never have thought of, accomplishes his own purposes.  So be it, blessed
Saviour! Do thine  own work in thine own
way; and especially take care of thine own
honor, about which men in general are so careless. I know you say, Amen.
"The work in Fiji has been very remarkable,
associated, of course, with much that men would
call'extravagance, enthusiasm,' etc.; such as
women praying till they faint, and then recovering from their fainting only to pray till they
faint again; men in such agonies of distress, or
such ecstasies of joy, as to require three or four
persons to prevent their injuring themselves or




194  A MISSIONARY AIONG  CANNIBALS.
others; the suspension of all worldly business,
and exclusive devotedness to the salvation of
their own souls and the souls of others; a total
-or nearly total-neglect of food, sleep, and all
conversation or thoughts of anything but salvation.'"This is enthusiasm! I pity the Christian
minister who can call it such.  The common
way of expecting to get to heaven without using
the means, or by using them ineffectually, is the
true enthusiasm.  We have enough of this in
Fiji, and hail the day which has now dawned
upon us, the day of His power."
It was impossible that such a mighty energy
of good should work in that land of wickedness
without rousing the opposition of the evil which
it assaulted.  While the Gospel brought its
blessings of peace and love to Viwa, the old religion of the people seemed to have put on the
strength of despair, and cursed and crushed them
as it never had before. On either side of them,
and very near, the Viwan Christians watched
the fury of the most terrible war that Fiji had
known, marked by barbarous cruelties more
fiendish than the oldest could remember. The
new converts were exposed to danger because
of their refusal to join Mbau in the war with
Rewa; and Thakombau himself stated that, had




VIWA.                195
it not been for the presence of the missionaries,
Viwa should certainly have been destroyed.
To a few poor Christians on the island of Ovalau
he sent word that they must either give up their
Christianity, or come to Mbau and be cooked.
They replied:
It is very easy for us to come to Mbau and
be cooked, but it is very difficult to renounce
Christianity."
Soon after they received a message, telling
them that Viwa was to be destroyed, and that
they must go to the doomed place and share its
punishment. They all went.
The Christians seemed to be made only more
faithful by the discipline of persecution and
annoyance to which their religion subjected
them; and, to the joy of their teachers, they
stood firm and prospered until the storm passed
away, and there was peace once more.
As the war with Rewa neared its crisis its
horrors increased, and the persecution of the
Christians became more malignant.  At the beginning of December a number of Somosomo
people came to Mbau. Thirty captured Rewans
were cooked for their entertainment, and it was
noised abroad that the Christians should furnish
the next meal. A plot was laid for the destruction of Viwa, but it failed.
The Mbau king ordered that no food should be
Missionary among Cannibals.  13




196  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
taken to Viwa; but before its inhabitants felt
the pressure- of the prohibition Rewa fell by
treachery, and its smoking ruins were the scene
of a bloody pillage. The king, with his army,
arrived at Viwa, fresh from the slaughter. The
great man came, in savage mood, to the mission-house just as breakfast was ended.  Mr.
Hunt had gone into the town, but Mr. Watsford
was at home.  Thakombau sat down by Mrs.
Hunt, who offered him tea and food. He drank
the tea, but flung the bread back, and asked
haughtily for Mr. Hunt. IHe had been sent for,
and a messenger was dispatched for the Viwan
chief Namosimalua, who came presently, entering the house, with submissive respect, on his
hands and knees. As he crossed the room the
king said, " Split his head with an ax!"  Just
then Mr. Hunt's voice was heard, saying, as if
all were well,  S Sa loloma Sa~ka-My love to
you, sir!" This made a diversion, and saved
the Viwan's head. Thakombau then declared
that he had come to execute his threats. Mr.
Hunt begged him to adjourn to the stone house,
and there the missionaries pleaded with him
for a long while to be merciful.
The Christian natives were very firm. Two
of them meeting near the mission-house shook
hands warmly, and, with a cheerful smile, exclaimed, "Heaven is very near!' They even




VIWA.                197
prepared food to set before their enemies. They
retired to the bush-their usual place for prayer
-and many a voice was heard there in exulting
praise, and many praying for the salvation of
their persecutors.
The heathens said: " 0O if you missionaries
would go away! It is your presence that prevents us killing them. If you would go away,
you would not have reached IMoturiki  (an
island close by) " before all these Viwa people
would be in the ovens!"
While the consultation was going on in the
stone house, Lydia Vatea, the converted queen,
entered, and on her knees, with many tears,
besought her kinsman Thakombau to join the
Lotu which he threatened to destroy. She told
how happy the religion of Jesus made her, and
how it fortified her against all fear of death.
The great chief wondered at this strange religion, which enabled its disciples to be so happy
in prospect of the ovens.
All that day the returning warriors, armed
with clubs and muskets, were arriving in Viwa,
until the place was filled and surrounded with
the forces of Mbau, against whom the few Christians were powerless. But they showed no
wish to resist. They were God's people, and
he in whom they trusted cared for them. In
proportion as the heathens grew in number, so




198  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS,
they seemed to waver in purpose, until they
said, "We came to kill these people and we
cannot lift a hand." Toward night they withdrew quietly, acknowledging that the Christians'
God was too strong for them. As they passed
through the bush to their canoes, many of the
converted Viwans whom they had come to destroy accompanied them, carrying for them the
clubs which had been brought for the expected
slaughter.
After this the dark and imminent storm
passed away, and the missionaries and their
charge were left in comparative freedom.
Amid all these things Mr. Hunt kept simply
and earnestly to his work, rejoicing to see the
Gospel proving itself still to be " the power of
God unto salvation " in the case of many. He
thus reviews his own feelings and doings during
the year:
4 In my studies I have paid some attention to
theology, especially to the doctrine of entire
sanctification. I have made some improvement
in Greek and Hebrew, and also in Fijian.
Matthew and Acts have engaged a good deal of
my attention in the work of translating; but I
have not confined myself to these. I have paid
a little attention to general literature; but it is
little indeed that a missionary can do in that
way. Spiritual things have been too much neg



VIWA.                 199
lected; yet I have been systematically attentive to devotional duties, and have enjoyed very
much of the presence of God. So far as I can
judge, the past year has been the happiest and
most useful of my life. 0 that it may be the
beginning of good days! and that my path of
holiness, happiness, and usefulness may be'as
the shining light, which shineth more and more
unto the perfect day'
" I propose to myself three things in which to
take a part, according to the ability which God
gives me: The conversion of the Fijians to
Christianity, not in name, but in power; the
translation of the Scriptures into their language;
and the revival of Christian holiness at home.
I can assist in the two first by my presence and
actual exertions; in the last only with my pen.
Thank God for the success which has attended
my labors during the past year in the first two
parts of my work! and I ought to praise him
for what he has enabled me to do in the third.
I have written, prayed, and lectured on the subject, and have, at any rate, increased in knowledge myself in this most important of all matters to a Christian missionary. In the practice
of medicine, in instructing youth, and in visiting
from house to house, I have not been either so
diligent or so successful as I could wish. I
think I might have done more in all these re~




200  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
spects.  0 that I may be more faithful for the
future 
6 As a family, we have been much blessed.
We have had better health, and every needful
blessing~"




VIWA.                   201
CHAPTER XII.
VIWA:  1846, 1847.
Visitation Tour   Letter to Mr. Williams - Letter to Mr. Calvert - Letter Home - Translating - Esteem of the Natives -
Letter to Mr. Calvert -Another Tour - Journal — Secular
Work of a Missionary - Journal continued - Sermon - Return
- Another Child - A new Task - Extracts from Mr. Lawry's
Journal- Letter to Dr. Hannah -Letter to Lincolnshire.
AT the beginning of 1846 Mr. Hunt, accompanied by Mr. Watsford, paid another visit to
the out-stations, tie condition of which he generally found to be very encouraging. The journey ended on February 8th, when he writes:
"We reached our home in peace and safety.
Thank God, I have never enjoyed a trip so much,
and was never so much assisted in my work, or
so happy in my soul. I pray that it may be a
lasting blessing to me and the people. We found
all well at home, which completes our happiness.
INone but a missionary knows his sorrows or joys.
" 9th. Put things a little straight, and began
to prepare Matthew for the press.  I have now
several months of hard study before me, and
have much need of divine help. Truly we may
say, Our sufficiency is of God."
The adjoined extracts, from  a letter to Mr.




202  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALSo
Williams, reveal much of the,riter's inner self,
and manifest the close and loving fellowship he
had with his brethren.
" VIWA, Ap'il 23, 1846.
" MY  DEAR  BROTHER  WILLIAMS,-As Our
General Letter contains public news, I shall
satisfy myself by giving you a little peep into
our private affairs. We are all busy, as usual.
I have been preparing  Matthew  and Acts
for the press, which I find a laborious task,
though I translated them  last year. My plan
is, 1. To compare my old translation with the
Greek as carefully as I have time. 2. To hear
a native read it, and inquire about every obscure
or doubtful place. 3. To write a fair copy. I
manage a chapter a day, on an average, besides
my other almost innumerable duties. But for
me it is hard work. As I administer all the
medicine, purchase food for the three families,
and attend to nearly all calls from without, of
every kind, I am as fully employed as possible.
" I am also, in addition to my regular studies,
giving weekly lectures on entire sanctification,
an outline of the first of which I send you. I
really do not know when I wrote my journal;
not for want of inclination, but actually for want
of time.
" My worthy colleagues are as fully employed
as myself. They have looked over Matthew,




VIWA.                203
and are going over John together...    I wish
to confine my own attention to three particulars:
The conversion of the people from heathenism to
Christianity, and from the power of Satan to
God; the translation of the Scriptures; and the
revival of the great doctrine of entire sanctification among all with whom I have any influence. I very much doubt my ability to do much
toward the last desirable object; but, by the
grace of God, I shall attempt something-perhaps something in the way of authorshipthough about that I am not fully decided, and
shall depend more on the judgment of friends
than on my own. Meantime, to maintain a clear
consciousness of the pardoning love of God, to
be cleansed from all sin, to be filled with all
the fullness of God, and to walk in the light as
he is in the light, are the daily subjects of my
prayers for myself. I make it a point to bring
these subjects daily before the throne of grace.
0 that I did so with becoming fervor, and a
realizing faith in Jesus 
"I find it profitable to be systematic in my
devotions, not only as to time, but as to the
blessings prayed  for.  After I have gone
through the topics just referred to, in the order
in which I have named them, I endeavor to address our heavenly Father as the God of nature,
and pray to be preserved from all natural evil,




204  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
and to enjoy all natural good, both bodily and
mental.  Next, as the God of providence in
general, as the ruler of all the nations of the
earth; when I pray to be delivered from all political evils and errors, and to be blessed with
everything in this respect which will make me
more useful; such as wisdom, and influence
over those in power, so far as I may be connected with them. My next petition has reference
to the blessed God, as the Father of all the
families of the earth; and family blessings and
preservation from family evils are the burden
of my petition.  Next I endeavor to address
the great Head of the Church; and here my
brothers, the  cause, etc., are remembered.
Lastly, I try to sum up all, and apply to the
ever-blessed fountain of all grace for that instruction, help, and comfort that I need. The
Lord's Prayer concludes. Sometimes I feel this
part of my prayer is rather an expression of
confidence than a cry of need to God.  I feel
as if I could realize what I pray for, and lose
myself in God as the God of providence, as the
Father of the families of the earth, as the Head
of the Church, and the fountain of all grace and
blessing. The former part of the prayer expresses much more than I experience; but I must
continue to pray till I receive the full answer.
I said I should write a private letter. And




VIWA.                205
so I have. I have made you acquainted with
more than any other person knows. My most
private concerns are those between God and
myself. I have told now for the first time to
man what I am continually telling my heavenly Father. I felt led to do so, and hope it may
not be unacceptable to you."
It was characteristic of Mr. Hunt, whose heart
had no power to conceal anything that moved
it deeply, that all his letters about this time
contained much about his three cherished objects of effort. Thus he writes to Mr. Calvert:-' MY DEAR  FRIEND AND IBROTHER - -Our
work is going on gradually. I hope to have
it ready to put into your hands by the district meeting.  I want more experience, and
more acquaintance with Christians. I cannot
learn much that suits my purpose from books;
and I feel the want of observation very much,
which a year or two among the good Methodists
in England would give me. I think the work
must not be published for some years to come.
It is not yet ripe. It is too meager. It is my
constant prayer that we may be able to do something that may serve the cause of holiness at
home, as well as labor successfully in these
islands. I have my mind on three points: The
conversion of the Fijians, the translation of the




206  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
Scriptures, and the revival of Scriptural holiness in our dear country.
" I have very much ardent love for you, and
am thankful for your friendship. I have been
much blessed this year, though my prosperity
has not been so uniform as I could wish. I hold
by the Cross. I need Jesus very, very much
indeed. I trust in him, and in him alone."
The above is dated from Ovalau, where Mr.
Hunt was visiting the society. About ten days
after (July 3) he writes again to Mr. Calvert
from Viwa: "I am going on with our work
gradually. I have been lecturing on the subject
for several weeks, on the Friday evening, which
has been a help to me. I should like to go
through the whole once more, and then I think
I must give it up. The subject is all-important,
and forms a part of what I consider the real
business of my comparatively useless life.  I
feel a strong desire to succeed to the utmost of
God's will; but I hinder myself.  I am not
self-denying enough. I want more of the'perfection' spoken of by James, (iii, 2.) I feel a
particular defect in this. I am generally very
happy and cheerful, and am in danger of saying
too much.  How  easy to grieve the blessed
Spirit! I have faith in Jesus, and love him
much. Pray for mie,




REWA.                20e' My dear brother, you must not distress yourself about anything but vital matters, and in
these' by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto
God; and the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your heart and mind
through Christ Jesus.'
" My health is pretty good.  On the whole I
am worse for wear, and yet I am not ill. I hope
Mary will continue to pray and love Jesus, and
that Philip and Anne* will follow hard after.
What a blessing to have a prospect of a family
of praying children! May the God of families
still bless you  "
The following passages from a letter home
show how the natural affections of the missionary were sanctified, though in nowise abated.
Especially the old yearning love for his mother,
which had begotten in his boyish heart the first
anxiety he had ever felt about salvation, shows
its most earnest outgoing still in the same direction.
"DEAR PARENTS AND FRIENDS,-Your letter
dated April 21, 1845, reached us in August,
1846. We were very thankful to see a letter
fiom  you, however short.  You were well
when you wrote; but you do not say whether
* Mr. Calvert's children.




208  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
dear mother is happy in the enjoyment of the
favor of God or not.  I should like to know
particularly how  your souls prosper.  This is
the main thing.  If you love God, all things
will work together for your good.  If you do
not, nothing is a blessing to you.  Your desire
to see us is perfectly natural; but you must
leave it entirely to God.  Hie sent us out, and
he alone must send us back again.  If we ought
to return we shall.  If we ought not, you would
not wish us to return.  What a blessing that
we are employed in so good a work   What are
we that we should be honoured of God to
preach  the Gospel to  the heathen?  If the
apostle Paul considered it a favor to be so employed, how should we adore divine condescension which has raised us up from ignorance, poverty, and sin, to sit among the princes of his
people!
What am I, 0 thou glorious God!
And what my father's house to thee,
That thou such mercy hast bestowed
On me, the vilest reptile, me.
I take the lesson from above,
And wonder at thy boundless love.'
I trust my dear friends feel thankful that we
are so well employed, and will consider it a
blessing that we are laboring and suffering in so
good a cause."
After speaking of domestic affairs and the




VIWA.                209
state of the mission,R Mr. IEunt continues: "1
only wish my dear parents and brothers and
sisters, and all my relations, enjoyed what many
of these Fijians enjoy.  Many who  a little
while ago were among the worst cannibals in the
world, are now rejoicing in God their Saviour.
A few years since they were more like incarnate
demons than men. Now they are I sitting at the
feet of Jesus, clothed and in their right mind.'
Some have died happy in the Lord since we
have been at Viwa. One who lately died
spent his last hours in exhorting his friends to
persevere in loving and serving God. He said:'I am safe. I have no doubt that I shall go to
heaven. You be diligent; and when I am
gone, remember that you have family prayer
three times a day.' Formerly, when Fijians
died, they exhorted their friends to avenge their
wrongs by killing those who had injured them.
But now, thanks be to God! some of them die
in such a way that one can pray,' Let my last
end be like his.'
"But what, my dear friends, is the secret of
all this? How is it that these cannibals are getting saved, and many who are called Christians
are dying in their sins, and going to eternal
misery? This is a serious question. The only
answer I can give is, that the heathen believe
the Gospel, the Christian heathen do not. We




210  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
preach the same Gospel which you hear at
home, and preach it in the same way; and there
is not, I believe, in general, more of the divine
influence attending the ministry here than at
home; and yet, all things considered, it is much
more successful. The reason must be, as I said
before, that the Fiji cannibals believe the glad
tidings; English Christians, many of them, do
not.
" We hlave, as you may suppose, much opposition  as well as success. Sometimes' the
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
thing. The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together against the
Lord and against his Christ.' But hitherto the
Lord has been our deliverer. Our mercies are
many and great, and our trials are of the same
character. There is nothing  ordinary  here.
You can form no idea in a Christian country of
our joys and sorrows. We are perfectly happy
in our family, in our own souls, and in the
work of God. We have most excellent fellowlaborers, and many, very many dear friends in
various parts of England; some of them  you
know, others you do not know. We have all
we need.' Praise God, from whom all blessings flow! "
During the latter part of 1846 Mr. Iunt was
working harder than ever at translating, while




VIWA.                 211
all his other engagements were followed out with
unabated zeal. At the district meeting held in
August, it had been resolved that Mr. Lyth
should remove to Viwa to assist'in completing
the Fijian version of the New Testament, and in
carrying it through the press. In October he
arrived, and thus a fresh impetus was given to
this important branch of the work. Not that
Mr. Hunt felt free to do less, for he must still
be " on full stretch."  In his little study, which
was built at the end of the garden and overlooked the sea, he toiled on with an energy
increasing as he proceeded. It is true he took
some time for recreation, when be sallied forth
to walk, carrying his little girl in his arms, and
the Greek and English Testaments and Fijian
translation in his hands, in which times of recreation his friends have passed close by him without being noticed. It was a pain to him to be
severed from his favorite employment unless
some other part of his high calling demanded
attention.  No wonder that what was done so
lovingly was done well.  Others engaged themselves in the same matter, and did important
service; but several things contributed to put
Mr. Hunt at the head of the translating department. He had studied the language diligently
with special reference to this one object; moreover, the version was to be in the dialect of the
Missionary among Cannibals.  14




212  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
district in which he resided; and when his
brethren saw the first specimens of his translation they said at once, " This is what we want,"
and by common consent put the managment in
his hands.
The fruits of this daily toil were valuable, and
they were costly. Mr. Hunt lost strength while
he gained progress. The loss hardly showed
itself yet, although now and then anxious eyes,
made skillful with love, marked signs of failing,
only slight, but causing fear. Perhaps the missionary himself was aware of some such tokens:
a hint now and then in his letters seems to
show this. But the foreboding never made him
slacken his effort. He saw the greatness of the
work, and the fear of coming weakness made
him crowd more effort into every succeeding
week. He had now but two objects to labor
for, since he had somewhat hastily wound up
his letters on entire sanctification, and sent
them to Mr. Calvert. He had managed the
building of a large and commodious missionhouse, when the white people at Ovalau had
rendered valuable service out of their respect
for Mr. Hunt. This was now finished, and the
beginning of 1847 found the missionary occupied with nothing but translating, and the various branches of strictly mission work.
One thing was noticed and admired by all.




VIWA.                213
However closely Mr. Hunt was engaged, he
never hesitated to attend to any one who needed
his help. Neither was the help given grudgingly, but with as cheerful a good-will as if the
student had never been interrupted. The natives-even the heathen part of them-learned
to reverence and almost love this man of God.
They knew that they could reckon on his friendship, and that his word never failed. Their
trust in his truthfulness was remarkable, and
no doubt was all the stronger because of the
contrast with  the habitual falsehood  among
themselves, and the gross injustice which had
marked the dealings of some of the white
traders in Fiji.  This was illustrated when a
levy was imposed on certain districts, to raise
wherewith to enable their chief to fulfill a contract made with a colonial trader. So many
gallons of cocoa-nut oil were to be supplied, and
in one  instance-very likely  in more-the
trader understated the size of the casks which
he sent ashore to be filled. The people detected
the cheat and protested; thereupon the captain
declared that the missionary had deceived them
as to the quantity to be supplied. They said
promptly, "' Will the sun rise to-morrow?" "Of
course it will."  Then so certain is the word
of Misi Oniti," (Mr. Hunt.)
In the earlier part of 184T the translation of




2 14 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
the New Testament was complete. Mr. Calvert
returned the letters on entire sanctification,
which again passed under the careful revision
of their author, who worked'at them as long as
he was able, but left some unfinished at last.
On April 26 he writes:
" M/Y DEAR BROTHER CALYERT,-I have been
through  the letters on  entire sanctification
again. They are another stage forward. I am
not satisfied with them, and was of opinion that
they ought not to be printed; but Brother Watsford touches a string that affects me. He says
they have been made a blessing to him, and he
believes they will be to others. This is the
point with me. If they are really calculated to
do good I shall be satisfied, and, I trust, thankful. I am determined now, more than ever, to
try to live as I have written, and prove, by my
experience and conduct, that these things are so.
Help me by your prayers, letters, etc.' Thank God, he lhas given me health and
strength to go througlh the New Testament.
" I am now preparing for my voyage. I expect to be away six weeks. May the good Master be with me! I have felt him very precious
the few past days; but I am an unfaithful servant; yet I feel he is mine, but want to feel it
much more.




VIWAe                 215
"Be sure you take care of your health, and
be very systematic and earnest in your devotional exercises.  I have been reviewing my
own, and find I have greatly declined. I find,
if devotion is not made a serious business, it
becomes mere formality. I have been prevented for some time from attending as I ought to
these duties, and it seems to me that I am just
where I was when I left them off, and the work
too, both among the Christians and heathen.
"I have now commenced afresh, and have
written for my own use a plan for the regulation of my private devotions, which I will send
you.
"I. Times for private devotion.  From  six
to seven in the morning. From nine to ten in
the evening.
" II. Devotional exercises.  1. In the morning, while dressing, repeat a hymn of praise or
a Psalm, or recount the mercies of God during
my past life, and especially those acts of mercy
which appear most particularly to call for
special acknowledgment.  As soon as you are
dressed, praise God on your knees.
" 2. Read a portion of Scripture.  I have
commenced lMr. Wesley's Testament, and intend
to read a chapter morning and evening, with
the Notes, if possible, daily.'3, Pray especially for the following bless



2.16  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
ings. (1.) Pardon of all past sins. And do not
be satisfied without more and more  clearly
realizing  your  acceptance.  (2.) For entire
holiness in a similar way.  (3.) To be filled
with  the Holy  Ghost throughout the  day.
(4.) For bodily, mental, and spiritual blessings;
including protection from  all evil, and the
bestowal of bodily strength, mental vigor,
spiritual guidance, preservation, comfort, etc.
(5.) For family, political, and  ecclesiastical
blessings; including deliverance from all family
evils, all political harm to self and people, and
from all evils in the Church, and for help in
attending to every part of my work. (6.) Pray
particularly for individuals, such as relations,
friends, brethren, and others.  (7.) Conclude
with the Lord's Prayer; enlarging  on each
petition as circumstances require and the Spirit
assists.' I find it a good plan to mix meditation and
self-examination with prayer, and to walk the
room  to meditate.  It prevents dullness and
drowsiness.
"Before praying for the pardon of sin think
what particular sins you have been guilty of,
and confess them  particularly on your knees.
So of entire holiness. Think what particular
things which are wrong still remain in you,
and in what you are still particularly deficient,




VIWA.                 217
"In praying for bodily, mental, spiritual,
family, political, and ecclesiastical blessings, I
find it very profitable to contemplate the character of God, as the God of nature and mind,
the fountain of spiritual good, the Father of all
the families of the earth, the King of kings, and
the Head of the Church.
"I think the whole can be performed in an
hour. The evening is the same as the morning.
I give you this plan, not as a new or excellent
one, but one that I have found useful. I followed it in most of its parts a long time since. For
some months I have not been so particular, having yielded to the pressure of work. I have now
returned to it, and not without a sensible blessing. God be merciful to me, a most unprofitable servant! Amen.
"My dear wife and child are well, and we
are all in peace and comfort.  The work is
much the same as when I last wrote. Our people are undergoing a trial from Satan.  This is
evidently his revival time. But our God will
bruise him under our feet. O that it may be
shortly!"
The voyage referred to in the above letter
was the usual visitation tour to the out-stations
of the circuit. On starting, Mr. Hunt thus
commences his journal:




218  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
" April 27, 1847. This morning I parted
with my dear wife and friends at Viwa, and set
sail for this place, Kavula, with the intention of
paying a pastoral visit to the various places in
this circuit. We had a pleasant day, which enabled me to read part of Reed's'Advancement,'  which I found searching and humbling.
Indeed, it was the means of increasing what I
have felt for some time, a conviction that I must
be a different man, both as a Christian and a
minister, before I can answer all my Saviour's
great design in sending me to Fiji. We reached our port late at night, but had a sweet moon
and good pilots. We met Paul a quarter of a
mile on his way to Viwa with a note from Ratu
Elijah, (Verani,) stating that a Mba chief and
one or two others had embraced Christianity.
Elijah had been to Kavula, and wished to go on
to Viwa, but did not know what to do with his
new converts, about whom he feels much concerned. I think it is likely we may have to go
to Mba; but whom  to place there as a teacher
I know not. Lord, direct!
"28th. I made the necessary inquiries this
morning respecting those who had been preparing for baptism. In the afternoon I married two
couples, baptized seventeen adults and two chil* "The Advancement of Religion, the Claim of the Times. By
Andrew Reed D.D."




VIVWA.                219
dren, and preached from,'I indeed baptize you
with water,' etc. I had a very bad headache,
but that did not prevent a blessing.
4 29th. This morning I preached from,'Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me' etc. I afterward questioned several of the society respecting their experience on this one point, asking
each,'Do you now feel you love Jesus' They
all answered in the affirmative. 0 that all their
conduct may show that they spoke the truth!
I afterward administered the Lord's Supper, and
we found a special blessing. I was led to dwell
particularly on Christ's presence in the sacrament. Perhaps this truth has been so much
perverted by papists that Protestants have gone
to the opposite extreme. There is a presence of
Christ in the Lord's Supper which is real to
every believer. Of course it can only be a
spiritual presence; for what else can be present
to the spirit? Popery holds Christ's natural
presence. Real presence does not appear to me
to be a good word. The presence of Christ in
the eucharist is undoubedly real, but not his
bodily presence. The omnipresence of God is
undoubtedly real, yet not natural or bodily,
but spiritual, and therefore a proper object of
faith. Such also is the presence of Christ in the
eucharist.'In the afternoon the members of society




220  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
paid us a visit at the house of the teacher. They
bought a quantity of yams, and other property,
as an expression of their love, and sang the Te
Deuzm before the house. It was very affecting
to see them. They appeared to be sincere in
their gratitude to God, and their love to us for
his sake.  Our teacher here is an excellent
man; but a missionary is needed. Wesley (a
teacher) preached a useful sermon this afternoon, which I expect closes our services here.
"30h. This morning we left our friends at
IKavula and proceeded to Nairara, where we
found our teacher and people somewhat surprised at our appearance. We had a conversation with the chief of the place on the subject
of embracing Christianity; but he appeared unwilling for the present.  Namosimalua and
Elijah had both tried to pursuade him but in
vain. A chief from lNa Viti Levu persuaded
him not to comply, but to wait. I urged upon
him  an instant compliance, and explained to
him, as affectionately as I was able, the awful
hell which is the portion of those who refuse and
rebel. He did not seem much affected, but listened very attentively. We left him without a
definite answer either way, but with the persuasion that he would soon embrace the truth. At
night the teacher came, requesting us to remain
over the Sabbath that the chief might Zotf, as




VIWA.                  221
he said we might never meet again. Of course
we were very glad to stay.
" Mcy 1. I spent the day principally in reading Reed's'Advancement,' which I found to
be very profitable.  The views there expressed
with regard to the converson of the world are, I
think, very just in  general, and the spirit
breathed through the whole work is excellent.
One opinion was new to me, and appeared at
first sight to be very satisfactory; but I should
like to see it more fully explained and tested by
the word of God. It is, that those among the
heathen will be saved who would have accepted
the Gospel had it been proposed to them.*
These are not the exact words in which the sentiment is expressed, but I think the writer is
evidently of this opinion.  I am persuaded that
there are great numbers who would embrace
Christianity if they had it proposed to them in
a proper way. But who is sufficient thus to propose it?  How  difficult is this which  many
appear to think any one can do I  One view of
the writer I think very doubtful, and that is,
that Christianity might be much more effectually promoted by mechanics and colonies than
it has been.  One objection against mechanics
* Dr. Reecds words are; "We cheerfully admit,.. that
wherever there is such a disposition of mind as would thankfully
receive the Gospel if it were presented, there is essentially a
state of salvation,."-P, 236,




222     A MISSIONARY AMiONG CANNIBALS.
in my mind is, that a mechanic is naturally
associated, in the minds of the heathen, with a
class of men who, are the greatest opposers of
Christianity.  If a man has a secular character
he is ranked with captains of vessels, and merchants, and a variety of others, whose only object
in visiting heathen nations is to get what they
can from them without any regard for the temporal or spiritual interests of the heathen. I
believe the less missionaries have to do even
with the arts of life, the more successful they will
be in the saving of souls. They might, perhaps,
be successful in spreading a kind of secular
Christianity which, however useful, does not
meet the case. Jesus Christ set his disciples
apart from secular things, that they might be at
entire liberty to attend to the spiritual kingdom
in themselves and others.  A man whose business it is to spread righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost, needs no other employment.  This kind of work employs a sedulous
attention to the promotion and advancement of
this kingdom in his own soul, without which he
will not succeed with others; and his own soul
will not prosper in this, unless regular and large
portions of time are devoted to private reading
of the Scriptures, meditation, and prayer. Those
who are necessarily engaged in secular affairs
may prosper in their souls without much time




VIWA.                223
being given to devotional exercises; but those
who are set apart for the work of the Lord may
not waste the time they ought to give to devotion in any secular employment whatever. It
is nothing to the purpose to say that such a
man can maintain the spirit of prayer in the
midst of business; he may, but how few do!
It is not probable that many will. My conclusion is, that those whose work it is to spread
Scriptural Christianity, should be as free from
secular affairs as possible. I wish we could be
much more free than we are, even in Fiji."
It would be very unjust to Mr. Hunt to argue
from  the sentiments here recorded, that he
thought lightly of the good which a missionary
might do to an uncultured people, in the way of
leading them  up to the benefits of what is
understood by civilization.  Before being sent
to Fiji, he himself looked forward with delight
to the advantage which his agricultural knowledge would enable him to confer on the Kaffirs,
among whom he expected to be sent; and he
rejoiced as much as any in the better style of
houses among the Fijians, and other improvements in temporal affairs, which they received
through  the missionaries, and through  Mr.
Hunt himself no less than any. He dreaded,
however, and with good reason, the reversing
of the true order, and the attempt to make




224  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
civilization prepare the way for the Gospel, instead of regarding temporal good as consequent
upon spiritual blessing. I-is faith in the Gospel
as "'the power of God unto salvation to every
one that believeth," was so simple, so like that
of St. Paul, that he was very jealous of anything
which seemed to question the efficacy of the
mere preaching of the Gospel. He accepted
Paul's word as to the relative claims of man's
wisdom and " the foolishness of God."
Moreover, Mr. Iunt had sympathy with the
apostolic judgment respecting the unfitness of a
minister of the word being encumbered with the
ministry of secularities. Recognizing the plain
principle that success in a spiritual work called
for spiritual fitness, and having gained such an
intimate knowledge of his own heart, he feared
anything that tended to come between him and
the source whence he derived all the elements
of the only power he cared to possess; wherefore
it was that he would fain have taken the same
ground as the twelve who said, in declining to
act as purveyors and commissaries, " Bu:t we
will give ourselves continually to prayer, and
to the ministry of the word."  To resume the
Journal:' I may make another observation on the book
which has led to these remarks, which is, that I
feel sorry that the author has not the Wesleyan




VIWA.                225
and Scripture view of entire sanctification, which
I think would give a definiteness to the state of
religion, which he desires so much to see prevail
among the Churches of our beloved country. In
reading his work one cannot avoid thinking of
such men as Fletcher, Bramwell, Smith, and
many others, who are made by entire sanctification just what he describes the Churches should
be. I do not believe any of these would have
been what they were unless they had embraced
with all their hearts this doctrine and experienced this blessed grace. I have found this defect in many works on practical Christianity,
whose authors see exactly what Christianity
should be, but do not tell us how to attain it.
They have not clear views on this part of the
subject. Mr. Wesley's sermons on the Repentance of Believers, on the Way to the Kingdom,
and on Christian Perfection, should always be
read with such works.
" 2d. Suncdcty morning. At daylight we had
a prayer-meeting. The chief with eight or nine
others attended, for the purpose of praying the
first time to the true God. Praise God! May
he be kept faithful, and be a Christian indeed!
Many of the chiefs have mixed motives in renouncing heathenism, but we rejoice when. they
are brought in any way under the sound of the
Gospel.' The entrance of his word giveth light,'




226  A MIISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
but it seldom enters the minds of heathens till
they renounce the false gods. Their salvation
seems suspended on this condition, to which they
have power given them to attend even while
they are heathen. After they have complied
with this condition, the difference in many
cases is very great. They are now benefited by
the means. They were in a salvable state before;
but they are now in the way of salvation.
" We had a good day. I endeavored to show
them  the claims of the God of love on them,
arising principally out of the fact that he has
given his Son for them.  This is truly an
infant Church, but God is able to make them
stand.
3d. We left our friends at Nairara this
morning, and set out for our next port. We
called at two heathen towns on our way and
preached the Gospel, persuading the people to
renounce their false gods. All said it would be
well to do so; but they are waiting one for
another to take the lead, and all waiting for a
termination of war before they can find time to
attend to religion. The Fijians have evidence
enough before them that nothing but Christianity can terminate their wars; still they are disposed to try what they can do by fighting,
though every war necessarily lays the foundation
for a new one. The only way to have peace




VIWA.                 227
upon earth is for each contending party to bring
their weapons of war, and lay them at the feet
of Jesus, and bury all their animosities in the
grave of abandoned heathenism. The people of
Fiji have an evidence of what Christianity will
do for warriors in its influence at Viwa.  The
Viwa people were almost always fighting. In
passing through this part of Fiji, you are continually pointed to the scenes of their past contests. Here you see an island that was emptied
by them, there a town that was entirely destroyed by their treachery or power, at another place
the miserable remnant of a once populous town
(I mean populous for Fiji) are allowing their
beards to grow until they can be revenged on
the Viwa people for the destruction of their
town and the murder of their friends.. [Now the
Viwa people are endeavoring to spread the Gospel of peace where they once carried the horrors
of war. Five of them are now  employed as
regular catechists, others are local preachers, or
undergoing the necessary training for these important stations in the Church. These are evidences of Christianity found on the spot, and
are more convincing to the natives than translations of Horne, Watson, or Paley would be
could they be procured.
We reached Nanganga before night, so that
I had time to preach in the open air to a someMiesionary among Cannibals.  1 5




228  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
what attentive congregation. Our teacher here
is a good man; but the old chief wishes to have
a Tongan. The poor old man knows but little
of Christianity, and does next to nothing for its
advancement among his people. It is the day
of small things here.
"4 4h. We set out for Mba, which we reached late at night, the wind having been light all
day. It is between forty and fifty miles from
Nanganga, and one hundred and twenty from
Viwa. It was dark before we entered the river,
which looked very dismal on account of the
dark thick mangroves which grow on its sides.
We reached the town in safety, and were welcomed by the chief, who has renounced heathenism.  After taking refreshment we had some
conversation and prayer and retired to rest.
Perhaps a missionary owes it to the grace of
God that he is without fear under such circumstances, as he certainly does to his providence
that he is quite safe. The Mba people have the
worst character of any people in Fiji for cannibalism. It is said that they have a temple built,
but wait till they are able to murder some white
man before it is consecrated, in consequence of
a Mba chief having been wantonly shot some
years ago by an American captain.  Whether
the report is true or not I cannot say. I have
been in their power twice, but have had no rea



VIWA.                229
son to suspect them of any bad intentions toward
me.
"5 h. We held a service in the house of the
chief, when his household, consisting of eleven
persons, embraced Christianity. A number of
the heathen were present and listened attentively while I endeavored to impress on them
the nature and claims of Christianity.
" We met with a number of Nandronga men
here to whom I preached the Gospel, and they
appeared somewhat interested- but refused to
embrace the truth at once. They urged the old
reason warmly, that they must first kill, and of
course eat their enemies, and then become Christians. The other two chiefs of Mba gave the
same reason. Yet Providence appears to be
teaching them that they cannot put an end to
war by fighting.  O  that they would love
and embrace the religion of the Prince of
peace!
" 6ti. The rain fell almost all night and there
was no prospect of sailing this morning. I
therefore determined to make use of the time in
the best way I could. I went to the large btere,
(temple,) and found full employment all the
forenoon in preaching to a number of natives in
the bure, and in writing my journal.  The
weather is clearing off a little, but there is not
much prospect of a fine afternoon. Two em



230  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
braced Christianity this morning.  Praise God!
I trust the good work will spread.' The houses here are built on quite a different plan to any I have seen in the Windward Islands.  Many of them, especially the
bures, appear quite round outside, and taper
toward the top in a conical form, so that when
finished they look like round haystacks.  The
inside looks well, as' the rafters are close together; and instead of using reeds they make a
kind of net-work of bamboos, which has a nice
appearance, is very substantial, and prevents the
earth of the grass [with which the roofs are covered] from dropping through.  The houses are
very durable, and as warm as ovens.
" We  had  another service  to-night, after
which we counted our number, and found that
twenty-three had  embraced the truth.  We
spent the evening in teaching them the  akJatusa
(Confession,) etc. Though their language is
very different, yet they understand a great deal
of what is said to them in the MHbau dialect.
"7Vth. We set out early this morning for
Rakiraki.  The wind was fair for a considerable
distance and then became light, as well as much
less favorable.  We therefore called at Vatea,
where we found a number of Rakiraki people
fishing, to whonm we preached the Gospel, but
they were not willing to attend. As night came




VIWA9 231
on we thought we should have the wind from
the land, and determined to sail all night. Accordingly we set off about sunset, and had as
comfortable a night as we could expect. We
were aground several times. Once our mast,
sail and all, fell overboard, and we narrowly
escaped harm.  We were, however, mercifully
preserved, and found ourselves not far from our
port at daylight. We had not much sleep, of
course, but we managed to keep up a fire; and
had plenty of yams to keep out the cold.
" 8th. We reached Thokova, and found the
old chief as usual, so large that he can scarcely
stir, and yet begging for health. I asked him
what he called health if he did not enjoy it
already. But he keeps to his point, ".'le'u bula
-Let me live; which would be very well if
he included anything besides the body, but
beyond this he does not appear to have any
conception. His brother, who is also a professor
of Christianity, is much of the same mind. The
people appeaf willing to become Christians,
but I verily believe that the two chiefs who profess Christianity prevent them. This place reminds me very much of Somosomo. It is very
similar; indeed, it is the Somosomo of this
circuit.
"9th. We held three services to-day. Our
old chief had made a kind of promise that his




232  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
household should  Lotu to-day; but when it
came to the point he told a falsehood and got
off. As I had but few hearers I preached in
the afternoon principally to the teachers, firom
the Parable of the Sower. The following is an
outline:
"I. THE SOWER. II. THE SEED. III. THE
VARIOUS KINDS OF GROUND  INTO  WHICH THE
SEED FALLS.
"I. THE SOWER has three things to do: 1. To
select the proper seed to be sown; which requires wisdom. 2. To sow the seed; which requires diligence and labor. Sowing is hard
work. 3. To see that it is properly covered
with earth, protected, weeded, etc.; which requires much care-that is, prayer, pastoral oversight, and discipline.
"II. THE SEED. This must be, 1. The word
of God; Scripture properly read or quoted.
2. The genuine meaning of that word. 3. Any
other sentiments which correspond to the truth
of the Bible, though not expressed in the words
of Scripture, or any part of its direct exposition.'III. THE GROUND.  Here are, 1. The wayside  hearer-the  hardened, careless sinner.
2. The stony-ground hearer, who believes without much evidence, and abandons the truth
without much reason.  3. The hearer who is
tormented by the cares, and deceived by the




VIWA.                233
riches of the world. 4. The good hearer, who
believes, considers, and practices what he hears.
" 10th. We determined to start for the Large
Land, (Vanna Levu.) The prospect was not
very favorable, as the wind was strong. But
our crew were in high spirits, and made excellent preparations for a stormy passage by reefing the sail after the Tonga fashion. This we
found to answer well, and we reached Mbua in
safety before night. We found our friends in
health and alive to God, for which we praised
the Lord and took courage. What a contrast
between visiting such a place as this and the
one we have just left!
" lti. This morning I waited on Tui Mbua,
(the chief,) and promised to have the house for
the missionary built on his side of the river if
he would engage to become a Christian. He
subsequently refused to comply, by wishing the
house to be built at Tiliva, which pleased the
people very much. They commenced operations at once, and soon had things in a forward
state. We had an interesting service in the
evening.
"12th. The house proceeded rapidly to-day.
About noon I received a note from David
Whippy, (an American,) stating that he was
very ill, and wished I would go and see him as
soon as possible, as it might probably be the




234  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
means of saving his life. I held a service in
the evening, and administered the Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper, intending to sail for ]Ndama
in the morning.  The improvement made by
this people during the past year is very pleasing.
But there is much yet to be done. They have
built a nice chapel.
" 13th. We set sail for Ndama. I held two
services in the new chapel, which exceeds that
at Mbua. It is by very far the best building
in the place, which is all we can expect. The
work has prospered much here during the year.
"14th. We proceeded to Solevu. I found
David very ill, but a little improved. It is
another loud call to the white men here.
" 15th. I preached this morning in native,
baptized several persons, and preached afterward in English. Here too we opened a new
chapel, which far exceeds any building in the
place, and which the white men have paid for
by subscription. It was built by the Nandi
people.
" 16th. I attended to the sick, and held a
conversation with the Solevu people respecting
a piece of ground on which to build a missionhouse. I obtained the land, but they wished
the Christians of Nandi to build the house. I
determined, therefore, to go to Nandi in the
morning.




VIWA.                235
" 17t. We reached Nandi early. The people
were delighted with the prospect of having a
missionary.
"18th. I spent the day in a variety of ways.
At night I married several couples, preached,
and afterward had a consultation with the teachers on several points of importance. The last
day or two I have been reading Cecil.  No book
affects me so much'"
After exactly a month's absence  fr. Hunt
returned safely to Viwa. The great work now
was the printing of the New Testament, which
went on prosperously, and before August an
edition of one thousand copies.of the Fijian Testament was worked off, besides a very large
number of the Gospel according to Saint Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles. When Mr.
Lawry attended the district meeting in September, well bound Testaments were presented to
the meeting, and all rejoiced together in the accomplishment of so great an enterprise. In
speaking of this visit and meeting Mr. Lawry
says: " In this mission everything takes from
the chairman, not a somber hue, but a tinge of
evergreen, a glow of life; and giant strides are
being made in every part of the Fijian work."
In the same month Mr. Hunt's family was
enlarged by the birth of another daughter, which




236  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
was named after the little one who had died,
and thus the parents' great new gain was made
a memorial of their past loss.
During the district meeting Mr. Hunt was
urged by his brethren to undertake the translation of the Old Testament. He consented, but
without that hearty cheerfulness with which he
had entered upon and finished his late work. It
was not that he regarded an accomplished task
as a good excuse for future idleness. He knew
of no goal while he had strength left to run.
But this new undertaking was entered upon as
a bare duty, as though he was conscious that he
should never live to finish it. His Master had
appointed this work to others, and for them was
reserved the peculiar grace which would give it
a zest. For a faithful soul has as keen a relish
in doing its own duty as a healthy body has in
taking food. And if alongside this truth-as,
indeed, every truth-the devil shapes a corresponding lie, it is a very sorry trap, into which
no man would step with his eyes open. But
that is just it. Let a man's own inclination
blindfold his judgment, and it really does not
need much art to snare him. Now this good
man, John Hunt, was a hard subject to blindfold, and, like John Wesley, saw a devilish craft
in the theory that a man was never to do anything but what he felt free to, that is, what he




viWA.                231
liked. So he took up the task at once; and
whatever misgivings he had, there were none
about the way of God's appointed service being
the way of God's given grace. Thus he says in
a letter: " It is a great work, but God can give
me strength if it please him that I should do it;
and if it be not pleasing to him I do not wish
to do it."
Soon after the district meeting in the beginning of November, Mr. Hunt accompanied the
general superintendent, Mr. Lawry, in  the
"  Wesley," to establish two new stations on the
large island of Vanua Levu, Mbua and Nandi.
Yerani, the converted chief, sailed with them as
pilot, and they were escorted by a large double
canoe commanded by the Viwa king, Namosimalua.
The second Sunday of the cruise, while the
" Wesley " was anchored off Mbua, is thus described by Mr. Lawry:' In the morning I
preached on,' If any man be in Christ Jesus he
is a new creature.' During the reading of the
Scriptures and the Litany, as well as through the
entire service, a-blessed unction rested upon us
all. We had two native services; and in the
evening Mr. Hunt preached a thoroughly Wesleyan sermon, on'Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart,' etc. He poured forth
thought upon thought so just, so weighty, so




238  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
original, so luminous, that I sat upon the quarterdeck looking at this wonderful man with amazement and admiration. There was an energy and
a simplicity about his appeals all but overwhelming. The scene was altogether lovely:
the setting sun, the cloud-capped mountains, the
placid ocean, the listening crew  and native
teachers, and the intelligent, zealous preacher,
from whom were coming forth'rivers of living
water,' united in giving effect to the occasion,
and made me willing to ride upon the mountain
wave, and feel at home upon the sea. This was
none other than the house of God! this was the
gate of heaven!"
Mr. Lawry concludes his journal of this visit
thus:
" Viwa, ZDecember 6. We weighed anchor
this morning for Kew Zealand, after taking a
most affectionate leave of the excellent mission
families at Viwa. They are accomplishing a
noble work in Fiji, and a great door and effectual is open to them. Mr. Hunt is an extraordinary man both in body and mind; and all
his fine powers are devoted to Christ and his
Fijian infant Churches, for the conversion of
these energetic people.  By his brethren he is
very greatly beloved, and they in turn are
much and deservedly beloved by their chairmanm




VIWA.                 239
The following letter, written to his revered
and beloved tutor, Dr. Hannah, shows well the
nature of Mr. Hunt's employment about this
time, and the state of feeling in which he pursued it.
" VIWA, FIJI ISLANDS, December 1, 1847.' MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,-Your very excellent and affecting letter, received per   John
Wesley,' was most thankfully welcomed by myself and Mrs. Hunt. We value our friends at
home more than they can well conceive, and
more than they would be willing to credit, if we
were able to tell them. I am sure, my dear sir,
you will believe me when I say, none are more
valued than yourself. I should be ashamed of
my heart if it did not beat with affection of the
purest and most ardent character to one to
whom  I am  under many obligations.  I am
aware you may say you only did your duty.
That may be; but I see more and more that
those who do their duty deserve our best thanks
and our warmest gratitude, though before the
Great Master they must ever consider themselves
unprofitable servants.
I must now begin to give you some account
of our affairs here. There are so many things
that I wish to mention that I don't know where
to begin.  Perhaps I had better commence with
what has engaged most of my attention during




240  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
the past year, namely, the translation and printing of the entire New Testament in the language
of Fiji.
" We have felt our need for some time of an
idiomatical version of the Scriptures of the New
Testament. Some portions had been translated
by our predecessors; but these, as might be expected, were very incorrect, and far from being
fully intelligible to the natives, in consequence
of their being so much in the English idiom.
It is easy to learn the words of a language, and
not very difficult to put them into a sentence;
but there is much difficulty connected with expressing an idea exactly in the way in which a
native would express it if he had the idea in his
own mind. This is what has been attempted in
this translation, and the brethren in the district say
that the difficult task has been performed much
to their satisfaction. Some approve of the version
even to admiration. To God be all the praise!
" I have now commenced reading for the Old
Testament, the brethren having decided that I
shall try to translate the whole, and brother
Lyth is to examine. I do not approve of the
plan myself; but as it was the only one on which
the brethren could be unanimous I submit to it,
and, by the help of God, shall proceed with the
work as quickly as possible.  Five years is the
time I have thought of if I have health, and no




VIWA.                 241
more hinderances than I have had in the NTew
Testament.  Pray for me, my dear sir, that I
may have wisdom, and patience, and grace to
render into correct and idiomatic Fijian the holy
book of God. I cannot enter into any explanation of my plans in the course of a letter. Iow
glad should I be if I had the privilege of an
hour's converse with you about once a week to
ask advice, to propound difficulties, etc.!  But
I must not anxiously wish for impossible things.
"My leading principle in translating is to
give what I fully believe to be the mind of the
Spirit. So far I wish to be servilely literal.
The next thing is to give the sense under the
same aspect as it is presented by the sacred
writers, following as far as possible their mode
of expression in words, figures, and everything
that constitutes style and manner, yet not so as
to injure the sense by adopting foreign idioms.
In a word, what Hooker speaks of as being very
desirable, but not much to be expected, we are
endeavoring to accomplish, namely, a version
which shall be neither a mere verbal rendering
of the words of Scripture on the one hand, nor
a paraphrase on the other. These are not his
words, as you know; but I think it is the sense
of what he says.*  It is easy to give a mere
* Mr. Hunt refers to the following passage: " Touching translations of Holy Scripture, albeit we may not disallow of their




242  A  MISSIONARY  AMONG  CANNIBALS.
verbal rendering, and equally easy to make a
paraphrase; but that which shall be as faithful
as a verbal rendering and as easy to be understood as a paraphrase, without being one or the
other, is not easy.
" I must not enlarge, but now say a word or
two about our institution.  We have not yet
formed a regular establishment for the instruction of native teachers.  The reason is, our persuasion that we can accomplish the object much
better on our present plan. That plan is to have
an institution in each circuit under the care of
the superintendent.  As we  have  a  printed
course, all is easy. Viwa is considered as headquarters, and the plan we pursue here is a model
for the rest, so far as it will apply. I have prepared an abstract of the short sermons referred
to in my last, especially of those on the Doctrines
and Duties; and these, with  the  rules of the
society, constitute  a  book  of twelve  closely
printed pages 24mo., which has become a great
painful travels herein who strictly have tied themselves to the very
original letter; yet the judgment of the Church, as we see by the
practice of all nations, Greeks, Latins, Persians, Syrians, Ethiopians, Arabians, hath been ever, that the fittest for public audience are such as follow a middle course between the rigor of literal translators and the liberty of paraphrasts, do with greatest
shortness and plainness deliver the meaning of the Holy Ghost.
Which, being a labor of so great difficulty, the exact performance
thereof we may rather wish than look for." —cclesiastical Polity,
book v, chap. xix.




VIWA.                243
favorite both  among  the'missionaries  and
natives. Its only excellence is its adaptation to
our people. The plan on which it is prepared
is very simple. The question refers to some
great theological truth, and the answer is given,
if possible, in the words of Scripture. The first
question is,'How  was man when God made
him?'  Answer:'Moses has reported that
"God made man in his own image."' The
sixth question is,'Are we near falling into hell
on account of our sins?'  Answer:' Yes.
David reports,   The wicked shall be turned
into hell, and all the nations that forget God."' 
Giving the name of the sacred writer makes the
passage more interesting to them, as they like
much to be acquainted with such things. This
catechism was prepared for the native teachers;
but most of our people have committed the
whole to memory, and can repeat it, questions
and answers, from  beginning to end, without
making three mistakes. ~No one among us
could stand a theological examination better
than some of the women of Yiwa if they were
allowed to keep to the Catechism. Would that
they experienced the truth thus stored in their
memories!  This is the case with some; but
not by any means with the majority who profess Christianity in Fiji. We have about forty
persons under theological training in the Group,
Minsionary among Cannibals.  16




244  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
many of whom we hope will be useful to their
countrymen.
"'Tlie, whole subject of education is now
engaging much of our attention. We must now
become schoolmasters. We have the New Testament printed, and if all be well shall soon
have it in the hands of our dear people. But
this will not do. They must have it in their
minds and hearts, and transcribe its living truths
into their lives.  Our whole attention in the
pulpit and out of it must be directed to the accomplishment of this end. What a blessed end!
We can only be instruments; but this we may,
nay, must be.
" We can now report upward of three thousand who attend our ministry and that of our
teachers every Lord's day.  One pleasing circumstance connected with these is, that they
are located in various parts of the Group, embracing many distinct political states.  Seven of
these are included in this circuit, (Viwa.) This
is an important fact. We have not the first
chiefs in each of these places, but we have chiefs
of much influence in each of them, so that this
circuit, according to Fijian ideas, is very respectable. We are now dividing it into three, so that
my work in one direction will be much more
circumscribed; but, thank God I it will not in
another. There are one hundred thousand peo



VIWA,                 245
pie on the large island just over against us, and
our circuit includes three important places on
that island, one about sixty miles from"Viwa,
another about ninety, and a third one hundred
and twenty. Another place about a hundred and
eighty miles from us is now opening. I visited
it some years ago, and received a message from
a chief a few days since, stating that if I would
visit'them again he would embrace Christianity.
I am  looking for an opportunity to go. We
have abundance of work of every kind, much
more than we have strength, or wisdom, or
grace to attend to as we ought. We desire to
be found faithful.
" You will read accounts of the revival with
which we have been favored.  On that, therefore, I need not dwell. I fully believe in the
great use of revivals in these islands. The
natives require much divine influence as well as
much divine truth.  Pray for us in this respect,
even as I know you do.
"I wrote you last year by Mrs. Wilson on
the subject of entire sanctification, and sent you
an outline of my remarks, which I hope you
received. I have altered my plan a little, and
am  pleased to find that my altered plan corresponds with the sketch you have kindly given
in your last almost exactly. I shall inclose a
very brief outline. The brethren here wish me to




246  A MISSIONARY.AMONG CANNIBALSo
publish soon, but I wish to follow what I think
I remember your recommending:' Write after
you have well thought, not before.'  Many
authors write first and think afterward.
"I must conclude long before I have done.
I fear, however, that my engagements will
not allow  me to write another letter this
time.
"And now, my very dear friends, accept
again our many, many thanks for your kind remembrance of us. O, it was kind in dear Mrs.
Hannah to send little articles of clothing that
your own dear children had worn, and a handkerchief for me that you yourself had used. I
show it to my friends here as a precious treasure,
and they love me more for having so evident a
place in your affections. Our last little daughter is named Hannah, after her mother, grandmother, and yourself.  But what am I doing?
I am trying to tell you how much we love you,
and only prove that our love is untellable, if I
may coin a word.
About going home again I say nothing. I
leave that to the great Master, praying, however, that if possible I may live and die in
Fiji, much as I love England. I conclude with
much love.
Yours very affectionately,
"J. HUNT."




VIWA.                 24
The following extracts are from a letter written by Mr. Hunt to some of his old Lincolnshire
friends at about the same date as the last:
"We sympathize with our dear friends in
their various trials, and hope and pray that they
may be sanctified, which is indeed their legitimate use. We bless God for our trials, which
have of course been of a kind that you know
little of. But God knows them, and we know
that all things, whatever may be their nature,
work together for good to them  that love God.
There is no doubt that things are made a blessing to us in proportion as we love God; so that
to love God with all our heart, and with all our
mind, and with all our soul, and with all the
strength of all, is the way to secure the sanctification of every mercy and every trial.  I trust
you all keep to the simplicity and fullness of the
Gospel.  The preaching of John Smith is still,
to my mind, the right kind of preaching.  I
never think of him and such men without feeling ashamed and instructed.  I am quite sure
that nothing but entire holiness will do for us.
Others, who may not have heard of the great
salvation, or seen its effects on others, may be
indifferent about it, and be innocent; but the case
is different with those who have heard, and
seen, and felt the blessedness of this glorious
gift of God.




248  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
" I mlust now tell you something of our affairs
here. In a temporal point of view our circumstances are much improved. We have health,
and a healthy family; a good house to dwell in,
and plenty of all we need for the body, without
much care. This is all we desire; and, thank
God! this we have.  The good work in which
we are engaged also continues to prosper.  We
have, of course, some opposition and much
indifference to contend against; but still we see
the work of the Lord advance, not stopped by
the calm  or hindered by the storm.  God is
still with us, and makes us a blessing.
" The work of conversion has been going on
among our people gradually during the last
three years. You are aware that here there are
generally two conversions, one from heathenism
to Christianity as a system, and a second from
sin to God. Both these are of the greatest importance. Without the first there is no hope of
the second.  We seldom witness anything like
penitence in a heathen. Generally, it is not
until they have professed Christianity for some
time that they sincerely seek the Lord. This, I
think, is the great difference between the spread
of Christianity in our day and its spread in the
days of the apostles. Then heathens were at
once converted to God. The grossest idolaters
became at once true spiritual worshipers of




VIWA.                249
Jehovah, and trusted, as humble penitents, in
his Son Jesus Christ, receiving the Holy Ghost.
to assure them  of acceptance, and to renew
them in righteousness and true holiness. Thus
saved, they were at once prepared to be useful,
feeling in themselves the reality and comfort of
the great truths which constituted the principal
subjects of the apostles' ministry. In our day
such conversions are rare, and consequently the
work among us assumes a different aspect from
that described in the Acts of the Apostles. Our
people are like most of our congregations at
home. A goodly number are truly converted;
a  further  number  are  desiring  salvation:
others are professing to worship God, but they
have only the form of godliness; the power they
know nothing of   We have upward of three
thousand professing Christians, and if they were
like the three thousand saved on the day of
Pentecost, I have no doubt that Fiji would soon
be converted to the Saviour. We have now
one thousand seven hundred and thirty in society,
and one hundred and fifty-nine on trial,' We have been very busy during the past
year in the New Testament, which is now printed in the native language. This, as you may suppose, has cost somebody a good deal of trouble.
I hope we may have the Old Testament done in
five or six years hence if our life and health




250  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
are spared. These things are little thought of
by our friends at home. They know something
of that part of our work which consists in visiting various places, preaching the Gospel, and
teaching schools; but they know of little that is
done in the study; what hours of anxious thought
spent in deciding the meaning of words and
phrases, and how the word of God is to be put
into the language of the people without altering
its meaning, or making it difficult for them to
understand it. A pale face, a feverish state of
the body, a mind almost distracted, and an
appetite  perhaps  unimpaired, indicate  that
something severe has been going on behind the
scene.  Thank God! he affords his aid, and
then' Labor is rest and pain is sweet.'"




VIWA.                  251
CHAPTER XIII.
VIWA, 1848.
Extract from Mr. Lawry's Journal- Letter to a Friend - Letter
to Mr. Calvert - Letter of Advice to Mr. Malvern- Trip in
the " Calypso "- Sickness -Relapse - Trouble and PeacePrayer for the Missionary - Relief - Praise - Patient waiting
-Last Letter - Last Relapse.
MR. LAWRY says in his Journal: " How  the
missionaries can study or exercise themselves
in this oppressive climate is scarcely conceivable, yet they do both and complain not; but
those who are newly arrived feel greatly distressed, until they become seasoned against the
heat and the musquitos."
A further quotation from the same interesting
journal may be fitly given here: " Our missionaries here are hard-working men, and men of all
work.  They rise early and translate the Scriptures, or prepare other good books; they teach
the natives useful arts, and guide them  in all
they do; one part of the day is devoted to native
schools, and another to the schooling of their own
children. They preach the Gospel to all who
will hear it morning, noon, and night.  They
administer medicine to the sick, and settle disputes for all parties.  They are consulted about




252  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS,
everything that is going on. They are lawyers,
physicians, privy  counselors, builders, agriculturists, and frequent travelers on the high seas
in the frail native canoes.  They are men
Whose path is on the mountain wave,
Whose home is on the deep.'
They study hard that they may give a faithful
translation of the word of God. Several of them
daily read Hebrew, Greek, and Latin for this
end, besides their constant application to the
perfecting of their knowledge of the native language, in which they preach and converse daily
with ease and fluency. These things they do in
the ordinary course of their daily labor as
pastors of the flock of Christ, besides the oversight they  are obliged to take of their own
domestic affairs, where the busy housewife plies
her care, and where the tedious natives crowd
around."
This description applies exactly to Mr. Hunt,
as indeed it does to his noble fellow-workers in
the Fiji Mission.  It was not only the arduous
and manifold activities of his office that slowly,
yet perceptibly wasted his strength, but that
work " behind the scene " had already sapped
his constitution. His headaches became more
frequent, and though he began the year 1848
with as much apparent vigor as ever, and as
much industrious and earnest devotion to his




VIWA.                  253
duties, yet every month's toil urged on the hidden under-working of exhaustion which nothing
could supply.
Mir. Hunt addressed  himself diligently to
translating, as well as to the revision and enlargement of his manual of theology, which consisted of.a series of short sermons. In February
he wrote in a letter to England: " I am very
full of employment from the beginning of the
year to the close, and have now some years)
work on hand of the most important kind, in the
way of translating and composing works on a
small scale in the native language, while I have
in addition full work as a pastor, evangelist, etc.
Mrs. Hunt has plenty on her hands, and would
be very glad of mother's help; but we both think
at her age your advice is best:' Get ready for
heaven and meet them there.'  This is the sure
way of seeing us again.  All besides is uncertain.  What is our life? A  vapor, a span,
nothing, and vanity.
"  My friends in the Lincoln circuit can never
be thought of by me with ordinary feelings, as
it is to them, under G(od I owe my all. And
though my all is but little, it is my all. May
God abundantly prosper them I
" This letter is all about little things. Well,
life is made up of these. Do not forget the great
things! holiness and usefulness,




254  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
About two months later he says, in a letter to
Mr. Calvert: "I am  writing an entirely new
copy of the short sermons, adding several new
ones, much enlarging the old ones, etc., so that
it is a task of considerable labor. I find it difficult to put Homer in a nutshell. I could easily
put as much in as the shell would contain, and
leave the rest out; but I find it requires much
thought to compress huge volumes in a small
book so as to get the most important ideas, and
so to express the whole that a native can understand it. I must do my best; but I am more
and more dissatisfied with everything I do.
" We are much as usual in our work, etc., and
I trust in a somewhat prosperous way in our
souls. Still there is not that overflowing love
to God, one another, and all men that we had
last year. I do not know the reason. I state
the fact, and ask your prayers for us. My own
soul prospers, thank God! I have my trials and
conquests, my joys and sorrows, most of them in
God."
In the early part of this year Mr. Hunt wrote
the following characteristic letter to the Rev.
John Malvern, who had recently begun his work
as a missionary at Lakemba. The advice contained in it was-the teaching of his own life as
well as of his pen. This is true of what he says
about morning preaching. Many a time had he




VIWA.                255
preached at home with no listener but Mrs.
Hunt, yet every part of the usual service was
gone through with as much solemnity and order
as if he had been ministering before a crowd.
He spoke what he had proved when he said,
"You will never want a sermon."  His own
preaching resources seemed unlimited; and his
early and long-continued habit of making some
passage of Scripture the main subject of daily
meditation,.kept up an unfailing supply of wellconsidered texts.
" MY DEAR BROTHER,-I am obliged for your
short note, and should be glad, according to your
request, to write you a long letter of advice, etc.,
if I knew what kind of advice you wanted.
Ask me as many questions as you please and I
will answer them if I can; or suggest the subjects on which you wish to have my poor
opinion.'You are just beginning your work, and
therefore need much prayer and consideration
in order that you may get into the right track
at first. Many have suffered much for want of
this. I advise you to read and be guided by the
rules laid down in the'Large Minutes,' the rules
of the bands, etc., contained in volume viii of
Mr. Wesley's Works. Let your observance of
these rules extend to what is said about needless




2 6  A MIISSIONAIRY AMONG- CANNIBALS.
self-indulgence, speaking evil of the absent, and
all things, and I am sure you will be a happy
and successful missionary. I regret exceedingly
my violation of some of these rules, and am
fully persuaded that every one of them must be
fully attended to by all who would be wholly
the Lord's. The' Twelve Rules of a Helper,'
and all that follows, will claim your particular
attention. Morning preaching has been long
given up among us; but I think it would do us
much good to preach a sermon to ourselves
every morning from  five to six o'clock, or if
that be too early, from six to seven. Go through
the service. Sing or read a hymn suitable to
the subject of your meditation, and engage in
prayer. Then explain a portion of Scripture,
and apply it to your own heart and circumstances, and close with another hymn and prayer.
You will find this an excellent means of improving your mind, and heart too.  During the day
you can be thinking of a passage for the next
morning, and making any inquiries about it that
may be necessary. You will never want a
sermon if you follow this plan, and your heart
will be kept in tune for preaching, which is a
very important and difficult thing in Fiji. Try
the plan, and tell me in your next how it succeeds. In the evening you should spend an
hour in preparing a native sermon, and in




VIWA.                 251
praying over it and for the prosperity of the
work.
D Don't let little things take you from your
work.  Avoid chit-chat. Talk about something
when you talk.
" One part of our duty is to take care of the
body. Temperance and exercise are both essential. Our food here is coarse, and unless we take
at least two hours' exercise in the open air every
day we shall none of us have health, in my
opinion.' 0, but I have no time!  You must
make it. You can walk and pray, or read anything interesting and instructive, or converse.
And I assure you that by regularity in exercise,
food, sleep, etc., you will improve your mind as
much as your health. A well-educated mind is
one which is under our entire control.  This is
obtained by discipline, and regular habits greatly assist in disciplining the mind as well as the
heart, and are essential to the health of the
body."
It seems that with regard to the last particular Mr. Hunt was scarcely as wise as he was
strict in  following  his  own  counsel.  He
frequently worked in the garden for the sake
of exercise at midday, when the fierce heat
rendered comparative rest necessary, and when
out-door labor served merely to produce ex



258  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
haustion. He afterward acknowledged that this
was wrong, yet he thought it best at the time.
Then, if any one wanted his help he seemed
unable to refuse it, though his work, already too
great for him, was increased thereby.
Thus passed the first few months of 1848. In
June, H. M. S. " Calypso," commanded by Captain Worth, visited Fiji. Mr. Hunt accompanied the captain to several places, cheerfully
rendering all the aid he could, although at the
cost of great toil and injurious exposure. On
one occasion, after becoming much heated by
walking, he remained for some time in the chill,
damp night air. The cold struck him where
white residents in Fiji have most to dread disease, and symptoms of approaching inflammation of the bowels showed themselves. Now, as
in all times of sickness, it was a great comfort to
have for a colleague Mr. Lyth, whose medical
training had already enabled him to contribute
largely to the well-being of the mission families.
Mr. Lyth was uneasy at finding that, with intervals of relief, the attacks returned again and
again without yielding to the usual remedies.
Each attack weakened the strong, active man;
but in July he became very much better, and,
impatient to be at his loved work again, went
for several successive days to the infant school.
Another and  worse  relapse followed, and




VIWA.                259
thenceforth the missionary's work was done.
His last sermon was preached in  July, at
the wooden mission-house, from  "Praying in
the Holy Ghost."
His tender and faithful attendant says: " It
now became evident that there must be some
latent cause existing, or some serious mischief
going on in the system, to occasion these renewed attacks; for, notwithstanding the means
used, the symptoms became worse, proceeding
from spasm and irritation, till at length decided
inflammation of the mucous membrane supervened. Another feature of this complaint was,
that the symptoms were generally aggravated
about the day of his accustomed headache,
(which now entirely left him,) and continued so
for some days, followed by a remission of shorter or longer continuance."
In the beginning of August Mr. Hunt was
quite prostrated by another and more severe
attack, during which he suffered acute and longcontinued pain. The question of his removal to
one of the colonies had been fully discussed, but
he feared lest the voyage should be too much
for him. And the missionary's heart clung to
Fiji, and he had reckoned upon dying in the
scene of his life's work; so he quietly resolved
to stay where God had led him, and to leave the
issue with him, in whose providence he had
Missionary among Cannibals.   7




260  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
from youth up placed such unquestioning trust.
The possibility of removal was now taken away,
and the sick man's agony and exhaustion told
of approaching death. Then there came a great
darkness upon the missionaries, their wives, and
their little ones, for they dreaded to lose him
to whom they had learned to look with admiring
reverence and fond affection so long. And with
the bad news the darkness spread into many a
Viwan home, and hearts which had received
their all of good from the hand of the dying
man mourned bitterly as for a father.  In his
sharpest agony the sufferer's heart had rest.
He said: " I feel the same uniform  peace of
mind; however my pain is, there is no change
in that respect; but "-referring to his pain-' Ifeel my troubles."   Again he said:  1'I
want a clearer manifestation of the love of God,
to enable me to rejoice in my sufferings. I
have peace. Pray for me!"
Prayer was made without ceasing of the
Church unto God for him. Some whom  he
had been the first to lead to the mercy-seat now
prayed mightily that he might be spared. The
people, with sad faces, flocked on the Saturday
evening to the chapel, and bowed themselves
before God. Out of the midst of that prostrate
company who wept in their common trouble,
the voice of one after another was uplifted on




VIWA.                261
behalf of their missionary. Elijah Verani cried
aloud: " O Lord! we know  we are very bad,
but spare thy servant. If one must die take
mne! Take ten of us! But spare thy servant to
preach Christ to the people!"
Once more the disease abated. In a few days
Mr. Hunt could sit up again, and walk about the
room with a stick, and soon after go out into the
verandah.  He looked out on the familiar scenes
with a new feeling, not weakening but accompanying the old. His heart yearned as strongly
as ever for the success of the work committed to
him; but he had just trodden the dim path
which lies along the mysterious confines of the
two worlds. The light of the eternal and unchangeable had broken up the shadows of that
borderland of darkness and storm, causing him
to see things as he never had before; and a still
small voice, which the stooping ear of loving
watchers could not catch, had told him that he
must die. "I know not how it is," he said;
" but something within me tells me that my
work is done."
It was but a little bend in the same path that
brought him back into life again. But there
was something solemn, and almost a mystery of
heavenliness, about the tall, thin, stooping figure, and pale face, and earnest eyes of the sick
man, as he paced to and fro with slow and feeble




262  A MISSIONARY AMIONG CANNIBALS.
steps.  When he spoke of himself, his wife and
friends listened with a kind of awe.
A I thought once,9 said he, "' that I was very
near the port; you cannot imagine how easy
it was for me to go. I felt that I had no tie to
earth, not even my wife and children. I felt an
entire deadness to the world."
Again he said:' I have settled the matter. I
have thought that my case might soon turn either
way, so I have solemnly given my body and
soul to God, through Jesus Christ, and I feel that
he accepts me. I am perfectly resigned to his
will.'
When Mr. Hunt said he was perfectly resigned to the will of God, he did not mean as some
do, that he crouched in forced silence beneath
a heavy yoke.  He rejoiced, he exulted in his
trust, and desired his brethren to tell the people
at the prayer-meeting how his heart overflowed
with love, and to offer his public acknowledgment of God's mercy in so far relieving his pain.
The native Christians hoped that their loved
pastor was to be restored to them now in answer to prayer, and were very glad before the
Lord. Ratu David, a Christian chief of Mbau,
said in his prayer very fervently:
"We were in trouble; we feared that Thou
wert about to take away the light, and leave us
in darkness on account of our sins; that thou




VIWA.                 263
were about to quench the light, and remove
from us him who had taught us the word of life;
but we stayed thy hands; we refused to let him
go, and for Christ's sake, thou didst hear the
prayers of sinners."
For several weeks, during which Mr. Hunt,
though very feeble, was comparatively free from
pain, he was kept in quiet retirement, and strictly forbidden to engage in any part of his work.
In this long pause he looked back carefully
over the past, and while every remembrance of
evil smote his heart with keen reproach, every
stroke brought him once again to his Saviour,
to whom he thus clung closer and closer. He
was able now to consider the past itself. As far
as this life was concerned, no wishes, or cares, or
plans for the future withdrew his attention or
warped his judgment. All earth's future for
him was narrowed, to the shutting out of every
uncertainty.  His soul looked forth from  the
cross by which he held beyond this world; and
between him and the crown laid up for him he
saw but one' sure event, the fight that was to end
his life's conflict. Neither did he doubt the
issue. Already to faith the victory was gained;
and the man of God, girt with the power of God,
awaited the struggle in perfect calm.
In these hushed and solemn days of waiting,
Mr. IHunt showed the liveliest interest in the




264  A MISSIONARY AMONG  CANNIBALS.
mission to which his best years had been given,
and would have taken some part of its activity,
by writing or consultation, had he not been
strictly forbidden, or, as he said in Fijian style,
" placed under tam, u," by his doctor. In thus
taking up, to an extent, his old duties, the old
feeling of working-joy quickened again; and
under the influence of it he could almost persuade himself that his course was not yet finished, and that he should once more be spared to
preach Jesus.  When in the sweet lull which
followed his pain, a fuller gift of God's love
stirred his happy spirit into ecstasy, he found it
easy to interpret this exulting vigor of soul as
an earnest that, after all, his bodily strength
should be renewed.  Under such feelings he
wrote his last letter about August 29th. It was
to Mr. Williams, at Mbua.
" MY DEAR BROTHER,-I am going to attempt
to write to you a line or two, but know not how
I shall succeed, as I am far from being fitfor
work. You will be thankful to know that I am
able to make the attempt, as I trust I truly am.
"I thank you and Sister Williams exceedingly for your kind sympathy. Indeed, I seldom
think of it without tears. It is one of my greatest comforts to see so much kind feeling manifested toward one so very unworthy of it, both




VIWA.                 6 5
by my brethren and sisters and the natives
When Solomon [a beloved Viwan native teacher, stationed at Mbua] arrived, the worst was
over, and I had got a decided turn toward
health. I have been making slow progress in
the same direction since then, and hope in a
month or two I may be fit for service if it so
please God.
". My gracious Lord has indeed been kind to
me in my affliction. I have seen more of his
goodness than  ever, and  want a thousand
tongues to praise him with. I feel he has
greatly blessed me.  0 help me to praise his
goodness!
" I had peace during the early part of my affliction, but felt that I needed a clearer manifesta
tion of the love of God to enable me to rejoice
in the midst of the severe pain I was then suffering. When the doctor told me that if I had
anything to say I had better say it, (referring
to temporal things,) I found myself perfectly
ready to make up my final account with the
world; not a single tie seemed to be unbroken.
Still I did not feel joy, but a desire to depart,
and almost an unwillingness to return to life.
On Sunday week, however, the Lord filled me
exceedingly with his love, and my cup of joy
did run over.  0 the tenderness of soul I felt!
the melting of the soul into love-grateful,




266  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
tender, humble love!  I never felt anything
like it. You may be sure I then longed to be
gone; but the gracious Lord, in connection
with this manifestation of love to my soul, gave
me a satisfactory persuasion that he could and
would heal my body. I said,'Lord, thou canst
heal me; I shall not die, but live and declare
the works of the Lord.' Since then I have been
going on very nicely in body and soul. I am
able to read, and find great comfort from the
New Testament, Mr. Wesley's Sermons, and
the Lives of Early Methodist Preachers. From
these, and waiting upon God, I seem to get a
daily blessing.
"My dear wife has been wonderfully preserved in health and peace, though of course
much harassed. My brethren and Joseph Rees
have also been remarkably well during the
whole time. Indeed, all have been able to do
what they could wish for me, and were as willing as able.
"I must now say a word respecting your
many kind notes, letters, etc., to me. I am
much obliged for them. They all breathe a
spirit I very much love. If it be any satisfaction for you to know that all your plans, labors,
etc., meet with my full approbation, I assure
you this is more and more the case. You are
more and more dear to me in every way, and I




VIWA.                267
rejoice much in your present peace and prosperity. I feel much for your being alone in
the coming trial. But you will not be alone.
The great and good Physician will be with you.
I-e sent his disciples two and two; but if the
harvest is so plenteous and the laborers so few
that some must be single-handed, he will make
up the deficiency.
"Your report, accounts, etc., came safe to
hand. I like your report. I agree with you
exactly about the appointments on Vanua Levu,
and what you say will undoubtedly be acted
upon... I don't know exactly what the movement of the'Wesley' will be after she reaches
Viwa: it will depend much on circumstances.
I may see you in her if I should continue to
improve, and if she should be yet some distance
off.
" My dear brother will excuse my going any
further. With much love to Sister Williams,
and earnest prayers for her comfort and safety
in the hour of trial, and again thanking you
both for your kind sympathy, in all of which
my dear wife most heartily joins,
" I remain, very affectionately yours,
J. HUNT."
Within a day or two after this letter was
written the "John Wesley" arrived from INew




268  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS
Zealand. This was always an important event;
and the housing of stores, the opening of packages, and especially the reading of letters and
news-often a year old —kept every one on the
alert. It was impossible to shut out Mr. Hunt
altogether from the general influence, and the
excitement evidently told upon his shattered
strength. Then came the district meeting, accompanied by many anxieties, caused especially'by the removal of several missionaries; and all
this, no doubt, hastened the last and fatal attack,
which came upon him fiercely on the 15th of
September.




THE END,                269
CHAPTER XIV.
THE END.
Temptation - Victory - The last Snare - Calm - Prayer for Fiji
- Perfect Peace - Joy - Triumph - Death - Visit to the
Dead - Burial - Monument - Genius - Holiness - Dr. Hannah's Testimony,
THE path had turned again. Once more God's
servant found his face looking toward another
world. But now he was to pass over. The last
time he walked hard by the way of death he had
been unmolested; now he found himself opposed.
The evil one from whose kingdom he had been
delivered, whose will he had resolutely resisted,
and whose power he had beaten down in the
scene of its unhindered triumph, now, in the
time of extreme weakness, met him in mortal
strife. Already Mr. Hunt had been thrust at
with sore temptation since his partial recovery.
While he was magnifying the power of his
Saviour, shown forth in all his own unworthiness
and sin, the devil, with a masked light, took up
the lesson of blessed humbling and poisoned it.
He fastened the sufferer's mind with a deadly
fascination to that unmixed thought of unworthiness until it seemed incapable of hope. It




2 0  A 3MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
was the old device to shut out the Saviour, to
make a Golgotha without a cross.  And for a
time a great darkness shrouded the Christian's
soul.  He thought of his active service on God's
behalf, of his diligent studies, his many and earnest preachings, his long and agonizing prayers,
and his manifold toil.  But not one remembrance comforted him.  Each seemed corrupt,
and the pall of his unworthiness covered the
whole. Then came the sting: "My life has
been worthless and unprofitable, worse than
useless;" and he groaned with the wound. But
a voice whispered into his soul: "If I be not an
apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you;
for the seal of my apostleship are ye in the
Lord."  Then was the spell broken, and he saw
the Church of Viwa Christians at prayer; one
bright recollection after another came back, of
dark cannibals convinced and converted as he
led them to the cross of Jesus; and with the
cross light came, and another victory was won,
but not the lasto
When the fatal relapse of disease took place,
then the inner conflict was renewed more fiercely
than ever. Before it was but an outwork; nov
it was the citadel that suffered assault. In the
midst of his intense pain the dying man saw,
prominently thrust forward, sins long repented
of and forgiven, and the recollection of his un



THE END.                271
faithfulness grew and darkened, till it threatened
to hide the cross once more.
At this time Mr. Calvert was at Yiwa, and to
him Mr. Hunt told his distress.  He found sympathy and good connsel, and was strengthened
by the prayers of others, so that full deliverance
came, and Satan was cast down conquered; as
he ever is by that faith which rests on the Almighty Saviour, and realizes that his salvation is
altogether and only for sinners. This battle over,
the missionary passed on undisturbed toward
his reward, saying: " I have a strong desire to
depart, if it please the Lord, and to be with Jesus, which would be far better."
A day or two after his last seizure, on the Sunday, he asked Mr. Calvert to read to him the
ninth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the
Hebrews.  He listened intently, and his heart
glowed with love to the great High Priest, and
trusted joyfully in his atonement.  When the
reading was over, and some time had been spent
in prayer, he said: "' Paul gives such a view of
the work of the Saviour in those two chapters as
fills me with admiration of, and feelings about,
the Saviour which I cannot express.  I feel him
a perfect Saviour.  I never had such views and
hold of the Saviour as I have in this illness."
Another week of increased feebleness and
great pain followed.  On the 23d the more cis



272  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
tressing symptoms disappeared, and the sick man
had comparative ease, but it was the lull which
precedes death.
He spoke calmly and trustfully about his decease. With Mrs. Hunt he reviewed the way
in which God had led them, and then, as they
looked forth to the coming separation, he said:
"Let us leave it all to the Lord. He knows
what is best for each of his own."
She replied: "Yes, my dear, we will give
ourselves to him for life and for death."
He joyfully answered:  0 O yes! that is how
we began; and that is how we'll finish!"
On the 26th Mr. Calvert read to him John
xviii, and then prayed at his bedside.  It was
evident that Mr. Hunt joined very earnestly in
the prayer, and he was observed to weep.
When those who had just united in committing
their great crushing care to Him who cared for
them, stood looking at the dying man, they
marked how he kept on silently weeping. In a
little while his emotion increased, and he sobbed as though in acute distress. Then, when
the pent-up feeling could no longer be withheld, he cried out, "Lord, bless Fiji! save
Fiji! Thou knowest my soul has loved Fiji!
my heart has travailed in pain for Fiji!"
It was no sorrow on his own account that
made the Christian weep. His own prospect




THE END.               273
was all unclouded brightness; he had safely
stored his last treasures, his wife and children,
in heaven. They were in God's keeping. But
there was something that clung about his heart
more closely than these. That object to which
all the energies of his great soul had been devoted was the last to be left.  He had lived for
Fiji, and his every thought, and desire, and
purpose, and plan, and effort had long gone in
this one direction, the conversion of Fiji. For
some weeks he had been laid by from his work,
his voice hushed and his hand powerless. Yet
he had never ceased to pray for the people of
the Islands; but now his prayers were also to
cease. Never till then did he feel how Fiji had
become identified with his very life.  And in
his utter feebleness the spirit within him strove
and struggled with its great burden. Those who
stood by feared to see the weak frame so tossed
about, and tried to soothe him. Mr. Calvert said:'The Lord knows you love Fiji. We know
it, the Fijian Christians know  it, and the
heathen of Fiji know it. You have labored
hard for Fiji when you were strong; now you
are so weak you must be silent. God will save
Fiji. He is saving Fiji."
At this the dying missionary was calmer for
a little while; but still he wept. The burden
wasethere yet; and his spirit, strengthened with




274 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
the powers of an endless life, shook the failing
flesh as it rose up and cast the great load down
at the cross. IHe grasped Mr. Calvert with one
hand, and lifting the other, mighty in its trembling, he cried aloud:
0 O let me pray once more for Fiji! Lord,
for Christ's sake, bless Fiji! save Fiji! Save
thy servants, save thy people, save the heathen
in Fiji!"
After this he gradually quieted down, and his
peace was unbroken.
Two days later he said to Mr. Calvert: " For
two days I can think of nothing but St. Paul's
words:'I am in a strait betwixt two, having a
desire to depart and be with Christ; which is
far better."'  He then added, with great feeling:
-"  For me to live is Christ.' If needful for my
family and the Church I shall be raised. I have
no choice. I am resigned to the will of God. I
am  more: I love the will of God.  He rules."
I{is friend said: " If we ruled we should keep
you. But the Lord knows best."
"  Yes," he quietly answered, " he is my Rluler,
my Proprietor. He will soon make it up in
many ways."
The next day was the quarterly fast.  Some
one told him, "' We have had very good meetings to-day. The natives pray earnestly for you 
they never forget you in their prayers."




THIE END.              275
He rejoined: "I have no doubt of it. I feel
the benefit of them."
On this day Mr. Hunt received, for the last
time, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. His
peace was perfect.
The following  Sunday  found  him  much
weaker, but still more tranquil, and refreshed by a better night's rest.  I-e told Mr.
Lyth, in answer to an inquiry about his state
of mind:
" That continues the same. I have no anxiety,
nor is any temptation permitted to assault me."
Yet in all this he said: "I have comfort, constant comfort, but I have not joy.  I desire
a greater manifestation of God's love; but
perhaps I could not bear more in my weak
state."
On the Monday he said to Mr. Lyth: " I can
fully confide in Jesus. Jesus is very precious to
me, he is very present with me; I only want
more of him."
Tuesday brought a slight return  of pain.
When Mr. Lyth asked, "' Well, Brother Hunt,
what do you think the Lord is about to do with
you?" Mr. Hunt replied, with a smile,' I don't
know, only something very good."
On Wednesday morning, October 4th, Mr.
Hunt's face showed that mysterious change,
which no one can describe, but which makes
Miasionary among Cannibals.  I 




2  6  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
those who never saw it before tremble, the
change of approaching death. He asked Mr.
Lyth to read to him the chapter which so many
ask for in their last hours, which has dried so
many tears, spoken peace so often in the storms
of life, and shed from its immortal brightness
a light athwart the great dark of death, and
mingling with the excellent glory beyond. The
dying saint drank in the strength and comfort
and peace that well up in the fourteenth chapter of St. John, and said:
It is very encouraging, and very suitable to
me, to MIrs. Hunt, and to you all. Its strain,
too, is so compassionate and tender; just what
we need. There are a thousand things in us
needing his forbearance."
He then quoted the verse: " But of him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption" 1 Cor. i, 30. Then he went
on in a clear emphatic whisper: " Christ is made
uinto us of God, our wisdom to enlighten us, our
righteousness to atone for us, our sanctification
to cleanse us, and our redemption to deliver us
from a great many temptations, dangers, and
difficulties; and he will deliver us in death, and
bring us to glory. What a perfect Saviour!
God makes Christ such to me. These are the
views that support me now. I look to Christ




THE END.               277
alone. I dare not look at myself, or at anything
I have done."
Now the Christian's gaze was all fixed on
Christ. Nothing could divert it. He saw nothing but Christ: Christ covering past sin,'Christ
sheltering his widows and orphans, Christ holding his hand with almighty love, and Christ filling heaven with glory for him. The pilgrim
was not far from home now; and this light of
home fell upon him as he drew near, and made
the still calm of his peaceful trust sparkle with
the gladness for which he had longed, so that
he exclaimed, " Now he is my joy!"
On being told that his end must be very near,
Mr. Hunt replied: " I do not think the time is
come yet; this seems too easy and pleasant for
dying." Turning to his mourning wife he said:
"If this be dying, praise the Lord!"  Then he
lay still, as if trying to feel that he was about to
depart, and after a time said: " How strange!
I cannot realize that I am dying, and yet you all
look as if I were."
Noon came swiftly to the watching ones
around that bed, and he whom they watched
was rapidly getting weaker. An hour after Mr.
Lyth said to him, as he lay there often smiling,
and always worshiping, "You are very happy,
Brother Hunt."
He answered: "Yes. I am getting weaker."




2  8  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
Yes, you are getting near the port, you are
crossing the river, and the Lord Jesus is with
you."
A  whisper started  from  the dying lips,
c Glory!"
" You see a bright prospect before you," continued his faithful friend.
"I see nothing but Jesus," was his answer.
His mind was perfectly clear, and his words,
though faint in sound, had all their wonted
vigor. He turned to Mr. Calvert, saying: " It
is a solemn thing to die, very solemn."
His friend replied: " Mr. Wesley, in dying,
clung to Jesus, and you do."
" Yes," he said, " I cleave to Jesus, and aln
right; I have nothing else to look to. He is all
I have to trust in. If I look from him I am in
a vortex; I have doubts and condemnation.
But I have full faith in him. I have peace and
pardon in him. I have no disturbance at all." 
Then they saw how the saint addressed himself afresh to pray to the sinner's Saviour; and
for some time the moving of the white lips and
aspect of the face told that he was engaged in
intense and silent worship. Presently, as his
eyes looked up with a bright joy that defied
death, he exclaimed: ~ I want strength to praise
him abundantly. I am very happy!"
Mrs. Hunt, who bent over him  in the last




THE END.                279
effort of helpless love, asked, " Have you had a
fresh manifestation of the love of God?"
"Yes" he answered; "Halleluiah! praise
the Lord Jesus! I do not depend on this," he
added emphatically, and shaking his head: ""I
bless the Lord, I trust in Jesus."
Again there was a pause of silence, and the
happy triumphant spirit of the Christian forced
the dying flesh to do service of praise once more.
"Now he is my joy! I thought I should have
entered heaven singing, Jesus and salvation!
Now I shall enter singing, Jesus, salvation, and
glory, eternal glory!"  In his ecstasy he tried
to raise himself, but could not, and his head fell
back, as he said,' Halleluiah I Halleluiah!"
again and again.  He already joined in the
praise of paradise.  "Halleluiah I" he repeated
twenty or thirty times, every time fainter, till
his voice was hushed.
Presently he spoke again, and left messages
to the other missionaries and their wives, to the
native Christians and the chiefs, especially Thakombau. Afterward he prayed for his children,
and urged them to live according to their mother's teaching and example. He solemnly committed that good and faithful woman to God's
holy keeping, and asked heavenly blessing for a
devoted native servant. Then he begged Mr.
Calvert to pray.




280 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
About three in the afternoon his right arm
rose, as if convulsively, and, as he turned on his
side, grasped his fellow missionary Calvert, who
put his arms round him. For a few minutes
there was heavy and broken breathing, and
then a solemn hush disturbed by the sob of a
widow:'Lord, comfort my poor heart!" and
an earnest  iAmnen" from  those who stood
round.
Leaving his body in his brother's arms, John
Hunt, the missionary, died.
The sad news soon spread through Viwa, and
the natives came to look on their dead pastor
and friend; and many of the hearts gathered
round that bed were very full of grateful remembrance of him who should teach and help
them no more.
Early the next morning came Thakombau to
see the body of him before whose warnings his
stout heart had often quailed, and who had
bound to himself the proud spirit of the savage
chief by the charity of the Gospel. Now the
great man, attendel by the large retinue, gazed
at the pale face with evident emotion; and
when told how the good man had died, and how
he had left a dying word of love and entreaty
for him, he was much moved.
At three o'clock that afternoon a plain coffin borne by native students, was carried out




THE END.               281
of the mission house. It had on it no emblazonry, and no record but this:
REY. JOHN HUNT
Slept in Jesus
OCTOBER 4TH, 1848,
Aged 36 Years.
There followed that coffin a woman bowed
beneath the weight of her first day's widowhood.
And with her came his fellow-missionaries;
after whom, in decent attire, there walked the
foreign residents and a crowd of Fijians. At
the grave Mr. Lyth read the burial service of
the English Church, and Mr. Calvert spoke in
the language of the natives, while tears wet
many a dark cheek as the earth closed over
the remains of the preacher of the Gospel.
When the news of Mr. Hunt's death reached
England, John Chubb, Esq., of Islington, sent
out an iron monument and fence, which stand
over the missionary's grave at Viwa, a memorial of a man who loved God wholly, served him
faithfully, and left the world better than he
found it.
Here ends the history of John Hunt, whom
the Spirit of God found an unlettered plowboy on the broad plains of Lincolnshire, and
changed his heart and gave him power to bless
the country folk, and then the citizens, with




282  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
his words; who left the fields and wrought hard
in the study, and being full of faith and the
Holy Ghost, did by his preaching turn many
to righteousness; who being sent to the ends of
the earth to preach Christ, went forth with
cheerful faith; who made a home among the
savage men-eaters of Fiji, and  prayed and
toiled, until he saw many of these men of blood
living blameless, loving, and useful lives, and
reading in their own rich language the New
Testament of the Lord Jesus, and a literature
which, though scanty, was pure; and who,
" after he had served his own generation by the
will of God, fell on sleep."
And what raised this man, and other worthies,
so far above the average level of ordinary
Christianity? Was it genius? Some things in
their history seem to show this, and enforce the
conviction that they would have distinguished
themselves in any calling. But genius never
made a man virtuous, or unselfish, or a devoted
helper of his kind. Genius never impelled a
man to seek the salvation of souls, or ever secured those triumphs which one day will be the
only victories that win crowns.
John Hunt's greatness consisted in his holiness. He saw that God demanded, promised,
and provided a complete holiness; " and being
not weak in faith, he considered not' those




THE END,                283
things which reason and experience declare to
make a perfect salvation impossible.' He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to
God; and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised he was able also to perform."  If
any one would understand the secret of this
good man's distinguished excellence, let him
read the Letters on Entire Sanctification, which
all who knew the author allow to be a reproduction of his own experience; and if any one
would serve God and man as well as John Hunt
did, he must follow the counsels of that most
scriptural volume.
The different dialects of a various Churchismn
may call it by different names, but the people
of God wust give more and more prominence
to the doctrine of holiness through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Thus Mr. Hunt writes, after
using the illustration of a sick patient who is
always convalescent but never well:
"This is exactly the case with numbers of
Christians of the present day. It must be from
one or other of these two causes: either their
spiritual physicians do not prescribe the proper
remedy, or the people do not use it when prescribed. The consequence is that the Church
is continually finding fresh cause to lament her
inefficiency to accomplish the task assigned her




284  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
by the Saviour, that of letting her light so
shine in the family, in the neighborhood, in
every part of the country where she is established, and in the world, that others may see
her good works and glorify her Father which is
in heaven. Her light does shine, but it does
not'so shine;' nor will this be the case until
entire holiness is more generally prescribed as
THE remedy for the present state of the Church.
Many testimonies might be added to the
worth, the love, the piety, the godly nobility of
the subject of this memoir, from the hands of
those who deem it one of their life's crowning
blessings that they were enriched by his friendship.  One such testimony is of peculiar interest, and may fitly close this record. At the annual meeting of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, held in Exeter Hall, May, 1849,
the Reverend Dr. Hannah, the revered tutor
and fondly cherished friend of the late missionary, who-together with all who have felt the
guiding of his faithful and steady hand in the
things of God-regarded him with a peculiar
affection, said:
" Is it a discouragement to us that missionaries themselves pass away, and pass away in
many instances just in the full tide of their
ministerial usefulness? This also should  be
employed as a motive for good. I may perhaps




THE END.               285
be excused if, among the seven missionaries
whose deaths are named in the Report, I advert
in my own mind particularly to one; to one
who for a. season was placed under my own
care, and whose character I intimately and
gratefully knew. May I say that I refer to the
Rev. John Hunt, who lately fell, fell in his armor, gloriously fell, fell to rise for ever, in
Fijia
"He was a man of humble origin, and at
first of humble attainments; but he received
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in truth,
and that grace made him what he was.  But
for that grace he might have passed through
life unknown and unnoted. Grace called forth
mind; that mind discovered unexpected energies; and these energies, under the guidance
and blessing of the Lord the Spirit, yielded
labors, the fruits of which shall not easily die.
"I never knew a man more right-hearted
with respect to the great work of our Lord and
Saviour. I never knew a man whose principles were more staid, whose zeal was more perpetually fed by charity, and who was more disposed to devote himself in every possible way to
the advancement of his Master's praise. And
although his life, in human estimation, may
seem to have been cut short in the midst, yet
in abundance of labors and in extraordinary




286  A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
success, John Hunt lived a long life. He
crowded the labors and successes of many years
into ten; and although he has passed away
when we wished he might remain, I trust his
example will yet live and will yet operate."
"Now UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR
THIINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WOBKETH
IN IUS, UNTO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY
CHRIST JESUS THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD
WITHOUT END. AMEN."9
THE END,




BOOKS  i-'".'E"UND-l    S'HOLS
2f.9  Moller'-w'scl, l4ew  York.
(O>!TVEnrsATITONS ON PAL-STITE].
Conversations  on  the  CGeograpphy,  Natural History, etc., of
Patlestine.  By IoGEaN  MI KCEIr.  Illutstriatecd. l. 8o.    rice,') cents.
T SM^  IE            I! N@OF SADMIO 
v 1 Rev. DANIEL SaIlmIT       Ino..   riice, 16 cents.
MR    1 pA L.E S A, N7D PA R EA ES.
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S               1YL 4A  T' A  TCy'0U  OF ISCOT LAND.
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SON.  lSRio.1 lrice, 1\ ceits.
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of>'d:.~-. l  S, i. c:nt
it -I I. v. l'                               cen'i''t.P:,IO
].,i,                                               ti;!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~' c9'I




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)?'-I.C;,,Q    ~01; O 1, r-  MaE'U' u.STI'T.
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7.2{] — 5.'::h-'l, J<~  "~70  TH11"i.- 
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()r, The Tlittle  lltourner Comforted.   By ELIZABmETH  IMARIA
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illustrated.  ISmo.'Pice, 17 cents.
r t~-`c.f'4  Y DOcOrl: aO    H  YOTJN~WG
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12




LBOOKS ~ O1I SU iPAY SC-THOO(LS.
t.l   matibeitrry-asteeti Nerw  York.
STODiY OFIP AWNA TET  "i PROPPEDTESS.
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S-.Rl          -     S'iPJA2iNAS AN."D SAPP ti.
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11




Bj00K S'O  S5 U  L  SHOUOS
O{4 MHul1berry-street New  York.
A Memoir of John Lean, Jun., of Camborne, in the County of
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TIHAN, PT SUMDIDM-SGE-7O1OL ~EACNERR.
Mildred, the Thanet S. School Teacher.  By JOIN BUSTARD.
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OLD RUPAIiR EY'S OBSEPVATI.T
Selections from  Old Humphrey's Observations and Addresses.
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FARZsER GOODALL AND HIS PRDL'-.
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JPfAT  ER' T1ACHMR.
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THE i-3fOUNTAW AND VALLEY.
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PRO C.RA~TINATION;
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CH1rISTiAN PEAC 
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3