Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/306

 276 FIJI AIsD THE FIJLAJS^S. or three miles from Ono Levu, and preached from Eph. iv. SO, and baptized four chil dren. The people showed us every mark of respect and kindness. We visited two or three very aged women, who, it was said, had never seen a white woman or child before. Thej expressed great astonishment, and seemed not to know how to make enough of us. 5th. — I had the Teachers and Local Preachers together, to hear them read, and lecture to them, and examine them, and answer such questions as thej might propose ; which practice I continued every Tuesday and Friday. Sunday, 7th. — I preached in the morn- ing at Ono Levu, from Matt. iii. 11, 12, and afterwards baptized ten children and one adult. I endeavoured to show the nature of baptism, as the sign of our covenant with God, its obligation on us as a command of Christ, and the necessity of keeping this cov- enant constantly in remembrance, etc. ; and we had a good time. May the Lord baptize us all with the Holy Ghost, and with fire ! In the afternoon I went to Waini, and preached on Philip and the Eunuch, and baptized three children. " Our weekly services at Ono are as follows : — Sunday : morning, prayer-meeting ; forenoon, the adults and children assemble to chant the Conference Catechism, or Taro LekaleM, a shorter Catechism prepared by Mr. Hunt ; immediately after which we have preaching ; afternoon, preaching. Monday : forenoon, the children's school, at which each one repeats as much as he or she remembers of the sermons preached on the pre- ceding day. The children's school is held in the forenoon of every day in the week, except Saturday. In the afternoon the adults meet, and are also questioned concerning the sermons of the preceding day ; and I am happy to say, that I generally hear the entire substance of the sermons they have heard on the Sabbath, and sometimes on the week-days too. The Fijians certainly appear to have most excellent memories, when they like to exercise them. When this is over, they chant a little of the Catechism, and then hold a prayer-meeting. On Tuesdays and Fridays, in addition to the infant and adult schools, I meet the Teachers, as above mentioned. On Wednesdays I preach at Ono Levu, hold Leaders' -Meeting, and give out the work for the following week. On Thursdays we have preaching at the other towns, one of which I usually take myself. In the afternoon we hold a sort of juvenile Class-Meeting. Friday : schools and Teach- ers'-Meeting as above. Saturday afternoon, prayer-meeting. These, in addition to dis- pensing medicines, visiting the sick, etc., you may suppose are sufficient to keep one fully employed. No moment lingers unemployed in Ono. May the Lord crown our multiplied means with success ! 20th. — Intending to administer the sacrament of the Lord's Supper on the following day, I translated an abstract of the Communion Service of the Church of England. Sunday, 21st. — I preached in the forenoon from 1 Cor. ii. 28, 29 ; and in the afternoon administered the emblems of the Saviour's dying love to the Ono Levu people. We had an excellent time. The Lord was in His ordinance, and we felt it indeed good to be there. Many wept aloud, and the tears were seen streaming from the eyes of many others. To avoid confusion, I called them up to the communion- rails by Classes, two Classes at a time, which answered weU. On the following Sabbath I administered it, in like manner, to the people from the other towns ; which made about an equal division of the communicants, they being too many to take it together at once. Dec. 14th. — I visited a good number of Heathen from another island, who came here to bring some Ono people, who had drifted away in a strong wind when coming from La- kemba, and were supposed to be lost. I preached to them, as I did also in the following week ; and endeavoured to show them the superiority of Christianity over Heathenism in all respects, both temporal and spiritual. Having learned pretty well what Heathen- ism is at Somosomo, I endeavoured to show them its absurdities, and the unreasonable- ness and danger of neglecting the blessings of the Gospel when offered, etc. They heard with good attention, and, I hope, not without some profit. One of them embraced Chris- tianity while at Ono, and many more have embraced it since. 15th. — I endeavoured to teach a young Chief and Teacher here the use of the compass, ijiich is very important in this isolated place, of which they appear now fully sensible. He seemed very apt at