Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/326

 296 FIJI AND THE FIJIANS. or spear thrown, and the Chiefs were prevailed upon to prevent war In the midst of the confusion, while the Missionary was hurrying from one to another to make peace, a Chief of high rank had asked the King to allow them to kill Mr. Calvert ; but met with the reply, " No. He did not come here for the Tongans, but he is a Missionary to us ; and, while I live, his life is sacred." Thus was God's servant preserved from his enemies, and the anxious fears of his wife, who was praying and trembling at home, was set at rest. This great Circuit received immense advantage in the timely arrival of the Eev. Thomas Williams and his wife, on the 7th of July, 1840. Mr. Waterhouse paid a short visit on this occasion, and called at all the Stations. Twelve months after he was again in Fiji, and held the District Meeting at Lakemba, when all the Missionaries from the differ- ent stations were present, except Mr. Cross, who was unable to leave, in consequence of a massacre perpetrated near the Mission-house by the young Viwa Chief. During the Meeting rumors of war from So- mosomo prevailed, and Ihe people were all busy in throwing up em- bankments and repairing fences, while a constant excitement was kept up by the frequent shouting of alarming reports. The Missionaries, however, went on with the business of the District Meeting, working daily, from morning to night, until it was finished. On the Sabbath, Mr. Waterhouse preached to one congregation of Fijians and another of Tongans, and in the evening held an English service with the Mission- aries and their families. He also exammed several Local Preachers, and was pleased to find that only such men had been put into this office as were clear in their religious experience, and gave good evidence of a change of heart. Mr. Waterhouse's soul was greatly stirred by all he witnessed ; so that he wrote : " I have now closed the business of the three Polynesian Districts, each of which is vastly important ; but this the most so, from the circumference of its Mission-field, the immense population it contains, their physical and mental capabilities, their in- dustrious habits, their profound respect for their Chiefs and all other official characters ; but, withal, their awfully degraded and cannibal state ; yet, more especially, from the influence Christianity is exerting : — directly, in turning men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to the living God, and the raising up of Teachers of a noble order, who count not their lives dear unto themselves, so that they may win souls ; and indirectly, in taming the savage, softening the hor- rors of war, and saving the shipwrecked mariners from the jaws of man-eaters ; — to say nothing of various minor matters. The Missiona- ries have succeeded in fixing the moral lever which, by the supply of