Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/482

 M8 FIJI Am) THE nJIANS. another ? What a pity that he was too late ! Had he been in time ] would have spared Ngavindi's mother." After this the priests and Chiefs at Mbau, being lifted up by their frequent victories, became more impatient of the growing power of religion among the people, and the services at Sembi and another place on the coast were forbidden. Still the work went on, and the discour- agement at Mbau seemed to give new vigour to the Mission at Viwa. Every morning at six o'clock an advanced class was met for instruction in theology ; the children's school assembled at nine, and the adults in the afternoon. In November, the Mission staff was most efficiently strengthened by the arrival of the Rev. Joseph Waterhouse, son of the late devoted General Superintendent. His mind and heart were set on Fiji, and he refused to labour at home, resolving to devote himself to this Mission. After his arrival, he wrote thus to the General Secretaries : " It is with no ordinary feelings that I sit down to address you. I feel that I am on hallowed ground, — hallowed by the dust of the sainted Hunt, by the toils of the laborious Cross, by the earnest death-bed prayers of my venerated father, and by the precious blood of Jesus, now sprinkled on the hearts of many whose feet were once swift to shed blood, and whose deeds of darkness are too shameful to be narrated No one can tell how much your toil-worn servants, such as are to be found amongst my respected seniors in Fiji, placed as they are in the front of the great battle-field, need sympathy and sustaining aid We can, if Provi dence permits, live, or rather exist, without the bread to which we have been accustomed from our youth, — to us indeed, in this land, the bread of life ; but we cannot leave Fiji to perish. We can die for want of proper nourishment, and leave our bodies to be dishonoured by a stone- hearted nation; but we camiot, we dare not, we will not, by the grace of God, leave poor, cannibal, priest-ridden, and bloody Fiji to perish." Never did a more ready labourer enter upon his work than Mr. Waterhouse at Fiji, being willing to go anywhere, and do anything, so that he might be useful. While Mr. and Mrs. Calvert hailed with delight the coming of so valuable a helper, their hearts were made very sad ; for the " Wesley,'* in which Mr. Waterhouse came, also brought intelligence that their firstborn child, Mary, whom they had sent to England, had arrived there safely, and died. Let it only be said here, that the child had learned to walk with God, and that the confidence of the Gospel shed