Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/552

 514: FIJI Am) THE FIJIAKS. end.' After a pause, he said, ' I shall not reach our father at Tiliva ; I shall reach heaven first.' * That is well,' was the reply. ' Yes, it is well ; I shall enter heaven.' Lasarus asked, ^ Have you any friend there, through whose interest you expect to gain admittance ? ' ' No ; no human friend ; but Jesus is my Friend, and through Him I shall enter there.' In a short time he wept. To the question, ' Why do you weep 1 ' he replied, ' Not for myself, but for you ; I pity you ; you will continue in pain and trouble, and I go away to my rest. I leave you in the midst of war, to enter a heaven of peace.' ' Through whom, did you say 1 ' ' Through Jesus ; in me there is nothing to merit heaven. I am a sinner, saved for the sake of Jesus. I trust in His sacrifice.' After prayer, to the petitions of which he responded with fervour, he said, ' Lasarus, you know St. Paul says, " There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God : " and I am getting near that rest ; yes, to- day, Lasarus ; I shall reach heaven to-day ' Wishing to be raised, one placed his hand under his head. The afflicted man said, ' Now I die,' and passed to his rest." Mr. Williams having suffered very materially in his health while working alone for nearly five years, and being unequal to the increased demands for labour in his extensive Circuit, Mr. Moore was appointed as his colleague in June, 1852. A temporary house was erected for the second Missionary on the Mbua side of the river, in order that his labours might be brought to bear more fully upon the heathen Chief and his people. Mr. Moore reports the commencement of his efforts, in a letter dated September 17th, 1852 : — " Ye are now settled at Mbua, and are as comfortable as we could expect to be in a Jieathen town, and under such unsettled circumstances. Two or three have lotued since we came to this Circuit, and others would but for their relatives who oppose them. The Chief is very kind, and wishes to lotu. He got his people together a few days since to talk matters over as to their lotuing ; but the old men opposed him, and said, if he wished to lotu, he might do so, but they would then leave him, and go to some other heathen place ; so he has concluded not to lotu for the present, but will allow his people to rule Mm. The unsettled circumstances referred to above are, the uncertainty of our staying at Mbua, which of course prevents us from going to any expense in building, so that we are not so comfortable as we might make ourselves, did we expect to stay. As brother "Williams is likely soon to leave, I see no probability of two Missionaries being in this Circuit, when we have such loud calls from other places. In case of there only being one, he will have to reside at Tiliva, and Mbua would have to remain without a Missionary. " The Xdama war is still going on, and things look very dark. The Heathen seem determined to blot out the Christians from the earth. Three of the Xdama people have been killed since we came to Mbua. They were carried about for some days, and then eaten. I have just returned from spending a Sabbath with them. I found the poor creatures shut up within their fortification, from which they dare not go out but at the risk of their lives, some of the enemy being almost constantly on the watch. I spent