Page:Williams and Calvert, Fiji and the Fijians, New York, 1860.djvu/577

 NAOT)I. 639 bracing climate, my wasted vigour and energy would return, and health again nerve my arm to missionary conflict. I am thankful to state that, through a gracious Providence, my little orphan missionary hoy was preserved through the discomforts and perils of his first ocean trip, and is now thriving in the former home of his sainted mother. And now I feel a rekindling of energy, and a measure of the buoyancy of health, which lead me to hope that I am not, like the worn-out ship, tc be * condemned,' but that, like the ocean-tossed and weather-beaten vessel,'" I am but taken into dock to be ^ re-commissioned.' « Captain Denham, E.N., T.R.S., of H.M.S. ' Herald,' kindly offered me a passage from Fiji to Sydney ; and for about five weeks I was his guest in his cabin, every day brmging some new manifestation of kind- ness. May I suggest to you the propriety, by letter or otherwise, of acknowledging his kindness to me, as your agent, and the courtesy the gentlemen who are his officers showed to mel The late lamented Dr. Beechman felt a deep interest in Captain Denham's expedition, and Captain Denham promised him to forward, so far as he was able, the great objects which your Missionaries have in view; and he has nobly fulfilled his promise, and has endeared himself to the remembrance of many of us by his acts of kindness. " Since my arrival in Hobart, I have, at a few public meetings, reviewed the woes and wants of Fiji, and have met with the hearty response of sympathy. Being accompanied by Solomon, a Native Teacher, his presence and interpreted speeches have given an unwonted zest to the meetings we have attended. " My health has not yet permitted me to engage in pulpit labours ; but I hope soon to be able to enter more fully into the work. The Executive Committee in Sydney have expressed a wish that I should visit the other colonies ; and I am in commmiication with the Chairmen of the other Districts with reference to it. I purpose, with Divine permission, to return to Fiji by the next trip of the ' John Wesley ' in 1858. I am conscious that such a step will, in all human probability, shorten my earthly career ; but, in view of the w6es and wants of that land of darkness and of blood, — in view of the paucity of mis- sionary labourers, — with a heart warm with sympathy for Fiji's wretched sons, — with feelings of identity with Fiji, arising from my sacrifices, and sorrows, and labours, and successes there, and from the precious deposit which its dust contains, — I cannot but say, ' Here I am : send me.' May the prayers of British Churches go up to heaven, that I may return overshadowed with the Divine presence, filled with the 35