He had never experienced such cheering success before, and, though his
friends were endeavouring to persuade him to take rest and change for
his health's sake, he determined to labour on while there was so much
need for his exertion and such blessed results followed.
The desire to believe on the part of some of his people was very
touching. One of them said to him: "I don't know how to pray properly,
but I and my wife say, 'God make our hearts light--take away the
darkness. We believe that You love us because You sent Jesus to become
a man and die for us; but we can't understand it all. Make us fit to
be baptised.'"
Some, of course, were not so enlightened as that. After the kidnapping
traders had been harrying the islands, one of the chiefs said that, if
the bishop would only bring a man-of-war and get him vengeance on his
adversaries, he would be exalted like his Father above.
There was indeed serious cause for the anger of the natives. One of
them related how he had been out to a vessel with his companions,
and a white man had come down into the canoe and presently upset it,
seizing him by the belt.
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