The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1928, Page 51

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

51

James Calvert.

However, under Hunt’s successor, James Cal-
vert, the change came. But we must first tell our
readers a little of this man’s previous history. He
had been born in England in 1813 and at the age
of twenty-four had been ordained and set apart for
foreign work. While preparing for the ministry,
he had become acquainted with Hunt. Soon after
his marriage, in 1838, he set out for his future field
of labor and reached Lakemba in the same year.
Calvert at once began his great work, through which,
by the grace of God, a whole people was trans-
formed. For years he worked with good cheer and
heroic faith, and he lived to see his work crowned
with most glorious success. Calvert was a mechanic,
farmer, teacher, preacher, lawgiver, ruler, and gen-
eral counselor, all in one. He was blessed with good
health and had a body which was seemingly able to
withstand all hardships. His field comprised thir-
teen towns on Lakemba, besides more than twenty
outlying islands.

The following story told of Calvert will interest
our readers: Following the work of the Tongan
evangelists on the plague-stricken island of Ono,
he visited the island and found a hundred converts
ready for baptism, among them also Tovo, the
chief’s daughter. When still a child, she had been
betrothed to the king of Lakemba, and Calvert
refused to baptize her unless she promised not to
marry that monarch, who already had thirty wives.
She readily gave the promise, was baptized, and
became a great help to the missionaries. Upon his
return to Lakemba, Calvert told the king that Tovo
had become a Christian and that she could not
become one of his wives. The king, however, re-
fused to give up his claim to the girl and made
ready to sail for Ono and take her by force. When
Calvert heard of the king’s intentions, he went to
the monarch and asked him not to persecute these
Christian subjects, and when the king proved obdu-
rate, he warned him, saying: “Tui Nayou, I warn
you, for I love you. If you go to fetch this girl,
you will be fighting against God. You imperil your
own life by going on this errand. Remember that
the Lord Jehovah rules on sea and land, and He
can easily punish you if you fight against Him.”
The king told Calvert that he intended no harm,
but only wished to go to Ono to collect his tribute.
The missionary’s reply was, “I hear what your
mouth says, but do not know what your heart means.
I warn you that you will risk your own safety if

_ you attempt to fetch Toyo from Ono.” :

Soon after the king had set sail, strong winds
arose, and four of his war canoes were lost. Though
the king with the other boats came within sight of
Ono, the storm prevented their landing. The king
gave himself up for lost, and in his fear he made
great vows to the gods, which, he said, he would
pay to them if he ever reached Lakemba in safety.
When he finally reached the island, he begged
Calvert that his words of warning might never .
follow him again.

Calvert’s Work at Vieva.

It was in 1848 that Calvert came to Vieva from
Lakemba as John Hunt’s successor. Calvert soon
gained considerable influence over Thakombau.
He treated him with the courtesy and respect due
his rank and yet never failed to rebuke him when
he did evil. And at last the cannibal king expe-
rienced a change of heart. Defeat in war, pain,
sickness, and the unfaithfulness of those whom he
had trusted: these were some of the means God
used to break the hard heart of Thakombau. As
in many hearts before, the Spirit of Grace, through
the Word, wrought a wonderful miracle in the black
heart of the cannibal king and made him humble
and merciful. One day the drums called his people
together, not for a cannibal feast, as they had done
so often in bygone years, but to give the gathering
throngs an opportunity to see what God’s grace
can do. Humbly and meekly he who had been called
the “Scourge of the World” rose and renounced the
old gods of cruelty and war and then knelt with
his whole household in worship of the God of the
Christians. On the day of his baptism he bravely
and simply confessed: “I have been a bad man.
God has singularly preserved my life, and I desire
to acknowledge Him as the true God.” The same
force of character that had made him terrible in
evil made him a remarkable power for good. He
insisted upon the children’s going to school, and
he himself learned to read from his seven-year-old
grandson. He strictly enforced the new laws of
justice and mercy. It was in 1857 that Thakombau
became a Christian, and he lived to a great age.
His death occurred in 1886. For almost thirty
years he led the life of a gentle, faithful, and con-
sistent Christian. At the time of his death the»
leading newspapers of the Fiji Islands had this to
say of him: “His influence on the side of Chris-
tianity and of good in general has been greater than
that of any chief or combination of chiefs through-
out the islands. Since his conversion he led a
worthy life. Eminent before for tyranny, licen-

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