Archives > Archive:Extracts > Archive:The Whitney Family of Connecticut > The Whitney Family of Connecticut, page 256
The Whitney Family of Connecticut
by S. Whitney Phoenix
(New York: 1878)
Transcribed by Robert L. Ward.
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Sixth Generation.
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evidence of conversion, were organized into a church, a light shining in a dark place. Under the smiles of the Great Shepherd of the flock, this little church continued to prosper, and it was gradually enlarged, and continued to be the only church on the island for eight succeeding years.
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"During the years 1833-4, and again in 1838, precious revival seasons were enjoyed, during which very many turned to the Lord, who have since proved by their fruits the sincerity of their profession. It was here that he spent most of his life as a missionary. He occasionally visited other parts of the islands, and as he went, he preached the Gospel. He spent most of the year 1817 at Honolulu and Hilo; he was also one of those who went on an expedition to the South Seas in 1832, to explore the Marquesas Islands as a field of missionary labor. A detailed account of his labors would swell this notice beyond its prescribed limits. It is moreover unnecessary, as they are already known and read of all men. As a preacher, he was solemn, earnest, and impressive. It was manifest to all his hearers that he felt deeply the importance of what he declared to them. He was accordingly very successful in winning their attention and arousing in them the feelings with which he was animated. In his parochial visits, he was dignified and affable, and while he commanded the respect and esteem of all, he won their hearts. He was untiring in his work--in preaching the Gospel--in teaching school--in tours around the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Were any of the people perplexed in their affairs, he was their counsellor--were they oppressed with a load of guilt, he pointed them to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world--were their bodies sick, he was their physician. He was a father, counsellor, and friend to the whole people, high and low, and long will he live in their affections. 'When the ear heard him, then it blessed him; and when the eye saw him, it gave witness to him, because he delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him; and he caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.' He shrank from no duty because it was arduous or attended with danger. His tours to preach the Gospel and establish schools often led him into perils. Many a time the ocean seemed ready to swallow him up, as he traversed it in canoes or small schooners, on errands of mercy. More than once, an unseen hand delivered him from the knife of the assassin. He, in whose service he had enlisted, was with him alway, even unto the end. We shall find this abundantly confirmed during his last sickness, and while he was engaged in the last conflict.
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"He was taken ill on the island of Kauai, on the 21st of September last. His symptoms, from the first, indicated a disordered liver. After trying a change of air at his summer retreat at Hanapepeluna and employing various remedies, he, with his family, sailed on the 21st of October for Honolulu, where he arrived in three days, very much exhausted by bilious vomiting and diarrhoea, which continued for several weeks to pull down his strength. It then received a temporary check, and for a little while he was
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