OBITUARY OF NAONAO, 
290 
write well, and was correctly acquainted with the 
first four simple rules of arithmetic. In his con- 
duct, he was as steady as the generality of the 
natives living in the stations could be expected 
to be : but when I have said thus much in his 
favour, I have said all. Alas ! to the day of his 
death, we never saw any thing in him, but hard- 
ness of heart, unbelief, and contempt of God's 
word and commandments. The Truth, which 
makes man free, never appeared to make the 
least impression upon him. His last illness, oc- 
casioned by tlie bursting of a blood-vessel, was 
one of great wretchedness. Many a time have I 
stood by his side, and endeavoured to lead his 
mind to the contemplation of his state as a sinner 
before God, and of the willingness of God to for- 
give him his sins. All I could ever obtain from 
him was, that he had never done any harm — that 
he would not believe — or, that he did not want a 
Saviour. His mind was exceedingly gloomy; 
and for days together he would preserve an obsti- 
nate silence to any questions ; whether those ques- 
tions regarded his bodily wants, or the wants of 
the soul. At such times, the lineaments of despair 
were strongly pictured upon his countenance: 
liis lustreless eye would roll unmeaningly about, 
and his emaciated frame would writhe in agony. 
My heart has bled over his sufferings, and gladly 
would I have poured balm into his wounds ; but 
he refused to be healed ; he refused to be com- 
forted. No eflforts that could be made were of 
