The Huns are said to have been of a dark complexion, almost black ; deformed in their appearance, of imcouth gesture, and shrill voice. The ancient descriptions un- mistakablj' ally them to the Tartars. " They were dis- tinguished from the rest of the human species by their broad shoulders, flat noses, and small black eyes deeply buried in the head ; and, as they were almost destitute of beards, they never enjoyed either the manly graces t)f youth or the venerable aspect of age. A fabidous origin was assigned worthy of their form and manners— tliat the witches of Scythia, who, for their foul and deadly prac- tices, had been driven from society, had copulated in the desert with infernal spirits, and that the Hinis were the offspring of this execrable conjunction" ((iibbim). See Wetzer und Welte, Kirchen-Ler. v, 397 sq. ; Chambers, Cydop.y, 4G2; Appleton, Am. Cijclop. Lx, 318; (iibbon, Decline and Eull of the Roman Empire (^lihnan's ed.), vol. vi (see Index). (J. H. W.)
Hunt, Aaron, an early Methodist Episcopal min- ister, was born of Episcopal parents at Eastchestcr, N, Y., March 28, 1768, and emigrated to Xew York City at seventeen. Here he was converted in 1789, and licensed to preach in 1790. He was first employed as assistant to Dr. Wm. Phrebus on the Long Island Circuit. In 1791 he entered the New York Conference, and was sent to Fairfield Circuit. In a few years his labors were extended all through the state of Connecticut, on the east as well as on the west side of the river by that name, and into adjoining states, exploring new ground, and contending with opposition and difficulties common to Methodist ministers of those times. After this we find him laboring on various circuits in the state and city of New York, having charge of the whole work in that great city. He was sixty-seven years in the min- istry, thirty-seven of which he was an effcctixc laborer in the regidar itinerant work; and whether located, su- pernumerary-, or superannuated, lie continued to labor and preach as he had opportunity, and health would permit, until March, 1855. He died at Sharon. Conn., April 25, 1858. See Minutes of Conferences, vii, 158; Stevens, Mer.ioriah of Methodism.
HUNT
410
HUNTER
Hunt, Absalom, a Methodist Episcopal minister, was born in Virginia Dec. 4, 1773, and emigrated when a boy to East Tennessee, and later removed to Fleming Co., Kentucky. He was licensed as a local preacher about 1793. In 1815 he joined the Kentucky Confer- ence on trial, and was sent to tlie Madison Circuit. He was next appointed to the Lexington Circuit, and two years afterwards successively to the Hinkstone, Lime- stone, Mt. Sterling, and Fleming Circuits. In 1823 he was superannuated, but returned at the next session of the Conference, and was sent to the Liberty Circuit. From 1825-28 he served as supernumerary at Paris, Lex- ington, and Hinkstone, and then returned to the super- annuated list, finding his health inadequate to the ac- tive work of the ministry. He died February 21, 1841. Hunt was a " natural orator," and, " though comparative- ly illiterate and unpolished, such was his native good sense, his deep acquaintance with the human heart, his quick perception of the characters of men, and the un- affected kindness of his manners, that he was not only generally popular as a preacher, but was often the ad- mired favorite with the learned and the refined." — Meth- odist Monthly, 1850 ; Redford, Methodism in Kentucky, ii, 346 sq. (J.H.W.)
Hunt, Christopher, a minister of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, was born at Tarrv'town, N. Y., near the opening of our century; graduated at Rutgers College in 1827, and at New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 1830. He was settled at Clarkstown, N. Y., 1830-2; at Nassau, N. Y., 1832-7 ; and at Franklin St., N. York, 1837 -9. Bereft of both parents when very young, he made his home an orphan asylum, where Christian kindness and spiritual training were blessed to him. He was an earnest, devoted preacher, a man of comprehensive views, and well qualified by natural endowments, as well as by divine grace, for the large and important charge in which he ended his ministry'. His memory is ardently cherished among the churches which he served. He fell in the prime of life, a victim of pulmonary disease. His last words were, "All is well." — Corwin's Manual of the Reformed Dutch Church, p. 119. (\V. J. R. T.)
Hunt, Jeremiah, D.D., a learned English dissent- er, was born at London in 1678. He studied first in that city under j\lr. Thomas Rowe, and after^vards at Edinburgh and Leyden. On his return to England lie preached at Tunsted, near Norwich. He received the degree of D.D. from the University of Edinburgh in 1707, and died Sept. 5, 1744. Dr. Lardner preached his funeral sermon, which contained a biographical sketch. Dr. Benson edited Hunt's sermons, which are elaborate and exact compositions, but not interesting. His princi- pal works are An Es.-mi/ tmninls , .rj,^,ihiinf/ the Ilistoi-y and Revelations of Svrijititr<' in t!i< ir .<i ri r(d Periods, pt. i; to which is added a Uisscrlti/iun uu the Fall of Man (Lond. 1731, 8vo) :— Sermons and Tracts (Lond. 1748, 4 vols. 8vo). — Darling, Cyclopadia Bihliographica, i, 1580.
Hunt, John, a Congregational minister, was bom at Northampton Nov. 20, 1744, and was educated at Har- vard (class of 1764). From 1765-69 he taught a gram- mar school at his native place. AV^hile in this position he was converted, and having pursued a theological course in his last years of teaching, he was licensed to jireach in 1769. Only two years later he was called to the old South Church, Boston, as associate of the Rev. John Ba- con (q. v.). In 1775, while on a visit to his home, he died (Dec. 20). Though young even when he died. Hunt had already acquired a great reputation as a ready speaker and a superior thinker. He published two of his sermons (1771). — Sprague, Annals of the Amcr. Pul- pit, i, 686 sq.