Himt, John, a Wesleyan missionary to the Fiji Islands, and a model of Christian excellence, was born at Hykeham ^loor, near Lincoln, England, .June 13, 1812. His early education was verj' limited, and John was brought u;i to assist his father on a farm, over which he ■was bailiff or overseer. When seventeen years old he
was converted, and joined the Weslej'an society, to whose service he resolved to devote all his powers. He began at once to preach, and by close application acquired con- siderable knowledge. In 1835 he received the recom- mendation from a (^)uarterly Meeting to join Conference, and in IMay, 1836, he was accepted bj' that body as a "preacher on trial." His intention Avas to preach a short time at home, and, after sufficient preparation, go to Africa as a missionarj'. L^pon examination at Lon- don before the Jlissionarj' Committee, he was found to be so far beyond the average standard that it was de- cided that Hunt should be sent to the theological insti- tution at Hoxton. In 1838, when it became the task of the Missionary Committee at London to determine the futiu-e course of Hunt, the wants of Fiji seemed to press upon them, and they overruled the original desigii of sending him to Africa. He was ordained March 27, and sailed, -with his lately-\/edded bride, April 29, 1838, and they entered on their work at Rewa Jan. 3, 1839. His only object was to dd successfully the work for which he was sent. He labored earnestly to acquire a thorough masterj' of the language of the natives, and soon met with such success as has rarely crowned the work of a Christian missionary'. Indeed, he became a living example to all missionaries through those islands. " Neither distance nor danger delayed or damited him. In one of his tours he preached the Gospel to five dif- ferent nations and kingdoms, who had never before seen a missionarj'. He died in the midst of his labors, Oct. 4, 1848. Besides a translation of the New Testament for the Fijis, Hunt wrote a work on Entire Sunctifca- tion, " the matured thoughts of a Christian profoundly submissive to divine teachings ; written amidst the most robust labors of luitiring activity, prompted bj' the prin- ciple of holiness; and himself able, through grace, to illustrate the truths he taught by his spirit and life. The book will live ; for it is a thorough discussion of the doctrine of holy Scripture, untinctured with mysti- cism, free from enthusiastic extravagance, and not bur- dened, like some recent writings, with extraneous mat- ters interesting only to the writer." See Rowe, IJfe of John Hunt (Lond. 1860, 12mo). (J. H. W.)
Hunt, Robert, a ver^' pious and devoted clergy- man of the Church of England, and one of the petition- ers for the charter granted by king James I to the "Lon- don Company" April 10, 1606, emigrated for this cuun- try as preacher of the first colony to Virginia Dec. 19, 1606. The historj' of iSIr. Hunt's life previous to this time is not known, neither is it definitely known wheth- er he spent the remaiifder of his life in Virginia, though this is generally supjiosed to have been the case, nor is the time of his death at all ascertained. During his connection with the colony their church was burned, and with it Mr. Hunt's librarj', but he lived to see at last the church rebuilt (1608). — Hawks, ^iVe and Prog- ress of the Prot. Episc, Ch. in Va. p. 17 sq.
Hunt, Thomas, D.D., a disthignished English He- braist, was born in 1696. He studied at the University of Oxford, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1721. He was one of the first fellows of Hertford College, and applied himself especially to philosophical researches in the O. Test. He greatly assisted Walton in publishing the London Polyglot. In 1738 he was called to the chair of Arabic founded by Laud. In 1747 he bcci;me professor of Hebrew at Oxford; in 1740 he was made fellow of the Royal Society of London, and received the degree of D.D. in 1744. He died at Oxford October 31, 1774. Hvmt wrote De Btnedictione patriarchte Jacohi -;
(Oxford, 1724, 4to) : — De antiquitate. ehr/antia et utilitate I
Lingua; A rabicm (Oxford, 1739, 4to) -.—De Usii Diakcto- '(
rum Orientalium, etc. (Oxford, 1748) : — ObseJ-vations on 1
several Passages of the Book of Proverbs, irith tiro Ser- i'
mons (Oxf. 1775, 4to), his best and a most valuable work, j^
published after the author's death, imder the care of 2-
Kennicott. (J. N. P.) \
Hunter. See Hunting, ""*
HUNTER
411
HUNTING
I
Hunter, Henry, D.D., a Scotch Presbyterian di- vine, born at Oilross, Perthshire, in 1741, was educated at the University of Edinbur<;h. In 17(5G lie became minister of Soutli Leith, and in 1771 minister of the Scotcli Church, London Wall, London. He died at Bris- tol Hot Wells, October '27, 1802. Himter was a man of learnini^, and an cldqiu iit writer. His iiriucipal works are tiermoih'!, cui/ir/iJ a ml n iinUlishul ill I heir respective order, etc. (Loml. irn.').-' \(i1s.N\(i) ■.—SucnilBiograph/, or thi' Iliston/ of the Patriarchs ; being a course of lec- tures delivered at the Scotch Church, London Wall ((Jth ed. Loud. 1807, 5 vols.8vo). This work has often been re- printed both in England and America, and has had great popularity. It is, to a large extent, an unacknowledged translation from Saurin's JJiscours HiAtvriqncs. Hunter edited several other French books, and excelled in this line of labor. After his death appeared a collection of his Sermons and other Pieces, with a Sketch of his Life and ir/-jV«w.r/.-((Lond.l8i)4.2 vols.8v()). See Joi'ics. rV/m- ti(tn Bioiiraphii, s. v. ; Darling. ( 'i/c/(iji(r//i,i /)i/ifi<if/raj>h- ica, i, 1582 ; Allibone, Dictionarij of A uthors, i, 'J22.