Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian IslandsYonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Religion
Life of John Coleridge Patteson : Missionary Bishop of the Melanesian Islands
Yonge, Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary)
Missions -- Melanesia; Patteson, John Coleridge, 1827-1871
'As to my dear boy Coley, I am more and more thankful every day that I
agreed to his wishes; and in whatever situation he may be placed, feel
confident that his heart will be in his work, and that he will do God
service. He will be contented to work under any one who may be appointed
Bishop of Melanesia (or any other title), or to be the Bishop himself.
If I judge truly, he has no ambitious views, and only desires that he
may be made as useful as his powers enable him to be, whether in a high
or subordinate situation.'
Nothing could be more true than this. There was a general sense of the
probability that Mr. Patteson must be the first Missionary Bishop; but
he continued to work on at the immediate business, always keeping the
schemes and designs which necessarily rose in his mind ready to be
subjected to the control of whomsoever might be set over him. The cold
had set in severely enough to make it needful to carry off his 'party of
coughing, shivering Melanesians' before Easter, and the 'Southern Cross'
sailed on the 18th. Patteson took with him a good store of coffee,
sugar, and biscuits, being uncertain whether he should or should not
again remain at Lifu.
In the outward voyage he only landed his pupils there, and then went
on to the Banks Islands, where Sarawia was returned at Vanua Lava, and
after Mr. Patteson had spent a pleasant day among the natives, Mota was
visited next after.
'May 24.--On Monday, at 3 P.M., we sailed from Port Patteson across
to Mota. Here I landed among 750 people and the boat returned to the
vessel. She was to keep up to windward during the night and call for me
the next morning. I walked with my large following, from the teach, up
a short steep path, to the village, near to which, indeed only 200 yards
off, is another considerable village. The soil is excellent; the houses
good--built round the open space which answers to the green in
our villages, and mighty banyan trees spreading their lofty and
wide-branching arms above and around them. The side walls of these
houses are not more than two feet high, made only of bamboos lashed by
cocoa-nut fibre, or wattled together, and the long sloping roofs nearly
touch ground but within they are tolerably clean and quite dry. The moon
was in the first quarter, and the scene was striking as I sat out in
the open space with some 200 people crowding round me--men, women and
children; fires in front where yams were roasting; the dark brown forms
glancing to and fro in the flickering light; the moon's rays quivering
down through the vast trees, and the native hollow drum beating at
intervals to summon the people to the monthly feast on the morrow. I
slept comfortably on a mat in a cottage with many other persons in
it. Much talk I had with a large concourse outside, and again in this
cottage, on Christianity; and all were quiet when I knelt down as usual
and said my evening prayers. Up at 5.30 A.M., and walked up a part of
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account