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
He was tall and of a large powerful frame, broad in the chest and
shoulders, and with small neat hands and feet, with more of sheer
muscular strength and power of endurance than of healthiness, so that
though seldom breaking down and capable of undergoing a great deal
of fatigue and exertion, he was often slightly ailing, and was very
sensitive to cold. His complexion was very dark, and there was a
strongly marked line between the cheeks and mouth, the corners of which
drooped when at rest, so that it was a countenance peculiarly difficult
to photograph successfully. The most striking feature was his eyes,
which were of a very dark clear blue, full of an unusually deep
earnest, and so to speak, inward, yet far away expression. His smile was
remarkably bright, sweet and affectionate, like a gleam of sunshine, and
was one element of his great attractiveness. So was his voice, which had
the rich full sweetness inherited from his mother's family, and which
always excited a winning influence over the hearers. Thus, though not a
handsome man, he was more than commonly engaging, exciting the warmest
affection in all who were concerned with him, and giving in return an
immense amount of interest and sympathy, which only became intensified
to old friends while it expanded towards new ones. Here is a letter to
his father, undated, but written not long after his settling down at
Alfington. After expressing his regret that his voice had been inaudible
to his sister Joanna at a Friday evening service, he proceeds:--
'I did not speak very loud, because I don't think I could do so and
at the same time keep my mind at work and thoughts collected. Anything
which is so unnatural and unusual as to make me conscious of myself in a
peculiar manner would prevent, I fear, my getting on with my oration at
all.
'I am glad you think I could not have acted otherwise with E---. I
quite expect ere long to find something going on which may call for
my interference, and I specially guarded myself on this point. It is
distinctly understood that I shall speak to him quite plainly whenever
and wherever I think it necessary to do so. I do not suppose it very
likely that he can go on long without my being forced to take some step;
but I really feel so very unequal to expressing a decided opinion upon
the great question of Bible readers, that I am certainly glad I have not
taken up a hostile position hastily. As a matter of fact, he reads
in very few cottages in my district; tracts he distributes almost
everywhere.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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