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
'My dear Papa,--I am very sorry for having told so many falsehoods,
which Uncle Frank has told mamma of. I am very sorry for having done so
many bad things, I mean falsehoods, and I heartily beg your pardon;
and Uncle Frank says that he thinks, if I stay, in a month's time Mr.
Cornish will begin to trust me again. Uncle Frank to-day had me into his
house and told me to reflect upon what I had done. He also lectured me
in the Bible, and asked me different questions about it. He told me that
if I ever told another falsehood he should that instant march into the
school and ask Mr. Cornish to strip and birch me; and if I followed the
same course I did now and did not amend it, if the birching did not do,
he should not let me go home for the holidays; but I will not catch the
birching...
'So believe me your dear Son,
'J. C. PATTESON.'
On the flap of the letter 'Uncle Frank' writes to the mother:--
'My dear Fanny,--I had Coley in my room to-day, and talked to him
seriously about his misdeeds, and I hope good has been done. But I
could scarcely keep my countenance grave when he began to reduce by
calculation the exact number of fibs he had told. He did not think it
was more than two or three at the utmost: and when I brought him to
book, I had much to do to prevent the feeling that the sin consisted
in telling many lies. However the dear boy's confession was as free
as could be expected, and I have impressed on his mind the meanness,
cowardice, and wickedness of the habit, and what it will end in here and
hereafter. He has promised that he will never offend in future in like
manner, and I really believe that his desire to be away from the school
and at ease among his friends induced him to trump up the invitations,
&c., to Mr. Cornish, in which consisted his first fibs. I shall watch
him closely, as I would my own child; and Cornish has done wisely,
I think, by giving the proper punishment of confining him to the
school-court, &c., and not letting him go to his friends for some time.
The dear boy is so affectionate, and has so much to work on, that there
is no fear of him; only these things must be looked after promptly, and
he must learn practically (before his reason and religion operate) that
he gains nothing by a lie... He is very well, and wins one's heart in a
moment...
'Ever your affectionate Brother,
'F. G. C.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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