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
it may be the effect of a splendid climate upon my physique, that is
true; for indeed to find flowers in full blossom, green meadows, hot
suns, birds singing, etc., in midwinter, with a cool, steady breeze from
the sea invigorating me all the while, is no doubt just what I require;
but to-day we have a north-easter, which answers to your south-west
wind, with pouring rain, and yet my spirits are not going down with the
barometer. All the same, the said barometer will probably soon recover
himself; for I believe these heavy storms seldom last long. There is
no fire in the room where I sit, which is the Bishop's room when he is
here; no fire-place indeed, as it opens into Mrs. Selwyn's room. The
thermometer is 58°, and it is midwinter.'
To Miss Neill, on the same day, after repeating his conviction that he
was in the right place, he says:--
'I have written to them at home what I ought not perhaps to have said of
myself, but that it will give them comfort--that from all sides my
being here as the Bishop's companion is hailed as likely to produce very
beneficial results. But I must assure you that I fully know how your
love for me and much too high opinion of me makes you fancy that I could
be of use at home. But we must not, even taking this view, send our
refuse men to the colonies. Newly forming societies must be moulded by
men of energy, and power, and high character; in fact, churches must be
organised, the Gospel must be preached by men of earnest zeal for God's
glory in the salvation of souls. To lower the standard of Christian life
by exhibiting a feeble faint glimmering instead of a burning shining
light is to stamp upon the native mind a false impression, it may be for
ever.
'Remember, we have no ancient customs nor time-hallowed usages to make
up for personal indifference and apathy; we have no momentum to carry on
the machine. We have to start it, and give it the first impulse, under
the guidance of the Spirit of God; and oh! if it takes a wrong direction
at first, who can calculate the evil that must follow? It is easy to
steer a vessel in smooth water, with a fair breeze; but how are you to
keep her head straight in a rolling sea with no way on her?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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