A, 
 
 /
 
 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN
 
 
 
 ,dm.w
 
 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 A MEMOIR 
 
 BY 
 
 F. D. HOW 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "BISHOP WALSHAM HOW: A 
 
 ETC, 
 
 LONDON 
 ISBISTER AND COMPANY LIMITED 
 
 15 & 16 TAVISTOCK STREET COVEWT GARDEN 
 1900 
 
 Third Thousand
 
 Printed by BALLANTYNB, HANSON & Co. 
 London A* Edinburgh
 
 TO THE MOTHER 
 
 WHOSE INSPIRATION BREATHES THROUGH 
 
 ALL HIS LIFE AND LETTERS 
 
 THIS BRIEF MEMORIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 is 
 
 RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULILY 
 DEDICATED 
 
 20GG365
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE following sketch of Bishop John Selwyn has 
 appeared to me more and more inadequate in pro- 
 portion as, in the course of writing it, I have been 
 privileged to become more and more familiar with 
 the beauties of his life and character. 
 
 Such as it is, I lay it before those who knew and 
 loved him well, and beg them to pardon its deficiencies. 
 
 The members of the Bishop's family were urgent 
 that the book should be short. With this desire I 
 fully sympathise, but it has in some measure added 
 to my difficulties. 
 
 Before the work was undertaken another hand 
 had begun to write a history of the Melanesian 
 Mission. I undertook to trespass as little as possible 
 upon this ground. Those, therefore, who desire to 
 read chiefly of mission work must await the publica- 
 tion of that history.
 
 x PREFACE 
 
 I wish to give warm thanks to those who have so 
 greatly helped me. Chief of these are the members 
 of the Selwyn family, who will not desire a special 
 mention of their names. Besides these I am deeply 
 grateful to Mrs. a Court-Repington, Mrs. Long 
 Innes, Mrs. Balston, the Lord Bishop of Newcastle, 
 the Rev. Dr. Codrington, the Rev. John Still, the 
 Rev. F. E. Waters, the Rev. the Provost of Eton, 
 the Rev. C. Abraham, the Rev. O. Mordaunt, the 
 Rev. Professor Stanton, the Rev. A. Penny, the Rev. 
 J. 0. F. Murray, Robert Kinglake, Esq., Richard 
 Durnford, Esq., and Charles Bill, Esq., M.P.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 T. EARLY LIFE . . ,1 
 
 H. CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREWAS . . . 16 
 
 m. ST. GEORGE'S, WOLVERHAMPTON TRIP TO AMERICA 
 
 DEATH OF BISHOP PATTESON ... 26 
 
 IV. ARRIVAL IN MELANESIA NORFOLK ISLAND, ETC. . 44 
 
 V. MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF THE BISHOPRIC . 58 
 
 VI. NORFOLK ISLAND 71 
 
 VII. VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON, ETC. . 82 
 
 VIII. HIS CONSECRATION ... . . 92 
 
 IX. DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN . . . , 117 
 
 X. DEATH OF HIS FATHER VISIT TO ENGLAND . 131 
 
 XI. MELANESIA 150 
 
 XII. HIS SECOND MARRIAGE RENEWED WORK IN 
 
 MELANESIA 161 
 
 XIII. MISSIONARY ADVENTURES . . . . ,177 
 
 XIV. LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA . . . .195 
 
 XV. SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE .... 207 
 
 XVI. THE END . . 242 
 
 XVII. A FEW LETTERS ON SPIRITUAL MATTERS . 253
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 EARLY LIFE 
 
 JOHN KICHARDSON SELWYN was born on May 20, 
 1844. Of him alone of our Missionary Bishops it 
 may be said that he was born in the region of his 
 future labours, for his birthplace was the Waimate 
 in the Bay of Islands in the northern part of New 
 Zealand. There it was that his father, George 
 Augustus Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand, had 
 established his headquarters, making use of the 
 roomy wooden station belonging to the Church 
 Missionary Society. There too St. John's College, 
 " a Polynesian College for the different branches of 
 the Maori family scattered over the Pacific," first 
 saw the light, and there it remained until some 
 difficulty with the owners caused its removal in 
 1846 to Auckland. 
 
 Owing to these circumstances the future Bishop 
 of Melanesia could never in after life have felt 
 himself the stranger in the Islands that many 
 another man would have done, for the Maoris were 
 
 A
 
 2 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 proud to boast that he was one of themselves, and 
 the sound of their languages was as familiar to his 
 baby ears as was his mother tongue. Then again, 
 when the College was moved to Auckland he was 
 taken thither also by his parents, and his earliest 
 childhood was passed in an institution where Maori 
 and English boys learnt lessons side by side and 
 lived a life in common. It was when he was five 
 years old that his father returned on October 1, 
 1849, at midnight from a cruise among the Islands 
 in the schooner Undine. Mrs. Selwyn was aroused 
 by the Bishop's voice exultingly exclaiming " I've 
 got them ! " " Them " turned out to be five little 
 savage boys, the first of many who afterwards were 
 brought in to be educated, and to form in time a 
 native clergy for Melanesia. 
 
 With these little natives Johnnie Selwyn made 
 great friends, and, when one of them was ill with a 
 disease which proved fatal, it was Johnnie Selwyn's 
 name which was on his lips as he kept constantly 
 calling for his beloved playmate. 
 
 All these things must have had their effect, and, 
 though for many years he lived in England at 
 school and college, and though his knowledge of the 
 Maori language was entirely lost, yet the seeds 
 sown in the first ten years of his life were destined 
 to bear ample fruit. 
 
 The influence of his father was but little felt in 
 these early days. There were, it is true, strong
 
 EARLY LIFE 3 
 
 traits of character directly inherited; there came 
 also in later life that admiration for his father's 
 work and desire to share in it which was so large a 
 factor in his dedication to missionary work ; but as a 
 child he saw little of him. " My boyhood, alas ! " 
 he wrote,* " can remember little of my father. I can 
 remember him suddenly appearing in the middle of 
 the night, fresh from one of those voyages which 
 laid, with so much daring and so much forethought, 
 the foundations of the Melanesian Mission. I can 
 recall the dingy cabin of his little schooner, creaking 
 and groaning in a gale of wind off the coast of New 
 Zealand, and a figure in wet and shiny oilskins 
 coming down from the long watch on deck to see 
 how my mother and I were faring below." 
 
 It was on his mother that he depended from the 
 very first. It was from his mother and from her 
 alone that he learnt his earliest lessons. In those 
 first years of his life he and his mother were so 
 closely welded together that no distance of space 
 or time was ever able afterwards to loosen the 
 bond between them. There is an old rhyme which 
 says : 
 
 My son is my son till he gets him a wife, 
 My daughter's my daughter all her life. 
 
 This was certainly falsified in John Selwyn's case. 
 No matter what friendships he made or what ties 
 
 * Selwyn College Calendar, 1894.
 
 4 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 he formed in the course of his life, he never altered 
 one hair's breadth in his devoted intimacy with his 
 mother. 
 
 It is curious to note in a man of so essentially 
 " manly " a type some characteristics which show 
 that he also possessed certain feminine qualities 
 of mind and even habits. His handwriting may, 
 perhaps, be taken as typical of this. This twofold 
 nature especially endeared him as a child to his 
 mother. " He was my son and my daughter," she 
 says, " he was exactly like a son and a daughter." 
 She bears witness at the same time to his having 
 been a very spirited boy, and to his having shown 
 at an early age some of those traits which became 
 familiar afterwards as, for instance, an unfailing 
 courtesy, and a quickness of temper followed by an 
 equally quick desire to make amends. Mrs. Selwyn 
 was fortunate enough to take out with her an 
 admirable servant who, in spite of severe illness, 
 remained faithful to her in her New Zealand home,, 
 and, as was the case with most women who came in 
 contact with him, became devoted to John Selwyn, 
 whom she nursed from the hour of his birth. Her 
 love for him was fully returned, and their affectionate 
 relations were maintained to the end of her life a 
 few years ago. He would often go to visit her after 
 he became a Bishop, and the story goes that on his 
 first arrival she would address him with some awe 
 as " My Lord," then in a little while it would come
 
 EARLY LIFE 5 
 
 down to "Bishop," and then to "Master Johnnie," 
 and at last, when old memories swept everything 
 before them, it was always "My darling Johnnie." 
 This same old friend bore witness to the early 
 piety of the boy, saying that she remembered well 
 finding him, when a very little fellow, on his knees 
 praying for her at a time when she was far from 
 well. This habit of prayer grew with his growth, 
 and it will be seen how greatly it influenced his life 
 from beginning to end. 
 
 Of his chief interests as a little lad there is not 
 much to be recorded excepting that, like most small 
 boys, he was very fond of fishing, of which he was 
 able to get plenty of a sort ! from the rocks at 
 Taurarua, where they used constantly to stay with 
 Sir William Martin, the Chief Justice. One of his 
 chief delights then as always was history and all 
 connected with it. He knew all about the chief 
 battles by land and sea, and, as he himself said in a 
 letter long afterwards, " whatever I read of that sort, 
 it just sticks." When he was quite a little fellow he 
 was most indignant and contemptuous because some 
 of the boys at St. John's College, Auckland, didn't 
 know the ballad of " Chevy Chase." This keenness 
 made the history lessons with his mother a delight to 
 them both, and she well remembers his intense enjoy- 
 ment of Macaulay's " Lays of Ancient Rome." His 
 only other teacher at this time was Mr. Abraham 
 {now Bishop), who taught him his first Latin.
 
 6 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 In May 1854 the Bishop of New Zealand and 
 Mrs. Selwyn came to England, and then for the 
 first time John Selwyn set foot in his mother 
 country. What a marvellous change it must have 
 seemed to him ! A change from the life of a young 
 colony to the old-world English ways, from the little 
 black Maori boys of St. John's, Auckland, to the 
 manners and customs of the most famous of our 
 public schools. He was sent to Eton very soon 
 after his arrival in England, and it was arranged 
 that his holidays should be spent at Ely. His 
 father's eldest brother, Professor Selwyn, was one 
 of the Canons there, and another relative living 
 there at that time was Mrs. Peacocke, wife of the 
 Dean, and his father's youngest sister. It was with 
 this aunt that most of his time was spent, and to- 
 this day she writes in terms of the warmest appre- 
 ciation of his affectionate companionship. 
 
 He was very careful in the selection of his friends, 
 bringing only one or two specially nice boys to stay 
 at the Deanery. He does not indeed seem to have 
 had many companions in the holidays. His brother,* 
 four years older than himself, was little with him. 
 There seems to have been a systematic separa- 
 tion of the two boys, for they were at different 
 houses at Eton and their holidays were spent with 
 different uncles. However, Johnnie Selwyn was 
 never at a loss for amusement : he gratified his love 
 * Rev. W. Selwyn, Vicar of Bromfield, Salop.
 
 EARLY LIFE 7 
 
 of adventure by making perilous journeys outside 
 the roof of Ely Cathedral, to which he obtained 
 ready access as the Dean's nephew, and the river 
 and its boats were a source of continual delight to 
 him. His aunt Mrs. Thompson (on the death of the 
 Dean Mrs. Peacocke married Dr. Thompson, the late 
 master of Trinity College, Cambridge), tells of his 
 devotion to his "dear boats," but adds that his 
 readiness to leave them and nurse her in a time of 
 illness was most touching. On another occasion, too, 
 he was known to have given up a boating expedition 
 and could nowhere be found, until, on search being 
 made, he was discovered reading to a page-boy who 
 was ill upstairs. This sympathy with suffering was 
 one of his strongest characteristics : in Melanesia he 
 would sit up night after night nursing the sick, and 
 often gave up his own bed to a native boy who 
 was ailing, though it might not improbably mean 
 that the bedding could not be used by him again. 
 Towards the close of his life, when lame and broken 
 in health, it will be seen that he devoted much time 
 to visiting hospitals and did all in his power to- 
 alleviate the pain and trouble of others. 
 
 But to return to his boyhood : he gives just one 
 glimpse in a letter written to his mother many years 
 afterwards, where he says that he accounts for his 
 own learning being inferior to hers in depth and 
 variety by the fact that she when a girl spent her 
 evenings in reading with her aunt, while he spent
 
 8 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 his in playing cribbage with his uncle. To sum up 
 the impression he made upon his relations during 
 these Ely holidays, nothing can be better than 
 Mrs. Thompson's own words : " I dare not," she 
 says, " begin about his lovely character, unselfish 
 and cheerful under suffering, and thoughtful for 
 every one." 
 
 At Eton he seems to have borne an excellent 
 character with the authorities, for it is said that 
 there was " not one complaint from either school- 
 master or tutor," though he was never a particularly 
 studious boy. His appearance at that date has 
 been described by an old schoolfellow as that of a 
 sturdy, square-shouldered boy with the countenance 
 of a Lord Chancellor. There is no doubt that, 
 whatever he took in hand, he was tremendously in 
 earnest, and this shone out in his eager, determined 
 face and sparkling eye. He was not a tidy boy : in 
 fact all his life long he was noted for a certain care- 
 lessness of dress : a striking instance of this is given 
 by Dr. Hornby, the Provost of Eton, who writes : 
 
 "I believe that I first saw John Selwyn on the Oxford 
 towing-path in 1865 or 66, running with the University crew. 
 He had come over from Cambridge to see his rivals, he being 
 then, I think, stroke of the Cambridge eight. I well remember 
 his appearance, which was very characteristic. He had 
 borrowed a set of flannels from one of his friends at Uni- 
 versity College, Oxford, probably an old comrade in the 
 Eton eight, and was running along very joyously in a Uni- 
 versity College ' blazer," 1 which was far too narrow for his
 
 EARLY LIFE 9 
 
 broad shoulders, and a pair of white flannel trousers which 
 were much too long for his legs. It was impossible not to 
 notice this as well as his bright, happy look, as of a man out 
 for a good holiday and thoroughly enjoying himself."" 
 
 In order to obtain a true notion of his Eton and 
 Cambridge life the following valuable paper is 
 inserted here valuable both from its intrinsic 
 interest, and also from the fact that it is penned 
 by his chief school and college friend, Mr. R. A. 
 Kinglake. 
 
 " My first meeting with John Richardson Selwyn was at 
 John Hawtrey's, where we were together for about a year, 
 Selwyn being at this time eleven years of age. John Hawtrey, 
 a nephew of the Provost, was a Lower School Master. He 
 took none but little boys, and as soon as they got into the 
 fourth form they migrated to other houses. Selwyn went 
 to Coleridge's, while I went to Evans'. Coleridge, who was 
 then Lower Master, was soon after elected to a College fellow- 
 ship, and Selwyn thereupon became a pupil of the Rev. E. 
 Balston, who was also my tutor, and he came across the road 
 from Coleridge's to Wm. Evans', where he and I struck up a 
 friendship which was only severed by death. Selwyn did 
 not live in the boys' house, but he occupied a room in the 
 cottage where Mr. Evans lived, and where the Earl of Pem- 
 broke and one or two pet boys had rooms. . . . There was 
 no dining hall at Eton to be compared to Evans'. It was 
 hung round with old tapestry, and the walls decorated 
 with coats of armour, &c. ... At the high table the 
 head boys sat in high-backed velvet chairs : it was a charm- 
 ing specimen of an old baronial hall. [What an impression 
 this must have made on the small New Zealander !]
 
 10 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " Although he must have been separated from his parents 
 at a very early age, the training and religious teaching he 
 had received were indelibly stamped upon his mind, for at 
 twelve years old he had a marvellous knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures . . . and could repeat by heart numberless texts and 
 passages from the New Testament. 
 
 "When he was about fifteen years of age Mrs. Selwyn 
 came from New Zealand on a visit, and stayed at Evans\ 
 He went to London to meet his mother, but not having seen 
 her for so many years did not recognise her. He had also 
 grown out of her recollection, being by this time a broad- 
 shouldered strong boy. However, it did not take long for 
 them to be on the most affectionate terms, and I remember his 
 expressing his joy at having his mother again with him, to 
 whom he could tell all his inmost thoughts and hopes. 
 
 " Evans" 1 was a great house in those days. Four Lytteltons 
 were there, Lord Cobham and his three brothers. The house 
 was ruled and managed by the head boys . . . and this con- 
 fidence was never misplaced. . . . Selwyn took to football and 
 rowing, and was one of the best c long behinds "" at football I 
 ever knew. Cool and calm at the moment of danger, never 
 flurried, the house had a perfect defender for their goals, and 
 with him as captain Evans 1 won the football challenge cup, 
 and became ' cocks of college." 1 . . . Selwyn, I think, played in 
 the house cricket eleven. He rowed three in the house four, 
 the remaining members of the crew being myself, S. E. Hicks, 
 and the Rev. J. Trower. About this time he and I took up 
 pair-oar rowing together, and we won the * Pulling ' with 
 great ease. . . . Selwyn stood so high in football ' choices * 
 that he might have been either captain of the field eleven, 
 or captain of the 'Wall,'* which was considered a better 
 position. I was next to him in the * Wall choices ' and 
 stood low in the field, so, for the honour of the dear old 
 house, and thinking I should like to be captain of the 'Wall,' 
 he accepted the captaincy of the field eleven, and I took the
 
 EARLY LIFE 11 
 
 ' Wall,' an act which was greatly appreciated by the boys in 
 the house. 
 
 " He was a great favourite with the headmaster, Dr. 
 Balston, who knew he had a boy of strong will and character 
 at the top of the school, and one who would set an example 
 of good to the younger and weaker boys, and he felt he could 
 always rely on him if he should want his aid. 
 
 " Selwyn's principal amusements were rowing and bathing. 
 [He was a splendid swimmer, and on one occasion when at 
 Scarborough during his holidays he swam so far out that a 
 boatman rowed after him and fetched him back a totally 
 unnecessary proceeding. His " rescuer " proceeded to demand 
 five shillings for what he had done, on which John Selwyn 
 remarked : " I observe there are sharks hi the sea even on the 
 coast of England ! "] 
 
 
 
 " Two of his very intimate friends at Eton were Stephen 
 Fremantle, a brother of the present Lord Cottesloe, who 
 won the Newcastle Scholarship and became a student of 
 Christchurch and, unfortunately, died young after giving 
 promise of great things ; and Charles Bill, now member 
 for one of the divisions of Staffordshire. [His love and 
 admiration for Stephen Fremantle is mentioned in many 
 of his letters, and in memory of him he called his eldest 
 son " Stephen."] 
 
 " I went to stay with him at Ely during the Easter holidays 
 of 1862 to read for our matriculation examination at Trinity, 
 Cambridge. Here we used to row every afternoon hi a 
 pair-oared outrigger. . . . On one occasion, in consequence 
 of some inadvertence in the steering, we both lost our 
 tempers, and each tried to row the other into the bank. 
 The river was absolutely straight for over three-quarters of 
 a mile, and after rowing the whole distance, and finding the 
 boat still keeping her course in the centre of the stream, 
 we burst out laughing. . . . Thus we gained perfect con-
 
 12 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 fidence in one another, and when we went up to Cambridge 
 we had no difficulty in winning the University Pairs, and 
 afterwards the Silver Goblets at Henley. 
 
 " When Selwyn went to Trinity he * kept ' in Malcolm 
 Street, and, as he preferred the freedom of lodgings, he re- 
 mained there during the whole of his University career, and 
 never had rooms in College. He rowed twice in the University 
 crew (1864 and 1866). [He was stroke of the boat in the 
 former year, and rowed two in the latter. Cambridge 
 rowing was at a low ebb at the time, and he lost both races 
 with Oxford.] As I was President of the C.U.B.C. and 
 captain of 3rd Trinity, I resigned the latter post to him, thus 
 repaying him for his generosity to me in our Eton football 
 days." 
 
 In 1866 John Selwyn made one of the great 
 friendships of his life. This was with John Still,* 
 captain of the Caius College Rowing Club, who 
 was a member of the Cambridge crew for four years, 
 of which the first was 1866, thus just overlapping 
 Selwyn. This friendship resulted in the two men 
 working side by side for some years, first of all at 
 Wolverhampton, and then in Melanesia. 
 
 One or two extracts from letters written during 
 his Cambridge life may be added to this chapter, 
 each one being interesting for some special reference 
 or allusion. 
 
 Thus it is curious in view of after events, and his 
 father's acceptance of the See of Lichfield, to find 
 him writing to his mother on August 25, 1863, as 
 
 follows : 
 
 * Rector of Hockwold, Brandon.
 
 EARLY LIFE 13 
 
 " I went up to Uncle Charles' for a cricket party 
 on the 1st, and then to Lichfield to play in a match 
 there. Did you go to Lichfield when you were in 
 England ? It has one of the most perfect Cathedrals 
 in England, not excepting Ely, as it has been com- 
 pletely restored, and now they are putting in a 
 reredos similar to that at Ely." 
 
 Then again, writing to his mother on May 26, 
 1864, we find an allusion to his intention to take up 
 the law as a profession. His uncle, Sir Charles 
 Selwyn, was a notable judge, and his grandfather on 
 his mother's side (after whom he was named) was 
 Sir John Richardson, of whom Lord Campbell in 
 his "Life" (vol. i. p. 379) says : " He is not only a 
 deep lawyer, but a very elegant scholar. I do not 
 recollect any appointment which gave such universal 
 satisfaction." For these reasons, and also for much 
 in his own nature which fitted him for the profession, 
 it was always thought that he would go to the Bar. 
 He writes as follows : 
 
 " The great thing with us now is Willie's [his 
 brother] ordination. He is regularly started in the 
 world now, and I hope I shall get as good a one. I 
 think a young clergyman's life and a young lawyer's 
 are about as widely different as anything can be, 
 though I suppose both have their own temptations, 
 especially the latter. I think I shall try when I am
 
 14 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 in London to get lodgings a little way out in the 
 country, and then one will be able to get away from 
 the eternal din ; and besides, it is very much better 
 to put oneself out of the reach of temptation, as they 
 say that men who have been working all day feel so 
 inclined to knock about at night. However, you 
 shall have my experiences when I have arrived at 
 that state. At present I am only a Cambridge 
 undergraduate who is not very likely to floor the 
 Classical Tripos, unless he works very hard, which, 
 what with boat-races, Prince of Wales coming to 
 Cambridge, &c., does not seem very easy." 
 
 His lonely independence, owing to his great dis- 
 tance from his father and mother, comes out strongly 
 in the following extract from a letter to his father 
 written from Dresden, where he was reading with a 
 party under the auspices of Mr. Richmond, on 
 August 22, 1864. 
 
 " It is a very queer state of things, but at present 
 I am almost entirely ou my own (see the paucity of 
 my English when I know no other word to express 
 what I mean but) hook ; thereby meaning that 
 hardly anybody, uncles, &c., knows how I am going 
 on in the working way. . . . Everybody said that 
 the Germans would be very rude, on account of the 
 mess England had made by inserting her finger in 
 the Danish war, but such is anything but the case.
 
 EARLY LIFE 15 
 
 I never met with more civility and kindness. My 
 German is not so flourishing as it might be, but by 
 a reckless disregard of all genders, and often of 
 declensions also, I generally manage to make myself 
 understood." 
 
 This pluck in the matter of unknown tongues was 
 to stand him in good stead when he first went out to 
 Melanesia. It is said that, while many a more timid 
 man hesitated long before attempting to address the 
 natives, as soon as John Selwyn knew twenty words 
 of Mota, he preached a sermon and made himself 
 understood. 
 
 His fears as to flooring the Classical Tripos were 
 unfounded, for he came out safely in the 3rd Class 
 in 1866, and then returned to New Zealand on a 
 visit to his parents.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREW AS 
 
 THIS visit to New Zealand proved the turning-point 
 in his life. He went out with law-books in his box, 
 and no other intention in his mind than that of 
 preparing for the legal profession. Before the visit 
 was over, an entirely different path of life opened 
 out before him. 
 
 But this did not happen just at first. There were 
 other things to occupy his mind for a time, such as 
 the joy of being once more with his father and 
 mother. He describes his arrival in a letter to 
 Mrs. a Court-Bepington, in which he says : 
 
 " My father's house looks straight over the 
 entrance to the harbour, and they saw us coming in, 
 and before we anchored there was the well-known 
 shovel hat in the stern sheets of a man-of-war's boat, 
 which soon transported me to my native land. . . . 
 My old nurse appeared in most gorgeous attire to 
 greet me, one item of which was a brooch containing
 
 CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREW AS 17 
 
 as a centrepiece a glass button which I wore at 
 somebody's wedding in the year one ! What do 
 you think of that for fidelity ? " 
 
 There is evidence, too, in the recollection of one 
 who was at that time a little lad of nine, and 
 lived at Auckland, N.Z., that law studies were 
 at all events in John Selwyn's mind during the 
 first part of his stay with his parents. This friend 
 writes : 
 
 " He was supposed to be reading law, and used to spend 
 much time in his shirt sleeves teaching a black-and-tan terrier 
 tricks, much to my delight. He would take me out in his 
 little 10-ton cutter in the harbour, and let me steer when all 
 was plain sailing, or hang on to the sheet when we tacked. I 
 can remember one day drifting off with the ebb tide with one 
 scull in the dinghy, and finding that the most frantic exertions 
 only made her spin round and drift away further from shore. 
 He had his boots and coat off in a moment as he caught sight 
 of the plight I was in, and swam out in his clothes to bring 
 back the nine-year-old brat." 
 
 But two things soon happened which between 
 them brought about a change of mind, and made 
 him determine to take Holy Orders. The first of 
 these was a long six weeks' expedition with his 
 father to the district of the Waikato. This was a 
 newly conquered part and the travellers had to 
 undergo a series of hardships, such as sleeping in 
 huts on fern beds, &c., which would have been 
 
 B
 
 18 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 thought severe enough by most men, but which the 
 father and son seem to have equally enjoyed. 
 
 In the course of his lectures on pastoral work in 
 the Colonies and Mission Field, delivered in the 
 University of Cambridge in 1896, Bishop John 
 Selwyn thus described his experiences on this 
 occasion : 
 
 " Just after I landed my father took me on a six- 
 weeks' tour. I was cook and bed-maker. It was 
 mine to hoist up the little tent, to fill it with fern 
 judiciously arranged, to cut the scanty rasher, and 
 fit it between a cleft fern-stick ready for toasting, 
 and, when he came, to do this deftly, so that all the 
 grease might fall on the solitary biscuit which 
 acted as dripping-pan. This was when we camped. 
 Sometimes we slept at settlers' houses, and never 
 did men receive heartier welcome. Sometimes a 
 soldiers' mess welcomed us, and the guard turned 
 out to salute a very travel-stained Bishop, but one 
 who they all knew had gone through hardships and 
 peril for their sakes." 
 
 This journey gave John Selwyn an insight into 
 the difficulties and self-sacrifice of his father's work, 
 and sowed the seed of a desire to be allowed to take 
 his own share in the labour. Then came his know- 
 ledge of and devotion to Bishop Patteson, whose 
 advice and example watered that seed and fostered
 
 CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREWAS 19 
 
 it until it bore fruit in a fixed determination to help 
 his father, " not," to quote Dr. Codrington's * words, 
 "for his father's sake only, but for the work's 
 sake." 
 
 Full of this idea he returned to England with his 
 father and mother when the former was summoned 
 to the first Lambeth Conference in 1867. Then 
 came another change. The Bishop of New Zealand 
 was with great difficulty persuaded to accept, at the 
 request of the Queen, the vacant Bishopric of Lich- 
 field, and John Selwyn had to make up his mind to 
 give up for a time his missionary aspirations and 
 help his father to settle into his new diocese, first, 
 however, going back with him for a hurried visit to 
 New Zealand to settle up affairs there. 
 
 On their return to Lichfield he seems to have 
 spent his time partly as his father's secretary, partly 
 in attending theological lectures at Cambridge, and 
 latterly, for a few months before his ordination to 
 the curacy of Alrewas, in working as a layman in 
 that parish. 
 
 This period was no doubt a time of considerable 
 trial. He had always been a thoroughly good fellow, 
 but he was endowed with immense spirits and was 
 exceptionally boyish and unconventional in his ways, 
 so that, while the prospect of being a clergyman 
 was attractive enough to the strongly marked serious 
 
 * Dr. Codrington was Head of the Melanesian Mission after 
 the death of Bishop Patteson.
 
 20 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 side of his character, yet it seemed to him to require 
 so great a change in his mode of life that, as appears 
 in many of his letters at this date, it caused him 
 grave apprehension. However, he was ordained 
 deacon by his father on Trinity Sunday 1869, and 
 went to work at A Ire was under the Rev. W. H. 
 Walsh, an old friend of the family. There is a short 
 account of his ordination hi a letter to a friend, 
 which is worth quoting for its simplicity. He says : 
 
 " I ought to have thanked you before for your 
 delightful little ' George Herbert.' I read some 
 of him while I was waiting in the morning to go to 
 church, and wondered whether it was possible to 
 reach such a standard. The service was delightful 
 on Sunday. My father could hardly say anything 
 when I came up, and, of course, it was the most 
 solemn moment I have ever passed. I only hope 
 all the love and kind wishes that have been sent 
 me may end in something, but it seems very hard 
 not to turn back again to one's old ways." 
 
 It may be as well to describe his personal appear- 
 ance at this time, as it does not appear to have 
 altered much until he became broken in health 
 towards the end of his life. He is described as a 
 man of strong physical frame and eyes full of fire 
 and enthusiasm ; not tall but very muscular, his 
 head well set on his shoulders ; the sort of man to
 
 CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREWAS 21 
 
 have near one in a crowd ; almost boyish in manner, 
 very merry and cheerful, and always a most 
 welcome guest to children. Many people (especially 
 strangers) saw in him a strong resemblance to the 
 great Napoleon. His exact height was 5 ft. 7f in. 
 as may be gathered from an extract from a letter to 
 his eldest daughter written from Norfolk Island in 
 1888 : he pretends to be horrified at having so tall 
 a daughter and says : 
 
 " I see you are 5 ft. 6f in. only an inch below 
 me ! ! ! Wretch ! Stop ! " 
 
 As would be supposed from his natural tastes he 
 devoted a great deal of attention to the children in 
 the parish of Alrewas, going much to the school, 
 joining in the cricket and football, and teaching the 
 village lads to swim. Many acts of kindness are 
 still recorded of his brief stay in that place, such 
 as helping an old woman to take in her coals, 
 leaving his own dinner to carry some to a sick 
 neighbour, taking medicine late at night from the 
 doctor to a distant hamlet, and going night and 
 morning for many weeks to carry an infirm old man 
 up and down stairs. Some neighbours in the county 
 asked him frequently to dinner, and were almost 
 vexed at his constant excuses. After he left they 
 found out that his real reason was his reluctance to 
 miss his attendance on this old paralytic. By these
 
 22 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 and such -like characteristic actions, as well as by his 
 absolute lack of ecclesiastical priggishness, he became 
 in a short time deeply endeared to the people 
 among whom he was first called to work. 
 
 One other matter must here be mentioned. 
 There was, staying with the Walshes, a young lady, 
 an orphan, by name Miss Clara Innes, to whom 
 John Selwyn became engaged shortly after he left 
 Alrewas for Wolverhampton, and who was the 
 faithful and loving partner of his first missionary 
 labours. He thus describes his engagement : 
 
 To MKS. 1 COURT-KEPINGTON. 
 
 " WOLVERHAMPTON, July 7, 1871. 
 
 " What will you say to me for having been such 
 a bad correspondent ? . . . One reason is that I 
 have had a great many letters to write to another 
 lady, who is very exigeante and never lets me off! 
 All which means that at last I have broken the 
 spell, and am really engaged. The young damsel is 
 one Clara Innes, who has been living for some time 
 with my old vicar at Alrewas, where I got to know 
 her very well. She filled my place when I left, and 
 used to do great things in the parish which roused 
 my admiration, and this grew into love which has 
 deepened every minute since we have been engaged, 
 and I think we are as happy in each other as any 
 two people in the world. She is very tall [she was
 
 CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREWAS 23 
 
 exactly his own height], fairly good looking, and 
 very bright and merry, so we mean to be a most 
 jovial couple." 
 
 This letter has been quoted a little out of place 
 here, because it throws a sidelight upon the Alrewas 
 life, and also because it affords an opportunity of 
 saying a word, thus early, on a subject of great 
 interest in studying the life of Bishop John Selwyn. 
 From first to last he owed nearly everything to the 
 beneficent influence of women. It is true that the 
 example of his father and of Bishop Patteson 
 inspired him to a great degree, but there was not 
 any very close intimacy, and the few great friends 
 whom he possessed among menkind, such as 
 Mr. Charles Bill and the Rev. John Still, had 
 nothing like the influence over him that several 
 women acquired. When separated so widely as a 
 boy from his parents he depended in some measure 
 for sympathy on his aunt, Mrs. Peacocke, but far 
 more on a saintly and lovable cousin who enjoyed 
 his closest confidence, and to whom, had she lived, 
 he would in all probability have been married. Then 
 there were one or two married ladies who were 
 devoted to his interests and with whom he carried 
 on an immense correspondence. The sister of the 
 cousin above mentioned was one of these, as also was 
 Mrs. a Court-Repington, an aunt of Lord Pembroke, 
 with whom John Selwyn was in the same house at
 
 24 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 Eton. That he deeply valued these friendships is 
 plain from the following extracts : 
 
 To MRS. 1 COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "ALREWAS, Jan. 21, 1870. 
 
 " Did you see an article in the Saturday on 
 friendship ? I got in such a rage with it, especially 
 when it talked about women's friendship for men. 
 It rather ignored and sneered at the idea, while / 
 think that a good married woman friend is the very 
 best thing a man, and especially a young one, can 
 have. I have got about three, and they do one 
 more good than anything else. So, great was my 
 wrath at the article." 
 
 Then again, just before he started for Melanesia 
 in January 1873, he wrote : 
 
 " I have two memories to help me on in the work, 
 all summed up in one line of a hymn, ' Martyrs 
 brave and patient saints' Bishop Patteson the 
 one and dear R the other." 
 
 He is here referring to the cousin who died, and 
 whose memory was with him all through his life ; 
 thus in 1890 he says : 
 
 " How much I learnt from R and you all of 
 
 the beauty and helpfulness of women I It is a very
 
 CHOICE OF A PROFESSION ALREWAS 25 
 
 good faith for a youngster to get hold of, and I 
 have never found it fail yet. Of course I have met 
 foolish and extravagant and some wicked women, 
 but on the whole I have met and cared for so many 
 good ones that my faith has never wavered, and 
 I have been helped and comforted by them more 
 than I can say." 
 
 And then what can be said of his close affection 
 for his mother and her wonderful influence over 
 him? Only that to read the long and frequent 
 letters to her with which he supplemented his diary 
 is a revelation of an intercourse between mother and 
 son, both spiritual and otherwise, such as is not 
 commonly conceived possible.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 ST. GEORGE'S, WOLVERHAMPTON TRIP TO 
 AMERICA DEATH OF BISHOP PATTESON 
 
 WHEN John Selwyn had been some eighteen months 
 at Alrewas his father found him a fresh sphere for his 
 energies. A large and important town parish, that 
 of St. George's, Wolverhampton, had got into a con- 
 siderable state of disorder through a want of a good 
 understanding between the people and the Vicar, 
 who was at that time given leave of absence by the 
 Bishop. Here seemed an admirable opportunity for 
 testing what there might be in his son, and at the 
 same time for placing some one in the parish upon 
 whom he, as Bishop, could thoroughly depend. So, 
 reluctantly enough, John Selwyn had to go. He 
 thus writes of the matter : 
 
 To MBS. A COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 " ALREWAS [end of 1 870 ?]. 
 
 " I dare say you have heard of the row going on
 
 ST. GEORGE'S, WOLVERHAMPTON 27 
 
 at St. George's, Wolverhampton. Well, the incum- 
 bent is going on leave of absence, and my father, 
 more suo, is packing me off thither. It is an awful 
 responsibility, and one that I would not undertake 
 were I not told to go. You will think of me some- 
 times and pray that I may have the spirit of counsel 
 and of peace." 
 
 He went there on January 2, 1871, and certainly 
 did not find a very pleasant state of things, the one 
 redeeming feature being the presence of the Rev. F. 
 E. Waters, now Vicar of Holy Trinity, Hanley, who 
 had just been ordained Curate of the parish, and 
 who became his lifelong friend. 
 
 Writing to his mother four days after his arrival 
 he thus describes what he found : 
 
 " I am quite settled down now, though I feel some- 
 what moped and lonely at times without a single 
 soul one cares very much about except 
 
 " Still, I think things might be a good deal worse 
 than they are. The parish certainly is in an awful 
 mess. The schools at the upper end are going to 
 the dogs, and at the lower end they are not much 
 better. This last place is where the Mission Church 
 is, and I have received rather a facer to-night, as I 
 meant to have an Epiphany service there this even- 
 ing. Waters went to see about it, and the man told 
 him he didn't dare open it without an order from
 
 28 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 the Committee. Now this Committee consists of a 
 good many of the malcontents who have paid their 
 guineas, and are therefore members according to the 
 terms of the deed. To-night they have said that 
 they cannot let me have the school without a meet- 
 ing of the Committee. I have quietly acquiesced, 
 and they will know better than to make such a false 
 step as to stop me altogether. Still it is a bore just 
 as things are at present, as I looked on that as my 
 working ground, and it may bring me into collision 
 with them, which is just what I want to avoid. I 
 dare say there will be no fuss however, so, as you 
 say, I will not take trouble at interest. There are 
 many rays of hope, though, going about. . . ." 
 
 Again, writing to a cousin on January 9, 1871, he 
 says : 
 
 " What a change this is ! ... To be on one's 
 guard for everything one says or does, and to be 
 going on in a sort of armed neutrality with no end 
 of foes outside, ready to take advantage of a slip. 
 That is about one's state at St. George's just now. 
 Perhaps it will get better soon." 
 
 To MRS. 1 COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "Sr. GEORGE'S, WOLVERHAMPTON, Feb. 27, 1871. 
 
 " This is a queer life altogether, as one has to be 
 greatly on one's Ps and Qs. The principal opposing
 
 ST. GEORGE'S, WOLVERHAMPTON 29 
 
 churchwarden is a pawnbroker with whom I discuss 
 questions of theology. Then I have another man 
 who wants to preach in a licensed schoolroom in the 
 parish, and I won't let him. Hence a small row. 
 But I think that is smoothing down." 
 
 It was certainly no slight test to which the Bishop 
 had put his son, and it must have been no small 
 satisfaction to him to find how amply his trust in 
 that son's capabilities was justified. The Rev. F. 
 E. Waters gives the clue to the success which met 
 John Selwyn's efforts to bring about a better state 
 of things. He says : 
 
 " I quite well remember the bright, cheery greeting I re- 
 ceived from my new chief at his first coming, and all the time 
 he stayed at St. George's I found him a kind friend, a very 
 inspiring leader, and a noble example. He was from the first 
 full of faith, hope, and charity. He had a most lovable and 
 winsome way, and soon began to win back the confidence and 
 respect that had been lost. If I were to be asked what were 
 his chief characteristics I should say cheerfulness and prayer- 
 fulness. I remember his telling me when a very tiresome 
 meeting was over, where bitter things had been said and angry 
 speeches made : ' I was praying all the while was speak- 
 ing, 1 and the meeting which began so badly broke up quite 
 peacefully." 
 
 Any one who has been to Wolverhampton and 
 wandered even a few yards from the station will 
 have noticed the specially rough appearance of the 
 lads who loiter about on the look out for a job. It
 
 30 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 was this element that Selwyn managed chiefly to 
 attract to himself by his mixture of manliness and 
 affection, qualities which when found in combination 
 few boys can resist. The first whom he won were 
 sent out to bring hi others, and so his adherents 
 increased in numbers. He used to preach in the 
 streets, and these lads formed his bodyguard. He 
 had one special champion by name " Tom," of whom 
 it is told that on one occasion he was fighting for the 
 fourth or fifth time another lad who had insulted 
 Mr. Selwyn. Unfortunately a policeman appeared on 
 the scene and carried off the coats of the combatants, 
 and no doubt Tom would have had to appear before 
 the magistrates if Mr. Selwyn had not turned up in 
 the nick of tune and begged him off. 
 
 So things went on getting day by day smoother 
 and more satisfactory for the six months during 
 which he was curate in charge of the parish. Then 
 a change in his position occurred, as will be gathered 
 from the following letters to Mr. Waters, who was 
 away on his holiday. 
 
 " WOLVKRHAMPTON, Aug. 8, 1871. 
 
 "MY DEAR WATERS, 
 
 " I have two very good pieces of news for 
 
 you : 1. That the Bishop has offered Mr. [the 
 
 vicar of St. George's] a living. He goes to see it 
 to-morrow, and it is almost certain that he will 
 take it. If he does (this is entre nous) the Bishop
 
 ST. GEORGE'S, WOLVERHAMPTON 31 
 
 will leave me here, and we shall I think get on 
 famously, as the people seem to want me to stay, 
 
 and H told me the other day that he thought 
 
 it was the best thing that could be done. This from 
 what he had heard. 
 
 " And now comes the to me still better news that 
 Still, my greatest friend, has determined to give up 
 the curacy he was going to in Dorsetshire, and will 
 come here. This will be splendid, as he is a man 
 one can thoroughly trust, and as good a fellow as 
 ever breathed. I trust, therefore, that this winter 
 we shall be able to show the town what the young 
 ones can do. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "J. R. SELWYN." 
 
 To the SAME. 
 
 " WOLVERHAMPTON, Aug. 14, 1871. 
 
 " Things go on flourishingly here, and I think 
 everybody is glad I am going to stay. Forty boys 
 to-night. I am going to take them to Sandwell on 
 Saturday. There is no small-pox yet." 
 
 This last sentence was ominous. It was not very 
 long before a terrible scourge of this disease visited 
 St. George's, and indeed the whole town of Wolver- 
 hampton. A general small-pox hospital was opened
 
 32 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 in John Selwyn's parish, and with that charac- 
 teristic energy and devotion which marked his work 
 and his play he threw himself heart and soul into the 
 heavy, anxious, and often nauseous work of visiting 
 and nursing the sufferers. It was an example 
 of what his friend Mr. Charles Bill describes as the 
 motto of Selwyn's life viz., "Whatsoever thy hand 
 findeth to do, do it with thy might." In subse- 
 quent letters he frequently referred to this severe 
 experience. Thus, writing to the Rev. F. E. Waters 
 from on board ship off the Solomon Islands in 1876 
 he says : 
 
 " You and I know from old experience at St. 
 George's how out of weakness we are made strong, 
 and how God answers prayer. ... I wonder if you 
 ever feel the good of that sharp time we had 
 together ? I do often and often, if only to teach me 
 faith and prayer." 
 
 One of the patients whom he nursed was a drover, 
 a very rough fellow and a leader of unbelief. This 
 man one day said to Mr. Selwyn, " Parsons are 
 no different to any one else, only for their coat." 
 Off came Selwyn's coat in a moment, and he offered 
 to change. That man became a staunch friend. 
 
 The staff at St. George's at this time consisted of 
 J. R Selwyn, John Still, and F. E. Waters. At a 
 parish meeting the vicar playfully said, " Now that
 
 TRIP TO AMERICA S3 
 
 we have got into Still Waters, everything will go 
 smoothly I am sure." This soon became a stock 
 joke all over Wolverhampton. 
 
 In September 1871 he was given the great 
 pleasure of accompanying his father to America, 
 the Bishop of Lichfield having been invited to 
 attend the Convention of American Bishops at 
 Baltimore. Of this expedition John Selwyn's 
 diary is in existence, and a most amusing book it 
 is. In it he tells of their journey to the above- 
 named city : 
 
 " The train was full of bishops, who speedily came 
 crowding round to bid us welcome. The heartiness 
 was extreme, but there were sundry shocks to be 
 undergone even in the raidst of the greatest 
 cordiality. A bishop in a white coat and pot hat is 
 startling to one's English notions, but one soon 
 learnt to forget that in one's admiration of the man 
 who had bearded Brigham Young in his very 
 stronghold at Salt Lake City, and had laid the 
 material foundations of his Church there so deep 
 that the Saints themselves said, ' These Gentiles 
 mean to stop.' " 
 
 Then comes an account of their introduction to 
 the Convention : 
 
 "We stood on the dais and then the President 
 proceeded to introduce us seriatim to the Con- 
 
 c
 
 34 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 vention, and, what was worse, we had seriatim to 
 make speeches. I do not think we disgraced our- 
 selves, but it was trying. . . . After the cere- 
 mony was over up jumped a member and said, 
 ' Mr. President, I propose that the House now take 
 a recess of twenty minutes for the purpose of 
 shaking our distinguished visitors by the hand.' 
 ' Seconded,' said some one, and resolved nem. con. 
 Thereupon we had to go down the centre aisle 
 shaking hands vigorously as we went. Special seats 
 were then assigned us, and the synod went on." 
 
 Amongst other experiences he went to hear Ward 
 Beecher. He thus describes what he saw : 
 
 " I got a good place on the platform steps close to 
 Ward Beecher himself. He was sitting in an arm- 
 chair with a table by his side on which was a vase 
 of flowers, and on the other side there was another 
 vase full of exotics. . . . The choir were singing 
 an anthem when we got in to which the people sat 
 and listened with apparent contentment. When 
 this was over Ward Beecher read a Psalm, the people 
 still sitting. Then followed a hymn. . . . Then 
 there was an extempore prayer. I suppose an 
 extempore prayer by Ward Beecher is as good a 
 thing of its kind as one wants to hear, but the 
 effect on me was to make me more than ever con- 
 tented with the simplicity and beauty of our own 
 Prayer-book."
 
 TRIP TO AMERICA 35 
 
 After this follows a long description of Ward 
 Beecher's sermon on Rachel, in which he contrasted 
 Esau and Jacob, saying that the " diplomatic skill " 
 of the latter made him the best on whom " to 
 organise," and, therefore, most fitted for God's 
 purpose. He seems to have tried to raise a laugh 
 here and there in his sermon by unworthy means, 
 as when he spoke of the love which Rachel inspired 
 as being unaccountable, " but then," said he, " I am 
 not Jacob." 
 
 One excellent story is told by John Selwyn in 
 this diary : 
 
 " A party of settlers were met going to the back- 
 woods. The man who met them asked their various 
 occupations, and was told that some were to build 
 the houses, some to clear the ground, &c. 'And 
 pray what is that old gentleman going to do ? ' 
 pointing to a very old man who accompanied the 
 party. ' Oh ! that is my father/ was the answer, 
 ' I am going to start the cemetery with him/ ' 
 
 On the voyage back to England which began on 
 November 19, his love of sailors and wish to help 
 them is recorded : 
 
 " I have discovered a way of getting at the 
 sailors, and since Sunday, when I had service with 
 them in the dog watch, have been there [fore- 
 castle ?] every evening to give them a series of
 
 36 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 readings. They respond most heartily and always 
 ask me to come again, and are most thoughtful 
 about my comfort. First they get a cloth to spread 
 on the table, and a stool for me to sit on, then a 
 candlestick for my candle, and to-night a decanter 
 and some water as I was hoarse. Poor fellows, I 
 think one could do them some good if the voyage 
 were longer. I have enjoyed the hour and a half 
 ' forward ' very much." 
 
 Thus ended a two months' holiday of great enjoy- 
 ment, and it may be also of some influence on his 
 future, for it must have moved him greatly to 
 witness the reception given to his father by the 
 American Church, not so much as an English 
 Bishop, as the great Missionary of the English 
 Church. 
 
 But a terrible blow awaited the travellers on 
 their return in the news of the death of Bishop 
 Patteson. 
 
 To MRS. A COTJRT-REPINGTON. 
 
 " WOLVERHAMPTON [end of 1871 ?]. 
 
 " It was a terrible blow to us to come back to the 
 news of Bishop Patteson's death. We have had no 
 particulars yet, and rather dread them just now. 
 We only know the fact, and that is so glorious that 
 one is afraid of anything to make it harrowing. It
 
 DEATH OF BISHOP PATTESON 37 
 
 is certainly a carrying out of Solon's adage that no 
 one could be called happy till he died. There was 
 a chance of his health failing, when he would have 
 had to have given up, but now he is spared that 
 and has died in the zenith of his usefulness, having 
 just seen enough of the fruit of his labours to cheer 
 him on (he had baptized eighty-four children on one 
 island with a fair certainty of their being brought 
 up Christians), and without a man to throw a hard 
 word at him. Certainly one hardly ever read of a 
 more blameless life or a more noble death." 
 
 John Selwyn and his friend John Still had more 
 than once discussed the idea of going out somewhere 
 together as missionaries. The death of Bishop 
 Patteson brought things to a crisis, and, although 
 his engagement to Miss Innes had altered his cir- 
 cumstances, yet he went to his father and offered, 
 if he thought well, to give himself to the work in 
 Melanesia. The following letters tell the story : 
 
 To MBS. A. COURT-REPINGTON from MRS. SELWYN. 
 
 "WESTMINSTER PALACE HOTEL, Feb. 13, 1872. 
 
 " It is not improbable that my dear Johnnie may carry on 
 this work [in Melanesia]. He is ready, and there seems a fit- 
 ness of things in his father's son being willing to come forward 
 if necessary. It is not a settled and certain thing in any way 
 but in the minds of himself and his wife, for it depends on 
 certain contingencies at present. He told his bride-elect a
 
 38 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 week before the wedding, and she said she could only answer 
 in the words of Ruth, which pleased us and augurs well. 
 Then came his wedding and a very bright sojourn at the Isle 
 of Wight, and now they are settled at St. George's, Wolver- 
 hampton with their many thousands, and their brave young 
 hearts to work for them. It will be a pang when it comes, 
 but we are old. ... I shall not have misled you, shall 
 I ? about Johnnie. There is no thought of his succeeding 
 Bishop Patteson. Happily he is too young for that. No 
 one can fill that place, though I hope some one may be found 
 to take it up. . . ."" 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-KEPINGTON. 
 
 " ST. GEORGE'S VICARAGE, WOLVERHAMPTON, 
 "March 11, 1872. 
 
 " MY DEAR MRS. A COURT, 
 
 " . . . Of course I had thought something 
 about it when the news first came home, but the 
 thought went out of my head and I felt nearly con- 
 vinced that I ought to stay where I was. But on 
 the Thursday before I was married I went over to 
 Lichfield to see Miss Yonge, who is going to write 
 Bishop Patteson's memoir, and Fanny Patteson, and 
 there I read all the letters that bad come borne on 
 the subject, and, as I read, it all seemed to surge 
 over me that I ougbt to go, and for these reasons : 
 (1) It was my father's work, bis son in tbe faith bad 
 died in it. Who tben so fit as his son in tbe flesh 
 to go on with it? (2) There was a doubt about 
 Codrington staying, and, if be didn't stay, it seemed
 
 DEATH OF BISHOP PATTESON 39 
 
 likely that the mission would go into another groove 
 which wouldn't suit it so well. If then Codrington 
 knew that one or two men were coming out from 
 England whom he knew, there would be a chance of 
 his going on and thus carrying on the work in its 
 integrity. Then my name would be a help, especially 
 in the Australian Colonies ; and lastly, Jack Still, 
 the dearest man friend I have, would, I knew, go 
 with me, and he would be such a gain to any work 
 that I felt the chance ought not to be thrown away. 
 So with these thoughts I knelt down and prayed 
 that I might be guided aright, and the thought only 
 came the stronger. Then I had a long talk with 
 my mother, and she, poor thing, told me with 
 tears in her eyes that she thought it was right. 
 * You know, Johnnie, I am arguing against myself, 
 but I think it is right.' Then I went out to Alrewas 
 to preach, and on the counter of the Post Office 
 wrote a line to C., telling her what I had done, and 
 saying that, as this was quite a new idea, she ought 
 to know of it before she tied herself down to me for 
 life, and that life meaning transportation to New 
 Zealand. Of course she answered as I expected, 
 but still I thought it right to let her know. Then 
 when I came home in the evening I spoke to my 
 father. He was, I think, very glad, but said it 
 depends on a variety of circumstances, and the chief 
 of these was, and is, whether Codrington, who has 
 been with Bishop Patteson some years, will stay at
 
 40 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 the head of the mission. If he does, as I have said, 
 all will go well. 
 
 
 
 " God has given me grace to pull the parish 
 together, but, much as I love the place and the 
 people, still I do think that many a man could 
 now work there better than I, and though I do 
 not feel myself at all fit for the work out there 
 mentally yet I believe my physical training and 
 my delight in ships, &c., will stand me in good stead. 
 So you must not think that I have done this 
 wantonly, or without due consideration, or without 
 a full knowledge of all that it entails. Still enters 
 into it all most thoroughly, and he and I have many 
 a laugh over the details of the business, however 
 serious the whole of it may be. We have already 
 arranged our respective shares of the work, he as 
 purser, I as first mate. My father, too, is very 
 amusing in the exceedingly commonplace view he 
 takes of it all Still went in to see him, and rather 
 expected some sympathy, but all he got was, ' Well, 
 you have spoilt another little plan of mine. I 
 wanted you to be barge missionary on the canals.' 
 
 
 
 " Ever yours aff. 
 
 "J. R S." 
 
 He was, however, to work for nearly another year 
 at Wolverhampton, a period during which his labours
 
 DEATH OF BISHOP PATTESON 41 
 
 were aided and his life brightened by his wife, to 
 whom he was married hi January 1872. He said 
 that they meant to be a jovial couple, and St. 
 George's is reported to have been for that year the 
 merriest vicarage in England, as it was also the 
 scene of some of the hardest work. How thorough 
 that work was on the part of both may be gathered 
 from a letter from Mrs. Selwyn (his mother) to 
 Mrs. a Court-Repington, written after the missionary 
 party had sailed for Melanesia. 
 
 "TaE PALACE, LICHFIELD, April 2, 1873. 
 
 " I have just come back from a week at Wolverhampton, 
 where the Bishop has been confirming, and where I wished to 
 go to see Johnnie's people and to tell him of them. I could 
 never have thought that that dingy town would have such a 
 halo round it as now it has in my eyes. Yet it was sad enough 
 in some ways, and how I missed on arriving there the bright 
 face and loving looks that always awaited me at the station ! 
 But these I do not expect to see again in the flesh. I may as 
 well dwell on the bright part, and there was a great deal that 
 was very bright to me in the warm remembrance in which 
 they are both held, and the great love shown for Johnnie. 
 The common form of its expression was in pity for the present 
 incumbent in coming after one whose like the people do not 
 expect to see again. The whole staff, too, was young and full 
 of energy, I hope, and it seems to have had a great effect on 
 the parishioners, of which perhaps they were hardly aware 
 till they lost the cause. I went to all the schools, and to a 
 mothers' meeting. Clara's night school came to see me, and 
 I went to Johnnie's ' Arabs,' a wild set of boys he gathered 
 together in the course of open-air services, who have been kept
 
 42 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 together since by a devoted satellite of Johnnie's. The grimy 
 lads listened eagerly to the account of the service at Lambeth 
 on Sunday and of the going on Monday, and they showed 
 their zeal in Melanesia by having collected since Johnnie went, 
 in pennies and halfpennies, more than twelve pounds. It 
 pleased me to find how much Clara was cared for by her 
 scholars and their teachers who came daily to see me. 1 ' 
 
 It is plain how great a hold he had on the affec- 
 tions of his parishioners, especially of the lads, who 
 " could not resist him," and also how he bound them 
 not only to himself but also to God and to the 
 Church. All this must have made the wrench 
 harder. Dr. Codrington says : 
 
 " The news of Bishop Patteson's death came to John Selwyn 
 as a call to devote himself to the Melanesian Mission. He 
 gave up (not to speak of his prospects in the Church) his 
 place by his father's side in the manifold enterprises and 
 undertakings which were opening among the vast and busy 
 population of the Diocese : he gave up the intercourse with 
 his parents, so delightful to a most affectionate son who had 
 been so long separated from them : he gave up the home of 
 married life into which he had just settled, the intercourse 
 with his many friends, and the many attractions and interests 
 of English life." 
 
 No small things these for a man of John Selwyn's 
 temperament to sacrifice. But he made the offering 
 not only cheerfully and with both hands, as his 
 generous nature ever prompted him to do, but 
 deliberately and prayerfully. Mr. John Still re- 
 members how, when it was settled and tbey were
 
 DEATH OF BISHOP PATTESON 43 
 
 one day going upstairs together, Selwyn turned to 
 him and said, " I say, old fellow, we must have a 
 prayer about this," and drew him into his room. 
 
 As against the sacrifice must be put the attraction 
 of an adventurous life the boy who made perilous 
 excursions on the roof of Ely Cathedral was nothing 
 loth to extend his adventures to the islands of 
 Melanesia his love of a seafaring life, and, last but 
 not least, the beautiful and trustful readiness of his 
 young wife to share with him whatever of hardship 
 or banishment might fall to his lot. 
 
 So it was that after a dedicatory service in 
 Lambeth Chapel, Mr. and Mrs. J. K. Selwyn, with a 
 little daughter born at Lichfield shortly before, and 
 the Rev. John Still, sailed in the Dunbar Castle for 
 Melanesia in the middle of February 1873. His 
 mother thus describes the departure : 
 
 To MRS. A. COURT-REPINGTON. 
 "THE LOLLARD'S TOWER, LAMBETH, Feb. 17, 1873. 
 
 " Monday was a day of intensity. The Bishop went down 
 the river (with the nursery department !) in the ship, and we 
 followed by train to Gravesend. By that time everything was 
 comfortably in order in both cabins. Then came the parting 
 prayers and the farewells, just where eighteen years ago 
 Johnnie had left us to go to Eton when we sailed for 
 New Zealand. 1 "
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ARRIVAL IN MELANESIA NORFOLK ISLAND, ETC. 
 
 THE voyage out in the Dunbar Castle was almost 
 entirely lacking in incident. A letter written by 
 John Selwyn towards the end thus describes it : 
 
 "We have had the most utterly uneventful 
 voyage, even as voyages go. Not spoken one single 
 ship at least we did speak one wretched barque we 
 passed going the same way as ourselves have had 
 one stiff blow last Sunday, caught three sharks, and 
 lost the cat overboard. Voila tout ! " 
 
 A good deal of time on board was given by Mr. 
 and Mrs. Selwyn and Mr. Still to the study of 
 "Mota" the language of one of the islands in 
 Melanesia, and the recognised tongue of the Mission 
 work. The island of Mota is one of the smallest of 
 the Banks Islands group, and it was in the years 
 1860, '61, and '62, that openings began first to be 
 given there for Mission work. Bishop Patteson
 
 ARRIVAL IN MELANESIA 45 
 
 took a party of some sixteen to Lifu, an island in the 
 Loyalty group, and lived with them there. Of these 
 the greater number belonged to Banks Islands, and 
 in 1863 four of them, all from Mota, were christened. 
 Thus the Mota language gradually became the one 
 generally in use in the Mission. When it is known 
 that almost every small island had its own language, 
 and many of them more than one, it is obvious that 
 some choice had to be made, and it seems natural 
 from the above circumstances that Mota should have 
 been selected. 
 
 The learning of a new language was a severe 
 ordeal to John Selwyn. He refers often in the 
 course of letters to the want of application to work 
 both at Eton and Cambridge, which had made it 
 difficult to him to study one subject for long 
 together. He also laments his weakness in com- 
 position, which his correspondence shows was never 
 entirely overcome, for, while possessing the power of 
 graphic description and of making his meaning 
 perfectly clear, his grammar often left much to be 
 desired, and he had some curious tricks such as the 
 use of capital letters before substantives and some- 
 times before adjectives in an absolutely indiscrimi- 
 nate manner. He also had a habit of using a full 
 
 O 
 
 stop to supply the place of a comma or semicolon, 
 and marks of interjection or interrogation he seldom 
 used at all. These are small things, but they point 
 to a certain inaccuracy of detail which must have
 
 46 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 made the acquisition of a new language much more 
 difficult. 
 
 The little daughter proved an immense source 
 of amusement during the voyage, and he gives 
 several pretty pictures of which " baby " is the 
 centre. Space must be found for one : 
 
 " Babs now enters our cabin in a triumphant pro- 
 cession at 10 P.M. and is wedged in on the arms of 
 the arm-chair between the table and the wall, so 
 that the bassinette cannot slip, and then lashed in as 
 a further precaution. The young damsel is then 
 the greatest fun possible. She seems utterly regard- 
 less of cold, and when one wakes about seven the 
 chances are one sees two little feet sticking straight 
 up out of the cradle, and triumphant crows proceed- 
 ing out of the same." 
 
 There was, however, one grave drawback to what 
 would have been to one with his love of the sea an 
 immensely enjoyable time. He was attacked by 
 severe rheumatism which abated slightly for a time 
 but came on again with increased virulence when on 
 board the Hero, by which ship he proceeded from 
 Australia to New Zealand. This upset all plans. 
 Mr. Codrington, head of the Melanesian Mission, was 
 to have met them, and to have taken him and Mr. 
 Still on a voyage to the Islands. How this arrange- 
 ment was upset is described in the following letters.
 
 ARRIVAL IN MELANESIA 47 
 
 From REV. JOHN STILL to C. BILL, ESQ. 
 
 "AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, June 3, 1873. 
 
 "Billy [Selwyn's nickname at Cambridge] has been very 
 bad indeed, quite unable to move, but is now better and 
 fast recovering. His right hand is bad, so he is writing 
 by deputy." 
 
 To BEV. F. E. WATERS. 
 
 "AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND, June 16, 1873. 
 
 " I dare say you will have heard ere this reaches 
 you of our safe arrival in Sydney. . . . 
 
 " I found letters waiting to say that Mr. Codring- 
 ton was coming down to Auckland on or about the 
 last day of May, and then wanted to take Still and 
 me a tour of all the Islands, so that we might get 
 acquainted with our work. . . . 
 
 " After a hard fight with Mrs. Selwyn's brother 
 [who apparently wished them both to stay longer] 
 we effected a compromise, which was that she should 
 stay, and Still and I go, and I was then to come 
 back to Sydney for her. L'homme propose mais Dieu 
 dispose. My rheumatism, which had been rather 
 bad on board the Dunbar Castle, came on frightfully 
 in the Hero, so badly that Jack had to carry me 
 about, and I had nearly a week's bed when I came 
 here. Thank God I am nearly well now, but the 
 doctor won't hear of my going this trip, as he says it
 
 48 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 might make it chronic ; so Jack will go without me. 
 You may imagine what a disappointment this is to 
 me, as we have so long run in couples. 
 
 " However, it is an iU wind that blows nobody any 
 good. Dudley, one of our old mission clergy and 
 now an incumbent in the town, has developed a 
 clergyman's throat, so I am going to take his duty 
 and he is going off to get well. 
 
 
 
 " Jack and I often talk of you and the old Wolver- 
 hampton days, and tell our friends how light we 
 used to be on Sunday evenings." 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "AUCKLAND, July 30, 1873. 
 
 " I got very rheumatic on board, how and why I. 
 know not, but it made life a great burden, and me 
 very cross, which was not as it should be. ... 
 
 " Still and I departed by the Hero, and the next 
 evening I was laid up again with very bad rheuma- 
 tism which utterly crippled me for the rest of the 
 voyage, and I had to lie night and day in the saloon, 
 as getting into my berth was out of the question. 
 Dear old Still used to carry me about like a child, 
 and T made my entrance into Auckland on men's 
 shoulders." 
 
 It must have been a severe blow to arrive on
 
 ARRIVAL IN MELANESIA 49 
 
 the scene of his labours a cripple. For nearly 
 two years he had been looking forward to the 
 time when he should find himself in the region 
 where his father did his great work, and where he 
 hoped to be allowed to carry that work on. He had 
 inherited many traits of character from that father, 
 but he was fully conscious of many things in which 
 he could scarcely hope to emulate him. He had 
 much of his father's determination, a full measure of 
 his father's indomitable courage, a great deal of his 
 resourcefulness under difficult circumstances both 
 external and spiritual, and a spice of his father's 
 temper. On the other hand, he fell short in learn- 
 ing, and to some extent in power of organisation, 
 but, as compensation, he had a sweetness of dis- 
 position and an eagerness to make amends which 
 were all his own. 
 
 Feeling then, fully, his intellectual inferiority to 
 his father, it was not unnatural that he should rely 
 greatly on his physical powers, all of which had been 
 trained and developed by his athletic life at Eton 
 and Cambridge. It was, therefore, a specially severe 
 ordeal to be carried as an invalid on to the shores of 
 New Zealand. No doubt, looking at the matter 
 afterwards in his own spirit of prayerfulness, he 
 would have seen the hand of God teaching him that 
 " neither delighteth He in any man's strength." 
 
 Sir William Martin, the first Chief Justice of New 
 Zealand, and a co-fellow of St. John's with Bishop 
 
 D
 
 50 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 George Augustus Selwyn, lived at Auckland. He 
 was a great Maori scholar and a warm patron of the 
 Mission, and in his house John Selwyn was for a 
 while laid up. The time was not however wasted, 
 for the two or three months' delay which were 
 ordered by the doctor were spent partly in taking 
 charge of the parish of Mr. Dudley (now Arch- 
 deacon) who was away in bad health, and partly in 
 making friends with as many of the neighbours as 
 possible, whereby fresh interest in the Melanesian 
 Mission was aroused and fresh help ensured through 
 the attractive personality of himself and Mrs. 
 Selwyn. 
 
 By the beginning of October he was well enough 
 to start, and the middle of that month found 
 him settled in Norfolk Island. This is the head- 
 quarters of the Melanesian Mission, and here is 
 situated the St. Barnabas Station and the College 
 for native boys who are brought there from the 
 other islands by the Mission vessel in her frequent 
 voyages. The Station (by which is meant the 
 group of Mission buildings) stands about three miles 
 inland from the town or village where the Pitcairn 
 islanders were allowed to settle in the old convict 
 prison buildings. 
 
 Besides Dr. Codrington, the Selwyns found on 
 arriving at Norfolk Island two other staunch 
 workers, both married men viz., the Rev. John 
 Palmer and the Rev. Charles Bice. The latter of
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND, ETC. 51 
 
 these came from St. Augustine's College, Canter- 
 bury, and joined the Mission in 1866. He remained 
 for twenty years one of the most active members of 
 the staff, and latterly had charge of the New 
 Hebrides district. Mrs. Bice came out just before 
 the Selwyns, and was one of the two ladies they 
 found in the Mission, the other being Mrs. Palmer, 
 the first lady who ever came to Norfolk Island. 
 The Rev. John Palmer had been labouring in the 
 Mission since 1863, and has been there ever since, 
 steadily devoted to its service, for which he has 
 done an unequalled work. He is now Archdeacon. 
 Mrs. Palmer was the first to begin the system of 
 the ladies taking charge of the unmarried girls, an 
 example followed by Mrs. John Selwyn on her 
 arrival. In many other ways too her influence was 
 greatly felt. The ladies' society was very small, 
 and, naturally enough, difficulties occurred from 
 time to time. The veneration felt for Mrs. Palmer 
 enabled her to do much towards smoothing these 
 away, and promoting that harmony without which 
 life at Norfolk Island would have been almost 
 impossible. 
 
 These were the main fellow workers who greeted 
 Mr. and Mrs. Selwyn and who did so much to make 
 their life at St. Barnabas' a happy one. The day of 
 their landing at the Island was a memorable one in 
 the history of their lives. Here is John Selwyn's 
 own description of his first impressions :
 
 52 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, Oct. 19, 1873, Sunday. 
 
 " MY DEAREST FATHER AND MOTHER, 
 
 " Here we are at last, and you may imagine 
 the thankfulness with which we landed all safe and 
 well, with bright sunlight and smooth water to 
 greet us, and a very hearty welcome from all here. 
 It is one of those occasions which seem to bring out 
 all the deep humbling feelings of a man's heart, and 
 they were very real and, I trust, fervent prayers 
 which we sent up to-night at the evening service. 
 It was all Mota, which we could follow fairly with 
 our prayer-books before us, but it is the custom here 
 to read the Collect for the day in English, and so 
 we suddenly heard the very prayer we wanted to 
 say coming in the midst of the strange language 
 like an oasis, seeming even more beautiful than it 
 really is from the familiarity in the midst of so 
 much that was unfamiliar. " God, forasmuch as 
 without Thee we are not able to please Thee." We 
 could not have a better motto than that to begin 
 our work with, and I know you will pray more 
 earnestly for us that His Holy Spirit will in all 
 things direct and rule our hearts. . . . 
 
 " The people who rowed us ashore were full of 
 recollections of you, and of tender inquiries about 
 you. I hope your name will be a help to me in 
 helping them. Good-night and God bless you both. 
 Clara sends her dearest love, but is too tired to write.
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND, ETC. 53 
 
 Dear little Pearlie [the baby] takes most kindly to 
 her new quarters, and sends her love to you. I don't 
 think the photographs give any idea of the place at 
 all. It is much better kept than they make it look. 
 Indeed, going down the hill from the avenue into 
 the place, one would think one was going into a 
 small and rather well-looking English village. . . . 
 Our little house stands on the left-hand side. They 
 all say it is a bad situation, as it is exposed to the 
 prevailing wind, and it is not very grand, being like 
 nothing so much as the inside of a workbox. . . . 
 Clara and I are charmed with the place altogether, 
 and think we shall like it all very much. I have 
 been proving my strength by much carting and 
 lifting boxes, and find I am nearly quite as strong as 
 I was, which is a great comfort. . . . Good-bye, 
 my dearest father and mother, 
 
 " Ever your affectionate son, 
 
 "J. R. SELWYN." 
 
 As may easily be imagined it did not take him 
 long to get to work. He threw himself heart and 
 soul into the work of the Mission and of the school, 
 delighting especially in taking his share in the 
 outdoor manual labour which formed an important 
 part of each day's duties. The following two letters 
 give his early impressions of the place and also of 
 the native boys and girls who were being trained at 
 St. Barnabas' :
 
 54 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To MRS. 1 COU.RT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, January 13, 1874. 
 
 
 
 " You must imagine our mission station as lying 
 on the slope of a hill about three miles from the 
 settlement. The main road to nowhere runs right 
 through the station, and as you come down the hill 
 you see what looks very like an English village 
 green. At the far end of it is a cart-shed, cowyard, 
 barn, &c., looking very homey, and on the right lie 
 the main buildings of the Mission ; e.g., chapel and 
 house attached, hall and kitchen, carpenter's shop 
 and two houses where the bachelors reside and look 
 after the boys. We married folk live further afield 
 in little houses of our own. 
 
 . 
 
 "It is marvellous how like a boy, say up to 
 twelve or thirteen, from the Solomon Islands is to a 
 boy from Belgravia. In point of adaptability to 
 circumstances I should be inclined to give the palm 
 to the former, but qua pickle and jokes, &c. &c., all 
 that constitute small boy nature, even to tears in 
 their trousers on all occasions, &c. &c., I don't 
 think there is a pin to choose. Darwin and Co. 
 may say what they like, but my fellows who can't 
 take four from five are not at all different from two 
 of my greatest friends at Eton and Cambridge, one
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND, ETC. 55 
 
 of whom was asked what a stalactite would melt in 
 three hours if it melted an inch in two, and fled at 
 the bare word ; and the other learnt his Euclid by 
 heart, signs and all, from sheer inability to com- 
 prehend it. I say it is all nonsense to say that 
 these fellows are not capable of higher training 
 because they are dull at first, or to compare them 
 with those who have had all the weight of thousands 
 of years of at least partial civilisation to start with, 
 and whose common everyday facts would be great 
 discoveries to these fellows. . . " 
 
 To A COUSIN. 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND, Jan. 9, 1 874. 
 
 " I daresay you fancy that as we are called mis- 
 sionaries we are bound to be living in great hardship. 
 I am afraid that is not the case. C. and I are 
 luxuriating for the first time in our married life 
 (two years next week) in having a settled home of 
 our own, and a very pretty little home it is too. 
 Not large, certainly, but compact, and with a nice 
 garden and cool verandahs, &c. The house was 
 originally built for some of the younger members of 
 the Mission to live in, and had one sitting-room and 
 a number of tiny bedrooms branching off from it. 
 We have thrown some of these together, moved 
 partitions, &c., and made a most cosy little bedroom 
 for ourselves, which C. has titivated up with muslin
 
 56 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 and pink calico till it looks like a boudoir. Then 
 comes a long narrow room for the nursery. Then a 
 small store-room and then the kitchen. My room 
 occupies one end of the verandah, so that I have to 
 go out of doors to get to it. But it is all very snug, 
 and being wooden one can put up nails and shelves 
 anywhere, and stow any amount of things away. 
 Then the verandah in this climate is as good as 
 another room, and our garden keeps us gay with 
 flowers, so that altogether we are most luxurious 
 too much so perhaps. 
 
 
 "We live altogether in a primitive fashion as 
 
 regards meals, &c., breakfasting, dining, and having 
 tea in the big hall with all the boys. This makes it 
 easy work for the housekeeper, as C. has never to 
 think about dinner, except what is wanted for nurse 
 and baby. 
 
 
 
 " We go out in our turns to work with the boys 
 and superintend the various works, farm and other- 
 wise, that are going on. Then for those who know 
 Mota there is a good deal of translating, &c., to be 
 done, and besides all this there is work in school 
 and chapel, so that one's day is pretty well filled up. 
 We begin early too. At 6 a bell rings to call us, 
 then another for church at a quarter to seven, and 
 breakfast at a quarter past. School at 8 till 9.30, 
 then work till 1. I go out to hoe or plant with
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND, ETC. 57 
 
 the boys, and find out how profoundly ignorant 
 I am of the simplest matters connected with hus- 
 bandry, and wish I had taken lessons ! I covered 
 myself with confusion the other day trying to 
 plough, but at hoeing, &c., I can hold my own. At 
 1 comes dinner, and school at 2.15. It is very 
 hard work to keep oneself awake then, and I often 
 go to sleep over dictation, much to the disgust of 
 the boys who want to keep their books neat, and to 
 whom I dictate something utterly wrong. Then 
 comes a blessed two and three-quarter hours in which 
 we try to improve our minds by reading, our bodies 
 by riding, or our gardens by working. Tea follows 
 at six, then evening chapel, and school for an hour. 
 You would like to see my evening school in a corner 
 of my room, with my little black fellows with curly 
 heads and black eyes and spindle shanks stretched 
 out straight in front of them, all writing away at 
 dictation for bare life, and as keen about their marks 
 as can be. I try and chaff them into order as well 
 as I can, and find it answers admirably."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF THE BISHOPRIC 
 
 JOHN SELWYN'S arrival at Norfolk Island had been 
 greatly looked forward to by all the members of the 
 Mission. He had offered himself to the work with 
 no view of ultimately succeeding Bishop Patteson, 
 but there is no doubt that it was felt from the very 
 first that he was the man for the future bishop. 
 Even had his personal qualifications been fewer than 
 they were, it would have seemed strange that any 
 one else should fill the office when a Selwyn was to 
 the fore. There was one other man who was an 
 obviously fit person if he would have accepted it. 
 This was Dr. Codrington, the head of the Mission, 
 whose linguistic skill and powers of organisation 
 were invaluable, and to whom the Mission largely 
 owed its vitality during the years immediately 
 succeeding the death of Bishop Patteson. Another 
 name suggested was that of the present Archdeacon 
 Dudley, but ill-health prevented his seriously con- 
 templating the post. Under all the circumstances
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF BISHOPRIC 59 
 
 it was obvious that John Selwyn would be nominated. 
 His natural fears and sense of unfitness come out 
 again and again in letters full of the simplest 
 humility, but it is more than doubtful whether he 
 would really have liked any one else to have been 
 appointed. One of the qualities which he inherited 
 from his father was a kind of " masterfulness," to 
 which he alludes in a letter to his mother as having 
 been checked by her when he was a child ; and this 
 wish to lead, arising from a true sense of the power 
 of leading, would have made his work less happy, 
 and probably less effectual, had it been his lot to 
 be a subordinate member of the Mission. It was the 
 same all through his life. Captain of the field 
 eleven at Eton, he stroked the University boat when 
 at Cambridge. In succession a Bishop and Master 
 of a College, his leadership ran consistently through 
 every part of his life, it being said that at a dinner 
 party it was invariably he who led the conversation, 
 and led it right well. 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND, St. Andrew's Day, 
 "Advent Sunday, 1873. 
 
 " MY DEAREST FATHER, 
 
 " There are two great memories for us in the 
 two days which have come together this year. The 
 first is, that on Advent Sunday 1867, you accepted 
 the Bishopric of Lichfield. How well I remember 
 your letter from Windsor telling me of it, and the
 
 60 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 thought, almost the revulsion of feeling that came 
 over me that one would not go to N. Z. after all ; 
 and here I am six years afterwards not only at N. Z. 
 but beyond it, and working at your work, though 
 alas ! not with you. And St. Andrew's Day carries 
 us both back to the evening service at Lichfield last 
 year, when dear little Margaret was baptized. We 
 thought of it first thing this morning, when baby 
 came in in her most joyous mood to see us, and after- 
 wards at the early (English) Communion at which I 
 celebrated, and now 9.30 P.M. (10.15 A.M. with you) 
 I dare say you are thinking of us as the bells are 
 ringing for church. It is a very pleasant thought 
 for us out here, and it will be a pleasant thing to 
 tell her about when she grows a bit older, of the 
 old Cathedral and the warm soft light falling on her, 
 and your voice praying over her, and the Amens 
 coming down from the choir, with such a long 
 interval as it seemed between the prayer and the 
 response. All these are very pleasant memories, and 
 seem to bring us closer together, and I think prove 
 what a help the Church services, with their round 
 of Holy-days and Seasons, are in helping not only 
 one's love to God, but one's love to each other." 
 
 "Jan. 8, 1874. 
 
 "I have now to tell you about a very serious 
 matter which has turned up here, which I am afraid
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF BISHOPRIC 61 
 
 you will not quite like. It is this : By the statute 
 of the Melanesian Bishopric which was passed in 
 1868 your last session and altered slightly in 
 1871, it was provided that 'the members of the 
 Mission may recommend a person to be appointed 
 Bishop, or in default of such recommendation, or in 
 case such recommendation shall not be accepted, 
 then the Synod shall appoint some person to be 
 Bishop.' This rule put us in a quandary. We are 
 all willing, nay wishful, to continue as we are for 
 another year or two, and there is no immediate 
 need for any strictly episcopal work. Ordinations 
 there are none, and I dare say the Bishop of Auck- 
 land could manage to run down again in case of 
 confirmation being needed. But this rule seemed to 
 leave neither us nor the Synod any choice. Either 
 we must recommend or else let the nomination lapse, 
 in which case it seemed to us the Synod would be 
 bound to elect. Codrington therefore called a 
 meeting on the Epiphany to consider the matter. 
 He first put it to us whether we would recommend 
 or let the matter take its chance. They were all 
 very strongly in favour of recommending. Then 
 came the question, ' Who ? ' . . . We pressed on 
 Codrington most strongly the wish of us all that he 
 should be Bishop, but he refused decidedly, and said 
 his mind was quite made up. . . .1 have written 
 to Dudley and to Sir Wm. Martin, urging that if 
 he does feel well enough, he (D.) will let himself
 
 62 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 be nominated. . . . Failing that, they nominated 
 me and indeed they did this absolutely, as the 
 recommendation which will be sent to the Primate 
 runs thus : ' We recommend the Rev. J. R. Selwyn 
 to fill the vacant Bishopric, but we shall be willing 
 to accept the Rev. B. Dudley, if the Synod should 
 see fit to elect him, and he should accept the office,' 
 There the matter stands, and you will feel what a 
 responsibility I feel thrown on me." 
 
 The following letter from Dr. Codrington, then 
 at the head of affairs in Melanesia, tells of the 
 impression made by John Selwyn on his first arrival 
 at Norfolk Island. It sets out most clearly the 
 reason for the nomination to the Bishopric, and 
 allows one to gather the generous sentiments which 
 actuated the writer in resigning his own claim to 
 the post and welcoming the appointment of a 
 younger man. The letter is written to the then 
 Bishop of Lichfield, and runs as follows : 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, Jan. 10, 1874. 
 
 "Mv DEAR LORD, 
 
 . . . With regard to your son I really don't know 
 what to say because I don't want to be anything but moderate 
 in my language, and the satisfaction with which I contemplate 
 him is extreme. He certainly keeps us alive, and all the 
 community feels his presence. He at once was on the most 
 friendly terms with the Melanesians, who many of them call 
 him simply * John ' without any scruple, and go to his house 
 as if he had been here for years. He is very energetic in
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF BISHOPRIC 63 
 
 school and in work, but meets with more admiration as yet 
 when he works than when he teaches, for his deeds are more 
 intelligible than his words. I believe it is a good thing for 
 his health that he should work out of doors, though it will 
 hardly be possible to do much in this climate. . . . He 
 will also try to get up some boating, a much more difficult 
 thing here than would be supposed. ... I can't say very 
 much yet about progress in the Mota language, but I perceive 
 that there is enough for common use, which no doubt will 
 gradually increase. 
 
 
 
 " I must not omit to say how much we are all pleased with 
 Mrs. John Selwyn. She is so very good-natured and lively 
 that she adds very much indeed to the happiness of our little 
 party. It is very agreeable to see that she makes friends at 
 once with the Melanesians, and it is a good thing that she 
 should have some to live with her. Their house is not suited 
 I should say to a family, having been built to accommodate a 
 very mixed party of young men, but they seem very well 
 pleased with it, and have already very much improved it. 
 
 " You will have read something of what we did on the 
 Epiphany before you read this. I don't suppose it was exactly 
 what you wished or expected, but it was really, I think, the 
 only thing for us to do. . . . We thought that it would be 
 right that on the first occasion of carrying out the Statute 
 we should exercise our privilege. The practical result is not 
 much if it is anything, for one may take it for granted that 
 the General Synod, having heard from me what at any rate in 
 my opinion and ours here ought to be done, would have made 
 the appointment as we now recommend. But we have a 
 certain advantage in that in making the recommendation we 
 express our desire that the new Bishop should not be conse- 
 crated yet, but wait till he and others have had proof of his 
 being suitable to the post. Everybody here is more content 
 than I am to go on as we are, and I am tolerably content ; but
 
 64 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 it is certainly a comfort and support to me to know that the 
 future is, if all goes well, secured, and it will give him a sort 
 of right to occupy a position which whether Bishop elect or 
 not he would have to occupy, and which he will occupy more 
 satisfactorily with such a title than without it ... For my 
 own part I am quite easy about my future relations. I don't 
 see the difficulty, which I have been told is a serious one, of 
 playing second fiddle after having played first. ... I hope 
 and trust all will go well, and I am sure it will be a great 
 satisfaction to you, and go far to make up to you for the 
 absence of your son, if you hear that his work out here is 
 blessed with success and carried on in harmony with all of us. 
 With very kind remembrances to Mrs. Selwyn, I remain, my 
 dear Lord, 
 
 ** Yours very faithfully, 
 
 "R. H. CODRINGTON." 
 
 The Synod seem to have ultimately postponed 
 the whole matter, so that there was no thought of 
 his immediate consecration. He was yet barely 
 thirty, and all were agreed that it would be far 
 better that he should wait for two or three years 
 and gain experience of the work and further know- 
 ledge of tbe language. It would be well, too, 
 that the Melanesians should learn to love and trust 
 him, as they did so amply, before he took over the 
 command of the Mission. 
 
 Early in 1874 his second cbild, another girl, was 
 born, and was named after the cousin to whom he 
 had been so devoted in bis boyish days. Writing 
 to this cousin's sister he says :
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF BISHOPRIC 65 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, March 28, 1874. 
 
 " Baby No. 2 has arrived ! Isn't that dreadful ? 
 . . . She was born on January 30, and baptized on 
 St. Mathias' Day, the day Bishop Patteson was 
 consecrated in 1861. The little font was most 
 beautifully decorated, and in it stood the portable 
 font which my friends gave me. It looked so pretty 
 shining up through the leaves and water. The 
 service was in English, but all the Melanesians 
 came, and we had two hymns and the blessing in 
 the native language we use. Afterwards there was 
 a whole holiday, and a pig for the boys to cook and 
 eat out of doors." 
 
 Before going on to describe the general work of 
 the Mission, especially John Selwyn's share therein, 
 which as a matter of fact included a little of every- 
 thing both indoor and outdoor, spiritual and tern 
 poral, by land and by sea, it is interesting to note 
 his position as a Churchman and the anxiety he 
 always felt about affairs in the Church at home. As 
 might be expected from a man of his breezy dis- 
 position and wholesome mind, all extremes were 
 abhorrent to him. His natural piety and prayer- 
 fulness, coupled with the fact that his father was 
 ruling an English diocese on slightly new lines, 
 caused him to give much anxious thought to these 
 
 matters even when far removed from them, and in 
 
 E
 
 66 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 an atmosphere where such things fade away when 
 men are brought face to face with heathenism. 
 
 His great idea was that there should be some 
 general assembly of the Church of England which 
 should speak with a voice of authority, and be 
 obeyed by all. Writing to Mrs. a Court-Repington 
 in 1874 he says : 
 
 " I am perturbed about the state of the English 
 Church, though there is so much real work being 
 done which one does not hear of, that one must 
 expect some disturbances. But why won't men 
 learn to obey that they may rule ? How can men 
 set up the high standard of sacerdotalism that they 
 do, when they rebel in every possible way ? How 
 can they speak of the voice of the Church when 
 they refuse to listen to the voice of one of its 
 Captains ? There are worse disciplines for a man's 
 mind than the University course from Putney to 
 Mortlake, and the inexorable * row on all,' and the 
 kicking out of the boat if you don't row. ... I do 
 earnestly long to see some power outside Parliament 
 which may reform the great abuses in the Church, 
 and some body which may define what is the limit 
 of the Church of England both upwards and down- 
 wards. There is no danger of such a body narrow- 
 ing our freedom unduly, but the weight of the voice 
 of the living Church would be very great, and men 
 would have to weigh their 'conscientious' (!)
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF BISHOPRIC 67 
 
 scruples more deeply than they do now before they 
 opposed it." 
 
 In the same year, writing to his mother about 
 affairs in England, he asks : 
 
 " What is the temper of the Church ? I think I 
 know. Every one wants to work after his own 
 fashion totally regardless of his neighbour, especially 
 if that neighbour happens to be his Bishop. But men 
 must see that they must unite soon in a true Church 
 Association of which the leading principle will have 
 to be, * What can I give up for the sake of unity ? ' ' 
 
 In 1877, soon after his consecration, he thus writes 
 to his father : 
 
 " I can't understand the position which the E.C.U. 
 have taken up. . . . But it is not a time tor ana- 
 lysing people's consciences. It is a time for doing. 
 And here I do think you have your chance. Do 
 stir up people, say the Bishops of Peterborough 
 [Magee], Manchester [Eraser], and others, and go 
 straight to the Prime Minister and say we MUST 
 have a Synod Conference of the whole Church. 
 We can't go on like this. The Rock will howl on 
 one side and the Church Times on the other : but I 
 am sure the great body of clergy and laity would 
 welcome such a proposition, and the Church would 
 speak with a power it has never known." 
 
 He was fully conscious of the advantage of his
 
 68 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 work being far away from the scene of agitation, as 
 may be gathered from the following : 
 
 To REV. F. E. WATERS. 
 
 "OFF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, August 7, 1876. 
 
 " Though we have our share of difficulty and 
 doubt, and endless secular work, yet are we free 
 from much which disturbs you at home. But let me 
 give you this comfort, that I, as an outsider, can 
 see how much the Church is gaining. Though torn 
 by doubt and insane enthusiasm, yet the main body 
 is advancing steadily. There may be much to give 
 the blues, but, as at St. George's, the whole thing is 
 going on slowly but, I am certain, surely." 
 
 Lastly, there is one line written from his brother's 
 vicarage at Bromfield in 1879 to Mrs. a Court- 
 Repington : 
 
 " Did you go to the prayer-meeting at Wilkin- 
 son's [now Bishop of St. Andrews] ? He asked for 
 men for me, and I have already heard of two. But 
 one is married, which I don't want, and extreme, 
 which would frighten our Australian supporters, but 
 not me. It would soon be knocked out of him by 
 contact with heathenism." 
 
 There seems to have arisen once or twice in the 
 minds of some who were most intimate with him a 
 doubt as to his absolute soundness on all matters of
 
 MELANESIA SUGGESTIONS OF BISHOPRIC 69 
 
 belief. Thus a very close friend in writing a descrip- 
 tion of him after his death said : 
 
 " His views were rather broader than mine, and (I used to 
 think) not thoroughly sound upon some points. He was so 
 full of the love of God that I do not think he quite saw the 
 necessity of dwelling so much as some of us do upon the 
 severity of God as essential to preserve the balance of the 
 attributes set forth in Holy Scripture."" 
 
 There is, however, no trace in the course of a vast 
 correspondence, much of it of a most intimate nature 
 and relating to spiritual affairs, of anything more 
 than a wish, natural to a frank and simple mind, to 
 satisfy himself so far as possible of the truth of what 
 he held. In the middle of all his work he never 
 failed to find time for reading, and studied many theo- 
 logical books, sermons, Bampton Lectures, &c. &c., 
 which were sent out to him by friends in England. 
 At the same time there is a touching extract from a 
 letter to his mother which suggests that she too had 
 some fears of this kind : he writes from Norfolk 
 Island in 1883: 
 
 " And now, mother, you see that 1 am always 
 ready to follow your advice, so please never hesitate 
 to give it me. I may be a Bishop in the Church of 
 God, and as such have to advise and direct others 
 but to you I am your son, and nothing can abrogate 
 that highest of relationships. Please do not fancy 
 that I am going to drift away at all seriously from
 
 70 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 anything you hold. I thank God that every day 
 the light seems clearer and clearer as to the utter 
 impossibility of believing anything else than the 
 awful majesty of God, and the union with Him 
 which He has made for us in His Son. I may 
 hesitate here and there as to the evidence for this 
 or that, but it is a hesitation which springs from an 
 absolute faith in God in Christ manifesting His 
 love to the world, and often arises because it cannot 
 quite reconcile this or that doctrine with the great 
 fundamental truth. But anything like infidelity or 
 agnosticism, which so troubles men of my age and 
 standing nowadays, seems to me, thank God (I say 
 it most humbly and unboastingly), as a thing on 
 which my mind is firmly settled and made up ; and 
 this not by any shutting of my eyes to their argu- 
 ments, but by a perfect concord and agreement of 
 my reason with my faith. Dear mother, I have 
 written this for your sake, as I sometimes think that 
 what I say troubles you a little. You will feel why 
 I write it, not because I think I stand, or that I am 
 not conscious of utter shortcoming, but because I 
 feel more and more the rest of such a faith, and 
 more and more thank God for it. And with this 
 comes a greater acquiescence in my work, as I realise 
 more and more what God is to me, and therefore 
 what He can be to those to whom I am sent."
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND 
 
 THE work of the Melanesian Mission was twofold. 
 The Southern Cross (the Mission ship) made several 
 voyages each year to the various Islands, those who 
 sailed in her being left for shorter or longer periods 
 at different places to start or encourage schools, and 
 to help such native teachers as were working among 
 their own people. On her return journeys the ship 
 brought as many boys as possible to be trained at 
 St. Barnabas' School on Norfolk Island. The other 
 part of the work of the Mission was mainly with 
 this school, though there was always a certain 
 amount of extra labour incurred in ministering to 
 the Norfolk Islanders at the town, who seldom seem 
 to have been provided with proper clerical super- 
 vision of their own. 
 
 Sometimes, then, John Selwyn found himself 
 voyaging about the Islands, and sometimes working 
 at the school and enjoying domestic life with his 
 wife and children. His letters home to England
 
 72 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 never fail to picture the progress of his two little 
 girls " Pearlie " and " Rebie," and afterwards of his 
 boy " Stephie," born in 1875, and named after 
 Stephen Fremantle, a dear Eton friend whose early 
 death was a great grie 
 
 " I am very full," he wrote, " of the loss of my 
 dear friend, Stephie Fremantle. He was such a 
 grand fellow, so simple and straightforward, and 
 with such a power of work in him and influence for 
 good." 
 
 And again : 
 
 " You may imagine my sorrow on the abrupt 
 announcement of dear old Stephie Fremantle's death. 
 Still, one could not and does not feel very sorry. 
 Long separation such as ours takes off a great deal 
 of the bitterness of death, and I think brings out all 
 the more strongly the bright recollections of past 
 life. This certainly is the case with Stephie's 
 memory. The old days at Eton come crowding 
 back, and I can see the fives' walls where he and 
 Johnny Waller and I used to be such allies, and the 
 place where he once made a cut for five, and, above 
 all, the little captain's room at my dame's where he 
 used to read so hard, and I used to come in for half 
 an hour's chat before going to bed. And above all 
 I remember him reading prayers at my dame's, and 
 setting us all such a bright, good example."
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND 73 
 
 But to return to the domestic life at Norfolk 
 Island. His delight in his children was unbounded. 
 Here are some descriptions of their ways which he 
 sent to his mother : 
 
 " Pearlie has one very quaint custom, which is to 
 say two graces at meals. The first is long and 
 orthodox, the second is in Mota, and consists of two 
 words, ' Taltoa, Amen/ which means ' Hen's egg, 
 Amen.' Where she got this from nobody knows, 
 or what it means either, but she is not satisfied till 
 she has said it." 
 
 "Pearlie chatters in the most delightful way, 
 half Mota and half English, though she understands 
 both equally well, and is always ready to translate 
 one into the other. Some of these translations are 
 very funny. For instance the [native] girls call 
 Clara ' Clara ' and me ' John Selwyn/ and if you ask 
 Pearlie what is the Mota for mamma and papa she 
 always says ' Clara ' and * John Selwyn/ and then 
 shouts with delight." 
 
 On August 5, 1875, he is able to write and tell 
 his mother of the birth of his first son. The pleasure 
 of the baby's arrival was a little marred by the 
 prospect of losing his other children, for it had been 
 arranged that as soon as she was able to do so their 
 mother should take them (or at all events the eldest 
 one) to England to live for a time with their grand- 
 parents at Lichfield.
 
 74 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND, Aug. 5, 1875. 
 
 " MY DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 "Clara has got the wish of her heart a 
 boy. . . . Well, my family increases fast, and I 
 shall soon be like the old woman who lived in a 
 shoe. However, rooms are easily added to a wooden 
 house, and if Pearlie goes home we shall be reduced 
 to our normal state of two. It is hard work to think 
 of giving up the child, but I like to think of my 
 daughter profiting by that influence which I know 
 so well, but have not followed half enough. I like 
 to think of her sitting by your knee, and hearing 
 those stories I know so well, and above all being 
 ruled by that loving will which is so much more 
 strong and so much less fiery than mine. . . . Clara 
 wants the boy to be called John, but I rather object: 
 but she will have her way, I take it. Good-night, 
 
 mother. 
 
 " Your loving son, 
 
 "J. R, SELWYN." 
 
 The domestic life of the Selwyns on Norfolk 
 Island must have been to some extent spoilt by the 
 presence in their house of a number of native girls 
 who lived with them. The boys lived in the school, 
 but the girls were boarded at the various married 
 people's houses. These girls were many of them 
 betrothed to the boys hi early days before they were
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND 75 
 
 brought to the island, and it was found far better 
 
 O ' 
 
 when possible to bring them also, because it was 
 thus easier to get the boys, and also there was a 
 better chance of their remaining Christians when 
 both husband and wife had been trained at the 
 Mission. The affection shown by these girls to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Selwyn comes out in many letters from 
 the future Bishop to his mother, and must have 
 been a full recompense for all the care and love so 
 ungrudgingly given. 
 
 In 1875 measles attacked the school, and almost 
 every boy was down with the disease. In their 
 native islands very little was ever done to help a 
 sick man ; in fact, he was usually taken to a small 
 hut away from his own home and left to take his 
 chance. It must have been a surprise to these boys 
 to find how tenderly they were nursed. Writing to 
 his mother on October 30, 1875, John Selwyn says : 
 
 " Every night we used to make a great jorum of 
 arrowroot, and then I used to sally forth with a 
 lantern, and do the rounds. One had to unearth 
 figures in all sorts of shapes and contortions, rolled 
 in blankets, feel their pulses, look at their tongues, 
 and cheer them up as well as one could." 
 
 This is all of a piece with the love of nursing 
 and sympathy with suffering which was one of the 
 features of his self-sacrificing life. It was no doubt
 
 76 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 prompted also by his affection for the boys, of which 
 he writes often. Thus, when a very heavy trouble 
 had fallen on the Mission work in Florida, he wrote: 
 
 " I know my own love for the boys has doubled 
 since it [the scandal] came out, and the sort of 
 feeling came over me that I used to have at Wolver- 
 hampton in a difficulty there of an awful sense of 
 God's presence, and yet a confiding trust in His 
 help." 
 
 But it was not all easy to him. It was no doubt 
 delightful on Sunday evenings to sit and watch the 
 native girls gathered round his wife and singing in 
 Mota " Art thou weary," and pleasant enough to 
 teach the boys to row, or see them start out with 
 their food in a bundle for a long day's pleasure on 
 Saturdays, which were (after the Eton plan) whole 
 holidays. But sometimes a feeling of weariness and 
 a sort of despair took hold of him even in the begin- 
 ning of his mission life; on November 14, 1874, he 
 wrote to his mother : 
 
 " One wants to have a touch of Arnold's spirit, 
 and teach them what true responsibility is. But 
 how? One is never sure of anything being done, 
 and never sure that anybody sees that anything 
 wants to be done. Well, it all comes to this, that, 
 as Still says, one wants the patience of ten Jobs, and
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND 77 
 
 I haven't got it, and so take gloomy views whiles, 
 when it is one's own fault five times out of six." 
 
 On the whole, however, he was hopeful about the 
 school work. 
 
 " I think it," he wrote, " a very remarkable and a 
 very blessed thing that a school of two hundred 
 should have been managed so long without any 
 ostensible punishment. The boys are on the whole 
 wonderfully obedient and trustworthy far more so 
 than the same number of English boys would be." 
 
 Every now and then, too, some special event would 
 come to cheer him and bring new hope. A boy 
 crept up to him one night and whispered, " What 
 can I do to help the people of my village ? " This 
 proof that the boy had learnt not only to value 
 Christianity, but was filled with the Christian 
 desire of helping others, was a great joy to John 
 Selwyn. "One's heart lifts up," he said when 
 describing it. Again, in the course of a letter to his 
 mother, he writes : 
 
 "Sometimes one has great comfort. One sees a 
 boy dying, as Simeon did the other day, with calm 
 faith, and, I believe, a sincere repentance, and the 
 hope that springs from such a death is very great. 
 I often have the calm, peaceful face of the boy, as he
 
 78 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 lay in oui room with his hand on his head as if 
 asleep, in my mind, and, if one can only send one or 
 two such as he before one, one won't have lived in 
 vain." 
 
 It must not be forgotten that, besides all the work 
 of the Mission, Selwyn had while at Norfolk Island 
 to study hard at the new language. The difficulty 
 of this was in his case increased by his lack of ear. 
 When lecturing at Cambridge long afterwards he 
 said : 
 
 " Let us take language ; and by that I do not 
 mean philology, though the more you know of that 
 the better, but the art of acquiring and distin- 
 guishing uncouth sounds. I speak feelingly, as my 
 ear was my bane all through my missionary life. I 
 have lived as much as most people on islands where 
 I was pioneer, where hardly a soul understood me, 
 and I understood not one word. I have preached a 
 sermon by means of two small boys who were far 
 too shy to stand up before their countrymen in the 
 open, but could just manage to translate my words 
 if they were allowed to hide under the table. And 
 I will back myself under such circumstances to pick 
 up a fair speaking vocabulary, which will pass 
 muster, as soon as most people. But there I stop. 
 I could not hear, not even languages in which I 
 catechised and preached. An unexpected sentence,
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND 79 
 
 though I knew every word in it, was a jumble of 
 sounds." 
 
 So life at St. Barnabas' Mission Station went on, 
 broken at intervals by voyages to the islands of 
 which there will be much to say hereafter. His 
 first journey in the Mission ship was taken in the 
 autumn of 1874, when he stayed for a time at 
 various places to live with the natives, and so get 
 on far more intimate terms than would have been 
 otherwise possible. It was the plan on which the 
 Melanesian Mission worked, and in those same 
 lectures at Cambridge he describes it thus : 
 
 " This brings me to the method which alone 
 appears to offer hope for the conversion of great 
 masses of people, and which I believe to be the hope 
 that sways most missionaries to-day. It is this : 
 that the function of the missionary is not so much 
 himself to try and convert, as to thoroughly train 
 and fill with his own spirit those who shall convert 
 their own people. For this . . . we want great 
 teachers and we want great faith. Great teachers, 
 men, that is, who feel the full force of Christ's 
 teaching in their own souls and thus are able to fill 
 others with it, not only in the letter but in the 
 spirit. Men who live with their scholars as a father 
 lives with his children, and absolutely fills them with 
 himself. . . . You will find a glorious example of 
 this sort of work in the life of Bishop Patteson."
 
 80 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 In after years he grew well accustomed to these 
 prolonged absences, but just at first the time seemed 
 long, and there was always a sense of uneasiness as 
 to those he had left behind him. One of the places 
 at which he stayed on this first journey was Ara, a 
 tiny island south of Motalara. There he received 
 letters from England and from Norfolk Island, his 
 delight in which he describes in a letter to his 
 mother : 
 
 , Sep. 27, 74. 
 
 " On the 10th the ship turned up at Mota. 
 What a pleasant sight it was to see the gleam of 
 her sails through the trees, and to know that she 
 had letters and news aboard. It was not, however, 
 our only news, as a man-of-war schooner came down 
 with an unexpected note from Clara, which was 
 delightful. 
 
 " When one had shipped and unshipped persons 
 and things at Mota and Ara, was it not pleasant 
 to lie on one's back and feast on your going to the 
 ' Drawing-room/ and Pearlie's quaint vocabulary and 
 Clara's walks and talks with the girls, &c. &c. It 
 was good ! Certes, though one has a good deal of 
 separation, yet one gets a good deal of concentrated 
 enjoyment out of it all. ... I must tell you how 
 delighted I was with the bright happy tone in which 
 Clara wrote. It was such a help. Of course I felt
 
 NORFOLK ISLAND 81 
 
 a little anxious as it was our first real separation. 
 . . . And then she wrote me such a bright, hearty 
 letter, full of the work she had got to do, of her 
 girls in the house, of my class at school which she 
 takes, of the children, and of bright sympathy with 
 my work, no complaining about the separation, but 
 looking upon it as our little cross which makes the 
 months we spend together all the sweeter. Alto- 
 gether I never read a letter with more thankfulness 
 than I did hers.' 1 
 
 F
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON, ETC. 
 
 BEFORE going any further with the history of Bishop 
 John Selwyn's missionary work two or three points 
 must be mentioned with a view to its proper 
 appreciation. It is difficult to realise how young he 
 was : reading the serious letters, full of the grave 
 thoughts of an older man, which he wrote to his 
 mother, finding, too, how universal was the feeling 
 that he was to succeed Bishop Patteson, it is hard 
 to remember that so few years had elapsed since he 
 stroked the Cambridge boat, or indeed since he was 
 playing the " wall " game at Eton. But his youth 
 must be remembered in order to understand the 
 difficulties as well as the successes of his career. 
 The responsibilities thrown upon him so early in life 
 were a heavy burden, but the physical strength and 
 the fire and dash which belonged to his years did 
 much to carry him through many a time of stress 
 and danger. 
 
 Then again, the climate in which his work had to
 
 VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON 83 
 
 be carried on must be borne in mind. This is, of 
 course, tropical, with very little variation all the 
 year round. The rainy season is the most trying 
 time, and the interior of the islands where the bush 
 is thickest is the most deadly locality. Near the 
 open beach the climate is more endurable for 
 Europeans, but fever and ague are prevalent every- 
 where. John Selwyn suffered severely from these, 
 and it was these that caused his early death just as 
 surely as if he had fallen a victim to the poisoned 
 arrows of a savage foe. Mr. Still relates as an 
 instance of Selwyn's dogged determination that he 
 would take his turn at reading prayers on board the 
 Southern Cross, while his teeth were chattering 
 loudly with an attack of ague. 
 
 One thing more must be remembered. In all his 
 work and the free sacrifice of himself that he made 
 he was influenced by the example of Bishop Patte- 
 son. He seems to have tried to follow closely in 
 his footsteps. The fact that the Bishop was also an 
 Etonian may have helped to foster this devotion. 
 He never forgot that it was Bishop Patteson's death 
 which inspired him to volunteer. Thus he writes 
 to Mrs. a Court-Eepington on May 5, 1874 : 
 
 "You speak of some of the passages in Bishop 
 Patteson's Life being a sort of prcphecy of my going 
 out. Did you notice a letter to his uncle, Edward 
 Coleridge, in which he says that there must be some
 
 84 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 young fellows rowing up to Surly that night 
 (June 4) who ought to be able to help ? Curiously 
 enough I was rowing that evening." 
 
 Again, to his mother on September 27, 1874, he 
 says : 
 
 " I have not told you how we remembered Bishop 
 Patteson last Sunday (September 20). We were 
 nearly in the latitude of Santa Cruz, though some 
 way to the westward. It was a bright, sparkling 
 day, and when one read the accounts in Miss Yonge's 
 * Life ' it came up very vividly before one's eyes. 
 How quickly the three years have gone ! And yet 
 it seems a long while ago. We had just come back 
 from America when we heard of it ; do you re- 
 member ? I do quite well, and the coming of the 
 first thought into my mind, 'Ought I to volunteer?' 
 Well, here I am, and last Sunday's memories 
 brought home very forcibly what I have volunteered 
 to try and do. And how one shrinks when one 
 thinks of it ! But then faith says, ' Don't be a 
 coward or distrust the power of God and His work. 
 Distrust yourself, but not Him.' ' 
 
 He seemed to be continually measuring his life by 
 that of Bishop Patteson and regretting his inability, 
 as he thought, to reach so high a standard. 
 
 " I confess," he said, " I do not care for these
 
 VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON 85 
 
 people as Bishop Patteson used to care for them. 
 They often irk me, and I get tired and weary. But, 
 thank God, I do feel a desire to spread the honour 
 of His name, and this is such a help." 
 
 His reverence for the memory of Bishop Patteson 
 was a large factor in his conduct of the Mission, 
 inasmuch as it led him to alter as little as possible 
 the lines of work which had been laid down by his 
 great predecessor. So he entered with enthusiasm 
 into the twofold life ; happy in his home and his 
 teaching in the school, even happier (except for the 
 separation from his wife and children) in the sea- 
 faring and adventurous life in the Southern Cross 
 on her voyages among the islands. His knowledge 
 of nautical things and of navigation stood him in 
 good stead, though he was fortunate enough to have 
 the services of a splendid captain who took charge 
 of the Mission ship. This was Captain Bongard, a 
 Sussex man and a marvellous navigator. It is said 
 that if he did but catch sight of the smallest scrap 
 of an island he always knew it again. He was mate 
 of the Southern Cross in Bishop Patteson's time, 
 and became captain afterwards. He succeeded an 
 officer who had been old and rather timid, and the 
 change was greatly to the advantage of the Mission. 
 It is sometimes said that the Melanesian Bishops 
 navigated the Mission ship themselves, but such a 
 thing rarely occurred, indeed never when Captain
 
 86 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 Bongard was on board. Few men did so much as 
 he in a practical way for the advancement of the 
 work. He grasped the scheme of the Mission, and 
 carried it out to admiration. He was so fine a 
 seaman that Bishop John Selwyn himself stood a 
 little bit in awe of him. That he had a vast respect 
 for him is evidenced by an extract from a letter to 
 Mr. Charles Bill, in which he says : 
 
 " The ship feels very odd, as I have sent Bongard 
 home to look after the new ship. So the mate is in 
 charge, and he and I look after the navigation. If 
 you come across Bongard ... he is a first-rate 
 fellow, and as good a seaman as ever stept." 
 
 John Selwyn's delight in all naval matters was a 
 great help to him in dealing with the officers and 
 men of the various men-of-war and other vessels 
 that touched at the islands. He sometimes, how- 
 ever, felt that too much of his interest was taken up 
 in such things. Writing to his mother from the 
 Southern Cross " at sea," he says : 
 
 " If I only knew things worth knowing as well as 
 I know the ins and outs of half a dozen different 
 professions, battles, &c., I should do. The other 
 day a young lieutenant told me that by my talk on 
 naval matters he would think I was one of her 
 Majesty's officers. I felt humiliated, but I can't 
 help it. I read a thing and it sticks. Now I must
 
 VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON 87 
 
 go and take a sight, and see whether we have done 
 twenty miles this twenty-four hours." 
 
 His great friend, Mr. Bill, writes of him that it is 
 a curious speculation to consider which of all pro- 
 fessions would have suited him best, and surmises 
 that in the Army or the Navy or at the Bar he 
 would have risen to considerable eminence. It is 
 interesting to find him wondering how far such 
 subjects interfere with the profession to which he 
 had given -himself. The following striking letter 
 bears upon this : 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 " Easter Day, 1875, NORFOLK ISLAND. 
 
 "... How one felt the truth of the story of 
 God's love to man when I was trying to bring the 
 message of peace to bear on this matter. That 
 message always is real, but it is when you bring it 
 into direct antagonism with some heathen custom 
 that one sees how very real it is. And yet how 
 little does one realise it oneself. Here have I been 
 spending a couple of hours this morning devouring a 
 volume of Alison on the last campaign of Napoleon 
 before the battle of Leipsic. And he was the 
 greatest master of the opposite doctrine that the 
 world ever saw. And yet I have been admiring 
 him. Of course one says that one is only admiring
 
 88 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 the pluck and science and energy in that wonderful 
 man. And yet I am not sure. I am not at all sure 
 that there is such an exact balance in one's mind 
 between the right and the wrong as there ought 
 to be. How many would refuse the name he won, 
 if it were all clearly put before them, if they had 
 to purchase it with the meanness, rapacity, and 
 unscrupulousness which he displayed, and with all 
 the loss of life which he so unhesitatingly induced ? 
 Not many : no, not even if they had St. Helena put 
 into the opposite scale. ... I have learnt a lesson 
 or two from it. How carelessly one reads of ten 
 thousand men being killed or wounded, of men 
 working under the fire of a hundred pieces of 
 artillery, just as if it were a mere matter of course 
 for a soldier to expose himself! While I sometimes 
 think of a very trifling risk to be incurred at this or 
 that island. Or again, I read this morning of 
 Napoleon meeting the remains of the Old Guard 
 after the Russian campaign on the field of Lutzen. 
 What for ? To send them back to rest at home ? 
 Never a bit : but to wheel them round and send them 
 back to Dresden. And I think that I am justified 
 in wasting a whole side of notepaper in describing 
 my quarters if I sleep on the sand at Rowo, or some 
 such place ! and think five months a very long time 
 to be away from Clara ! Well, they thought of 
 ' glory.' Perhaps I haven't got a right idea yet of 
 * the glory that is to be revealed.' '
 
 VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON 89 
 
 While upon this subject it may not be out of 
 place to mention that later on, when he had been 
 consecrated, one of his grand schemes was to have a 
 ship of his own. He even went so far as to start a 
 fund for the purchase of a vessel to be called the 
 Ruth, presumably because she was to go gleaning 
 souls. One lady alone gave him 1000 towards this 
 object, and he would have succeeded in his desire if 
 it had not been for the strenuous opposition of his 
 friends in the Mission, who knew very well that it 
 would be fatal. When on the Southern Cross he 
 had to be guided by the regularly arranged voyages, 
 but it was recognised that in a ship of his own he 
 would not be sufficiently cautious, would have prob- 
 ably anchored for days at the mouth of some pesti- 
 lential river, and, as one of his advisers has said, 
 " would not have lived a twelvemonth." 
 
 The following extracts from letters prove how keen 
 he was on the scheme, the first one showing that the 
 idea had taken hold of him even in the early days 
 before he became Bishop. 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "Sept. 15, 1876. 
 
 " I wish I had 10,000 to start a small ship of my 
 own to go among the islands into whose hands we 
 could play, whose agents we could oversee, and by 
 means of which [ship] we could ensure the natives
 
 90 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 getting a fair price for their work. The old monas- 
 teries won their way by some such action, and I do 
 not think it at all beneath the dignity of our work. 
 It is a puzzle, which I see Bishop Patteson was 
 thinking about." 
 
 (In connection with this idea several references 
 occur in Bishop John Selwyn's letters to a project 
 for forming a trading company in the islands. He 
 was not able, however, to carry this out.) 
 
 To his FATHER. 
 
 " MAEWO, July \, 1878. 
 
 " I am very seriously meditating turning my house 
 into a small vessel, say something like the Undine^ 
 in which I can be more my own master than in the 
 large one which has to carry boys from place to 
 place, and is necessarily much tied down by this. 
 All these traders and labour vessels go about in the 
 islands throughout the year without much damage, 
 and I should be able to maintain a great deal of life 
 in the schools by being able to visit them in January 
 and February, besides being able to pop over to 
 Sydney or Queensland or Fiji, if need be. My 
 official income ought to keep such a vessel going for 
 the five months in which the big vessel is not down 
 here. But this is all a thought and may be a 
 crotchet, but I am very anxious to spend as much
 
 VARIOUS INFLUENCES BISHOP PATTESON 91 
 
 time in the islands as possible, and Codrington is so 
 superlatively good in all matters pertaining to the 
 school that I do not feel that I am much wanted 
 there." 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "Bou, April 5, 1882. 
 
 " This Mission teaches me the depth of my father's 
 insight, as I see more and more how much more can 
 be done by really good native teachers than by 
 almost any white man. What one wants is to train 
 them a little better than we have hitherto done. 
 My plan for that is a permanent head at Norfolk 
 Island, leaving the Bishop visitor there and supreme 
 in the Islands. [This could only be worked by the 
 possession of a ship of his own.] The others do not 
 quite see it in this light ; but I do not see how, as 
 the churches grow, a man can be both, and inter- 
 mittent headship is, like an intermittent spring, apt 
 to fail just when you don't want it to."
 
 CHAPTER VI11 
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 
 
 To return to the early years of his mission work, it 
 has already been stated that the nomination of the 
 Bishop of Melanesia rests with the members of 
 the Mission, and very soon after Selwyn's arrival 
 they submitted his name to the General Synod of 
 the Church in New Zealand. The whole matter 
 was by this body postponed for three years to his 
 great relief, as is recorded in the following letter 
 to his mother : 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, Sept. 1874. 
 
 " We have news by this mail of the General Synod 
 at Wellington, though not a soul has written about 
 . I can't tell you how thankful I am about the 
 Bishopric question. I seem to breathe quite freely 
 now, and perhaps by the end of three years some- 
 body may have turned up much more fitted for the 
 post than I, or at least I shall have ample time to 
 win my experience. Meanwhile I am getting to
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 93 
 
 know the physical part of the business pretty well, 
 I think, and the boating comes very natural and 
 handy to me. I am not out of the wood yet, but 
 hitherto I haven't had a touch of rheumatism. I 
 feel as strong as ever I did . . . even my old back 
 has given up being stiff ! " 
 
 In 1875 Mrs. John Selwyn and her children went 
 to England, and he was left to feel their loss acutely, 
 though, as he sometimes said, it made the depar- 
 tures for island voyages much easier. The Bishopric 
 question, though postponed, was never out of his 
 mind, and he greatly missed the presence of his wife, 
 with whom he could talk it all over freely. He 
 wrote much to his parents on the subject : 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, Dec. 13, '75. 
 
 " What would I not give for one good talk with 
 my father, though such a question must I think be 
 settled by one's own conscience. I own I cannot 
 see any one else, and on that ground it seems 
 cowardly to let the Mission go on without a working 
 head. But then when that thought is done it is 
 succeeded by such a burst of one's own short- 
 comings that one is afraid lest the Mission should 
 take any harm by my taking an office for which I am 
 so unfitted. And then sometimes I am conscious of
 
 94 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 a cowardly thought, ' What if the Mission should 
 fail and I get the blame of it/ but this I drive away 
 as utterly unworthy and untrustful. God has 
 guided me hitherto, unworthy as I am, and He will 
 guide me in this also, but it is a heavy trial. 
 
 " One has not time to be very dull, but I find that 
 it is a very different thing being away from one's 
 wife, and having one's wife away from home. In 
 the former case one has new scenes and a different 
 life, but at home one expects to see a wife or chick 
 about." 
 
 To his FATHER. 
 
 * SOUTHERN CROSS (at sea), 
 
 " 3 days out from N. L, 
 
 " Oct. 5, 1875. 
 
 " Codrington has been pressing the question of my 
 consecration in a letter which the Bishop [of Christ- 
 church] received in August '75. The Bishop says in 
 answer, ' The chief difficulty in the way of the 
 election of J. Selwyn to the Episcopate is the 
 securing a meeting of the General Synod. If that 
 could be done I do not see why his consecration to 
 the office should not immediately take place.' . . . 
 He then says that he will make inquiries as to the 
 possibility of convening a meeting which shall have 
 due weight and authority in the estimation of the 
 Church : and goes on to point out that the General
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 95 
 
 Synod might meet very early in 1877. . . . I mean 
 to write to the Bishop of Christchurch on my own 
 responsibility begging him to hold his hand as far as 
 I am concerned. For, apart from personal reasons on 
 which I will enter presently, this haste seems to be 
 useless and dangerous. Useless, because in no case 
 could Codrington get the Bishop's reply till about 
 the end of the year, and I do not suppose that the 
 Bishop would act until he had heard from him 
 again. How then would it be possible for me to be 
 elected, consecrated, and get off with the ship in 
 April ? and if it is deferred till October, no great 
 harm can be done in waiting till February 1877. 
 And it would be dangerous, for the Synod would 
 be almost certain to think that I was crammed down 
 their throats, especially after their former action, 
 and would probably resent it accordingly. I cannot 
 see therefore that any good would come from this 
 haste, and I think an indefinite amount of harm 
 might arise. 
 
 " But all this is apart from what is with me the 
 main reason : namely, a growing sense of unfitness 
 for the office. I do not mean unfitness in the sense 
 in which we talk of unfitness, or rather unworthi- 
 ness, for the Holy Communion ; of that any one must 
 needs have an overwhelming sense while at the 
 same time he may be conscious of powers within him 
 which by God's grace may enable him to do his 
 work. But I am conscious of no such powers. Day
 
 96 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 by day I feel my own deficiencies more and more 
 galling. I have no memory for languages, and but 
 little application in studying them, and I am utterly 
 deficient in the very important power of remember- 
 ing people's names. Besides this, until this last year 
 I have felt myself utterly unable to gain any hold 
 on the boys. Certainly during and since the 
 measles I have felt more power in this way, and 
 consequently have never enjoyed my life so much as 
 during these last three months, hard work though 
 it has been. 
 
 " Against this the only thing I can fairly put in the 
 balance is that I am fond of the ship and of boating, 
 that I know nearly all the places we go to well, and 
 that there is no one else of our present staff who 
 knows them so well, or who is so fond of that sort of 
 work as I am. This seems to point out that I 
 should be with the ship a good deal, but I think that 
 if I had a station at some northern island such as 
 Florida I might do this and let the vessel return 
 without me. Then with Bice at Leper's Island, 
 Palmer hi the Banks group, Still at Bauro, Penny at 
 Florida, and myself further north, while the future 
 Bishop went about in the vessel, we should do very 
 well Surely there is some ODC more capable than 
 any man we have yet. 
 
 " I wish, how I wish, I could have one good walk 
 with you to talk it all over ! And the first thing I 
 would tell you would be my sorrow for opportunities
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 97 
 
 missed. What would I not give for your habits of 
 application, and for the learning which your care 
 provided for me, but my thoughtlessness threw 
 aside. I am always seeking it now, but the evil 
 habit of desultoriness fights sadly against it, and 
 the actual school and farm life at Norfolk Island 
 has left little time for anything else." 
 
 The absence of wife and children at this critical 
 time is often referred to by him, and the extracts on 
 this subject give some of the few glimpses obtainable 
 of his home life in Norfolk Island. Writing from 
 the Southern Cross off Mota he says : 
 
 " I own I don't like the thought of the house 
 without the two little bright faces, and Pearlie 
 rushing into my room to ask for a pencil and paper, 
 and Rebie strutting down the verandah to greet 
 one as one came in from work." 
 
 In a letter from Norfolk Island to a cousin he 
 writes : 
 
 " It is rather lonely here now with neither wife, 
 chick, nor child. It is not half so bad being away 
 oneself, but it does not seem at all in the nature of 
 things that one's wife should be away. The room 
 and house are full of shadows, and one expects to 
 hear the little feet or the familiar voice, and so one 
 gets unked occasionally. . . . 
 
 G
 
 98 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " Not that my girls [the native girls] don't take 
 the most excellent care of me, and the house is in 
 apple-pie order. I have told them off into different 
 sets, and they take it in turn to do different work. 
 One, a most staid old maid, is housekeeper, and she 
 looks after me in the most maternal way, mends my 
 socks, sorts my clean clothes, &c. The smallest of 
 all is flower-gatherer, and she keeps my rooms 
 radiant. At the end of my little den I have three 
 photographs of Clara, Pearlie, and Rebie in glass, 
 and the other day the child of her own notion 
 decorated them with flowers, and never misses now. 
 Is it not a pretty thought ? " 
 
 One of the chief sacrifices to a man of John 
 Selwyn's bright sociable disposition must have been 
 the isolation and narrowness of the life on Norfolk 
 Island, and the rare chances of communication with 
 the outer world where he had so many interests 
 and so many friends. He was still a very young 
 married man, and this isolation must have been far 
 more keenly felt when his dear ones were away in 
 England. It is not then surprising to find his 
 thoughts turning towards home. It was pretty 
 certain that his consecration would not be much 
 longer delayed, and it was natural that there should 
 have sprung up in him a strong desire for the event 
 to take place in England. It would have combined 
 so much ; he would have had all his best loved with
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 99 
 
 him, and the consecrating hands laid upon his head 
 would have been those of his father. 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, March 8, 1876. 
 
 "And now for the great question as to my coming 
 home. I wonder what you will say about it all. 
 It seems too good a thought ever to come true, 
 especially as I can carry it out with such a clear 
 conscience as to the not running away from work. 
 Fancy walking in the day before the Epiphany to 
 sit in the Cathedral [Lichfield] again with you and 
 Clara and listen to my father, and show the glories 
 of the windows to Pearlie. L'homme propose and 
 God will dispose as He pleases." 
 
 To the SAME. 
 
 " PORT PATTESON, May 4>, 1876. 
 
 "Eight weeks more and I shall know my fate. 
 Am I to come home or not ? Father, mother, wife, 
 and children, to come home to all ! Surely never 
 man had much greater hope than that. I don't like 
 to dwell on it with all the changes and chances of this 
 mortal life in between, but it bubbles up sometimes." 
 
 John Selwyn had one unusual custom in the 
 matter of letter- writing. Most people write to their
 
 100 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 relations and friends so that the letter may arrive 
 on the anniversary of a birthday or other occasion. 
 Mails were so exceedingly irregular in Melanesia 
 that he reversed the process and wrote his letter on 
 the special day to be observed. Thus he invariably 
 wrote on his own and his mother's birthdays and 
 on the anniversaries of the death of those whom he 
 had loved, &c. Here is an example of this kind of 
 letter, written on his own birthday in 1876 when 
 his thoughts were full of his coming consecration : 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 " SOUTHERN CROSS (at sea), OFF WANO, 
 "May 20, 1876. 
 
 " Thirty-two years, mother ! I wonder what you 
 would have said to some fairy at the Waimate, who 
 told you that in that time the child you kissed 
 would be knocking about the Pacific, and that you 
 would be spending your old age in a Bishop's Palace 
 in England. This birthday seems a very solemn 
 one to me, though it is hard enough to realise it 
 when one is spending most of the day buying combs 
 for my boys at Norfolk Island with bits of tobacco. 
 And yet it tells me that before I am thirty-three I 
 shall probably be here again as Bishop. . . . 
 
 " I am going to keep the middle watch for our 
 Captain, who was up all last night, so I must go to 
 bed now.
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 101 
 
 "It is an overwhelming thought sometimes, 'How 
 can I get a real hold on these people ? ' and some- 
 times the sight of the ship so well appointed, which 
 has been provided by the liberality of friends at 
 home and which is here at one's absolute disposal, 
 almost makes me hate her. I suppose one ought to 
 feel the same in a large parish in England with 
 clubs and schools and influence ready to one's hand : 
 but I think this is worse. And then the worst of 
 all is that people at home will think of one as so 
 good, and write about noble work and self-sacrificing 
 labour and all that sort of nonsense, till one is ready 
 to sink with shame. Still and I think this is the 
 worst part of all." 
 
 Just at this time the question of his visit to 
 England was settled, and he had to make up his 
 mind to a great disappointment. It was not 
 thought wise, for reasons stated in the following 
 letter, that he should go. Nothing is more note- 
 worthy than the brave and uncomplaining way in 
 which he received the decision ; it was just one thing 
 more to be ungrudgingly offered : 
 
 To his FATHER. 
 
 " S. CROSS (at sea), NEW HEBRIDES, 
 "July 10, 1876. 
 
 " The Bishop of Christchurch states very fairly
 
 102 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 and kindly all the objections to the course proposed, 
 all of which I think I mentioned in my letter to 
 him. I did not and do not think that any of them 
 are insuperable save that of the great doubt as to 
 the interpretation which the General Synod might 
 put on my going. He thinks that many would say 
 that I counted on the certainty of their confirmation 
 and would assert their independence accordingly. 
 This, of course, quite settled the matter, as nothing 
 would give one greater pain than to have the 
 shadow of a doubt thrown on one's motives ; albeit 
 they little know how I shrink from the honour 
 which they would suppose me to covet. 
 
 " And so my visit to England falls to the ground. 
 I can't say I am not sorry, as I am very sorry to 
 think that I shall not be able to have one good talk 
 with you about many matters which now press 
 heavily on us. But I am not disappointed as I 
 never built for one instant on the thought. I was 
 almost certain that the Bishop of Christchurch 
 would say what he has said, and I have been all 
 along prepared to acquiesce in his saying it 
 thoroughly and heartily. We shall not be the less 
 together in heart and soul because we are absent in 
 body, and though I may not feel your hands on my 
 head once again I shall know that our prayers are 
 meeting before the Throne of Grace." 
 
 Meanwhile many doubts as to his fitness for the
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 103 
 
 office of a Bishop not unnaturally crowded into his 
 mind. The chief of these seems to have been the 
 difficulty of preventing the secular part of his work 
 from swamping the more spiritual. To his mother 
 he writes : 
 
 " What tries one is the amount of utterly secular 
 work which of its very nature makes one secular. I 
 fight against it, but it is very hard to look upwards 
 through yards of calico I " 
 
 To his FATHER. 
 
 " SOUTHERN CROSS (at anchor), MAEWO, 
 
 June 11,1876 \ ^nity Sunday. 
 I &t. Barnabas. 
 
 " It seems to me that we shall have to have three 
 voyages always. Our numbers are so large that the 
 ship is very crowded going down, and three voyages 
 would relieve her very much, and also I think allow 
 of the work being better done. This means seven 
 months at sea for me, part of the cost which has to 
 be counted. Perhaps some day or other Clara will 
 be able to go with me a bit, as mother sometimes 
 used to go with you, but I don't know at present. 
 
 
 " I have been reading to-night that sublime ex- 
 hortation to the priests which probably you are 
 reading at this very moment. I think one wants it
 
 104 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 here more than in the midst of the shoe clubs and 
 school accounts of parish life in England. Here it 
 is so easy to be a sailor and a boatman, and a 
 tramper through villages, and a sleeper on hardish 
 beds, and all the rest of it, which in the world's eyes 
 make the sort of martyrdom of missionary life, and 
 which in reality are nothing at all ; and it is so 
 hard to invest all these with the glow of the inner 
 life which must have warmed St. Paul in his 
 'journeyings often/ or in his daily handicraft. 
 Language, or rather the want of it, has much to do 
 with this, and I am lazy and idle at that which 
 ought to be the main object of my life. And I feel 
 painfully conscious of an unreadiness to attract the 
 native mind, that is to put my mind alongside his 
 mind, as Dr. Johnson would say. ... I need not 
 tell you what a comfort it is to me to be able to 
 write to you as I feel I can now, leaning on your 
 perfect sympathy and love." 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "S. CROSS, OFF MOTA, Sept. 2, 1876. 
 
 " I know how the little worries and manifold cares 
 of your daily life must require this sense of nearness 
 to God to sweeten and spiritualise them. And indeed 
 I can sympathise with you with all my heart, as our 
 life is one of so much bustle and hard physical work 
 that it is very, very difficult to get up the spirituality
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 105 
 
 which must be at the bottom of it all. Take to-day, 
 for instance, we have been taking off the Ara folks 
 in a heavy sea, and they have brought no end of 
 traps which they ought not to bring, and one had to 
 think of the boat alongside, and of our twelve 
 passengers who had to be got safely up the ladder. 
 And there were things to be divided on shore, and 
 unpleasant stories coming out at the last moment. 
 Altogether it is very hard to think that all this is 
 means to an end, and that end the winning souls to 
 the kingdom of God. I don't say this complain- 
 ingly, but only as a fact ; and a fact which joins me 
 to you in the midst of your legs of mutton, and my 
 father in the drudgery of his letters. 
 
 
 
 "After the Bishopric question is settled I don't 
 care what I do, but we shall then be fitting out and 
 I shall be wanted in Auckland. And that leads me 
 to the great matter that of course lies uppermost on 
 my mind, and does not grow lighter as time goes on. 
 
 " Thank you very much for your kind loving words. 
 I can hear you saying them, and would that I could 
 sit on your sofa and say my say again about them. 
 One can't write the thoughts- that throng one's 
 brain and trouble one's heart. I feel all that you 
 say about God's calling, and if He calls that He will 
 give the grace which is needful. I feel all this ; 
 but it is very hard to get oneself to believe that He 
 does call. All one's own imperfections stand out
 
 106 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 ten times more vividly than before. And beyond 
 that all one's doubts and fears are shrinking from 
 the work itself, and one's anxieties as to its future 
 are redoubled when one thinks that its future move- 
 ment will have to come so largely from oneself ; and 
 then there is no lack of selfish motives besides, 
 which are best unsaid, as they are best driven away 
 when thought of. Well, all these things make it 
 very hard indeed to let that trust you speak of take 
 full possession and govern everything else. I can't 
 analyse myself, but you will understand what I 
 mean. I think I shall be better when I have had a 
 good talk with Clara. There are cases where 
 woman's sympathy, and above all woman's faith and 
 love help men more than almost anything else. 
 And Clara too will be fresh from you so that I shall 
 get herself and you rolled in one." 
 
 Then, in a further part of the same letter, he 
 tells of another difficulty that beset him and made 
 him inclined to shrink from any accession of autho- 
 rity : 
 
 s 
 
 " One is master to a very great extent now, and 
 the very last thing that such an office requires is 
 masterfulness. There is a quiet way of doing things 
 which I see and envy in others, and at very rare 
 intervals acquire myself, and then I am surprised to 
 find out how easily things go. With our large
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 107 
 
 school there is a great deal of real orderliness and 
 obedience necessary ; and the difficulty is to do this 
 without upsetting the sense of friendship which 
 binds us together, or the self-respect which is not 
 too strong in many of the boys. Boats are very 
 aggravating things in this way. Sails won't go up 
 right, and fellows will always mistake one rope for 
 another, &c., and one hates oneself, when one comes 
 in, for not taking things quietly. Well, you can 
 guess it all, but I like telling you of it, as you will 
 know one's struggles. . . . The latter part of this 
 voyage I have been rather poorly and lazy. My 
 head got wrong somehow, and worried me a good 
 deal, and I have had a touch of fever hanging about." 
 
 As it was found impossible for him to go to Eng- 
 land for his consecration it became imperative that 
 Mrs. John Selwyn should return at once in order 
 that she might be with him when the day came that 
 would be fraught with so large a measure of added 
 responsibility and solemn dignity. He went to 
 Australia to meet her and describes his delight in a 
 letter to a cousin written from Bishopscourt, Dun- 
 edin, on January 9, 1877- 
 
 " You may imagine how pleasant it is hearing of 
 you all from Clara, and still more how pleasant it is 
 to have that dear old living letter back again. I had 
 to wait a very long time for her, but it was worth the
 
 108 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 waiting. Just at the end I went down to Queens- 
 cliffe at Melbourne Heads, and there used to get up 
 at 3.30 A.M. lest the vessel should go by in the early 
 morning. Four days did I repeat this unparalleled 
 devotion, and at last on Sunday morning, Decem- 
 ber 19, there the ship was, just coming in at the 
 Heads ! Off I scuttled with the health officer, 
 caught Clara not in the least expecting me, and my 
 triumph was great 1 " 
 
 How little either thought in the joy of their 
 meeting that one short year was all that was left to 
 them of their young and happy life together on 
 earth ! 
 
 On their arrival in New Zealand they enjoyed 
 nearly two months of quiet, in which he might 
 prepare for his consecration. This he had planned 
 long beforehand, for in March 1876 he says in the 
 course of a letter to his mother : 
 
 " I am writing to the Bishop of Christchurch 
 saying I would rather not go ' starring,' but, if he 
 could find us a quiet berth for a couple of months or 
 so, I would be very glad to fill it, and thus get a 
 little quiet time." 
 
 This period was of great value, for not only 
 did his mind become calm and restful in the com- 
 panionship of his wife and in a life free from small
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 109 
 
 cares and worries, but he then was able to seek in 
 much prayer and meditation for that courage which 
 it required to take up the high office of Missionary 
 Bishop. When his age not thirty-three is con- 
 sidered, and the characteristics which had marked 
 his life, it could not be but that now and then he 
 trembled at what lay before him. Writing to his 
 old friend, Mr. Waters, he says : 
 
 " I can't tell you how much I shrink from it. 
 St. George's was nothing to this. It seems to 
 demand so much, and I am conscious not only of so 
 little, but also of so many drawbacks in my temper 
 and many other things. . . . Those I have most 
 reason to trust have told me that I ought to allow 
 my judgment to bow before that of others, so I am 
 going to take the awful step, and I know you will 
 not forget me in my anxiety when you approach the 
 Throne of Grace." 
 
 At last, early in February 1877, the General 
 Synod confirmed his nomination to the Bishopric, 
 and the prospect of consecration became immediate. 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 " QUEENSTOWN, Feb. 7, 1 877. 
 
 " We got the telegrams, for they were many, on 
 Friday morning stating that the General Synod had
 
 110 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 unanimously confirmed our nomination. I was rather 
 surprised, as I did not think the question would 
 come on quite so soon. Dudley telegraphed that 
 every one was earnest and unanimous, and this is 
 a great comfort. It seems to make the duty very 
 clear, and it is a great thing to relieve one's mind 
 when there have been so many misgivings as in my 
 case. The Primate at first wanted to have the 
 consecration on Quinquagesima, but I found we 
 could not get away in time, and begged for the 
 next Sunday. 
 
 " We have had a very nice quiet time up here, 
 though the weather has been very bad. I can't say 
 I minded much, as, after being all about the colonies, 
 a snug little house with one's wife and boy is very 
 pleasant. There is a delicious little church next 
 door, where we have morning prayer, and where 
 Clara and I can go in the middle of the day." 
 
 Besides getting some rest and quiet parish work 
 at Queenstown he was delighted to find a hospital 
 hard by, where he was able to indulge his lifelong 
 fondness for cheering and helping the sick. He says 
 of this latter experience that it was " very helpy," a 
 word which he seems to have coined, and which, 
 with another similar word, " resty," he frequently 
 used in his letters. 
 
 Like so many other men who have lived lives full
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 111 
 
 of sympathy and love for others, he had a keen 
 sense of humour, and delighted in good stories. 
 Even in the course of a letter such as the above, he 
 cannot resist telling one. He had been on an excur- 
 sion to some mines and was talking of the difficulties 
 and expense of transport ; he then says : 
 
 " Apropos of packing goods, Mr. R. told me that 
 a man ran away from his wife on one or two diggings 
 in Australia without success, and finally bolted over 
 here. The first thing he saw when he had settled 
 down was his wife on a pack-horse being ' packed ' 
 up to him at Is. per lb., and she a heavy weight!" 
 
 His consecration was finally settled to take place 
 at Nelson on Sunday, February 18. Even so there 
 was hardly time for him and Mrs. Selwyn to get 
 down from Queenstown. They arrived late on the 
 16th, and two days afterwards he became one 
 of the youngest Bishops ever consecrated in our 
 Church. Writing to Mr. Charles Bill he alludes 
 to this : 
 
 " SOUTHERN CROSS (at sea), Oct. \, 1 877. 
 
 " Thank you for your words, my dear old friend, 
 about my Bishopric. You, who know me so well, 
 will know that it is no seeking of mine that I was 
 enrolled among the ranks of what Mr. Alderman 
 Macarthur is pleased to call ' the boy Bishops.' "
 
 112 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 Subjoined is the letter which he wrote to his 
 father on the evening of the day, when all was over, 
 and it is followed by an extract from a New Zealand 
 newspaper, giving a report of the touching sermon 
 preached on the occasion by Mr. Dudley, now Arch- 
 deacon, at that time incumbent of the Church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre in Auckland. 
 
 To his FATHER. 
 
 "NELSON, February IS, 1877. 
 
 " MY DEAR FATHER, 
 
 " I don't know what I am to say to you about 
 to-day except that it is over, and that I stand pledged 
 to carry on as head the work which you and Bishop 
 Patteson began. We have had a glorious day, and 
 bright, hearty services. Owing to the floods down 
 south we missed the Ringarooma, which would have 
 brought us up on Wednesday, and only managed by 
 dint of very hard travelling to arrive late on Friday 
 night. But we were just in time for the closing of 
 the Synod, and, as they had invited me to take my 
 seat, I was able to make a little speech and thank 
 them for the confidence they had shown to me. 
 
 Yesterday it was hard to be quiet as people came to 
 call, but we had a nice quiet evening together, and 
 time to think and write a bit of a sermon I had to
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 113 
 
 preach to-day. The main service was at 11 ; you 
 know the church well, and can imagine the surround- 
 ings. Everything was beautifully arranged and 
 ordered. I sat just beneath the pulpit, close to the 
 steps of the chancel. Dudley preached a really ad- 
 mirable sermon, full of tender allusion to you and 
 Bishop Patteson, and earnest words of caution and 
 help to myself. The Bishops of Auckland and 
 Dunedin presented me, and the Primate was most 
 kind and helpful, as indeed were they all. I do not 
 think you will want me to analyse my feelings, even 
 if I could do it. There are things which one feels 
 but cannot describe. Perhaps the greatest and most 
 comforting thought I had was one of rest. It was 
 done. The long, hard struggle was ended in my 
 accepting the post, and I was being sent forth with 
 all the power and blessing the Head of the Church 
 could bestow. I had a quiet time at the Communion 
 . . . and I was drawn very near you all. Perhaps 
 you were kneeling then in the chapel at Lichfield 
 (though it would have been very late), but at any 
 rate we were one in spirit. I like to think of your 
 joy as I hope it is, and to pray for your work 
 as one who has just begun to have part of the load 
 laid on him also. I have no doubt you have sent 
 your blessing to me ; will you and my mother accept 
 mine in return, the blessing of a son who is feeling 
 every day more and more what a debt he owes to his 
 father and mother, and who hopes to be stirred by 
 
 H
 
 114 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 their love to follow the example they have set him ? 
 With Clara's fondest love to you both. 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Your most loving and dutiful son, 
 "J. R. SELWYN, 
 
 "Bishop." 
 
 From "THE CHURCH CHRONICLE FOR THE DIOCESE OP 
 WELLINGTON," March 1, 1877. 
 
 "Mr. Selwyn showed his earnestness of purpose and 
 thorough sincerity in coming out to devote himself to the 
 service of his great Master amongst the savages of Melanesia, 
 and it would have been impossible to find for the office to 
 which he has been formally appointed a man whose heart was 
 more in his work, or who was in any way better fitted for the 
 trying and arduous life he has selected, than John Richardson 
 Selwyn. 
 
 " Mr. Dudley's sermon concluded as follows : ' And now let 
 us apply our thoughts more closely to the subject of the 
 Melanesian Mission brought under our special notice by the 
 solemn service hi which we are engaged. The whole history 
 of that Mission is an illustration of love going forth in 
 self-sacrifice and proving a marvellous power. Look first at 
 its founder, the first and only Bishop of New Zealand, with 
 us in spirit as we all know this day, and with his whole heart 
 offering up his son for this work. 
 
 
 
 " * In the same spirit it was, too, that Bishop Patteson was 
 enabled to sacrifice so many of his natural tastes and inclina- 
 tions, and to throw himself and all his varied powers and gifts 
 heartily into this missionary enterprise. . . . This spirit it 
 was, this, and not his linguistic skill and other talents, which 
 gave him his marvellous power.
 
 HIS CONSECRATION 115 
 
 " * And this same spirit, when it went forth with power 
 from the martyr's grave in the Southern Seas, drew our friend 
 back from his mother-country to engage in this work, and 
 has ever since drawn after him from all parts of England such 
 abundant freewill offerings that the Melanesian Mission finds 
 itself (at least as compared with some Missions) opulent. . . . 
 
 " ' Brethren, what shall we say to him ? It seems to me we 
 can say nothing better than this : Go forth, brother Father 
 in God, as you will be ere this service is concluded to your 
 work of faith and labour of love among those your father cared 
 for and first sought out, to whom Bishop Patteson devoted 
 himself, and by whom his life was in ignorance taken. We 
 wish you good luck in the name of the Lord. We trust that 
 the life you this day surrender to Him more fully than ever 
 may long be spared for His service : that every needful gift 
 may be bestowed upon you : and that in all your perils, by 
 land and water, in weariness and painfulness, in the disappoint- 
 ments you must experience, and in the difficulties, impossible 
 to be foreseen, which must arise, you may ever be cheered by 
 the sense of His love, who never leaves nor forsakes one faithful 
 servant. We will follow you ever, and those with you, with 
 our thoughts and our prayers and our freewill offerings. And 
 we ask you ever to remember that the work God is doing 
 through you is not confined to Melanesia, but that as the 
 signs of an Apostle are wrought out in you as we are 
 assured they will be and as the power of Christian love 
 is more and more shown in your complete self-consecration, 
 that power, even though its apparent effects be but slow 
 and tardy in Melanesia, will be felt here in New Zea- 
 land ; it will be felt in Australia ; it will be felt by England. 
 Yes, wherever the English Church has faithful children, 
 men will bless God for you, and will be cheered in their 
 own troubles, and will be stirred to new devotion, and 
 will recognise in the reports of your labours one more token 
 of the reality of Christ's presence, and of the unfailing fulfil-
 
 116 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 ment of His parting promise, * I am with you alway, even 
 unto the end of the world.' " 
 
 A simultaneous service was held in Lichfield Cathe- 
 dral at 11 P.M., so as to correspond as nearly as 
 possible to 11 A.M. in New Zealand. Even at this 
 late hour there met together a goodly number who 
 wished to join their prayers with those being offered 
 in the Antipodes for the new Bishop. At this ser- 
 vice the Bishop of Lichfield prayed that his son 
 might unite boldness with caution, and might not be 
 puffed up by reason of his high office.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 
 
 THE next two or three months were spent in New 
 Zealand speaking and preaching for his Mission and 
 renewing many old friendships. The welcome he re- 
 ceived as his father's son was a great delight to him. 
 
 To his FATHER. 
 
 "AUCKLAND, April 5, 1877. 
 
 " Many are the inquiries after you, and the ex- 
 pressions of rejoicing at having a Bishop Selwyn 
 amongst them again. Sed quantum mutatus ab illo 
 Hectare ! " 
 
 Towards the end of April Bishop and Mrs. John 
 Selwyn with their eighteen months' old son arrived 
 at Norfolk Island to take up the work there. The 
 two little girls had been left with their grandmother 
 at Lichfield, and sorely were they missed in the home 
 life which was resumed once more at St. Barnabas' 
 Mission Station.
 
 118 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To his FATHER and MOTHER. 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND, April 27, 1 877. 
 
 " On the Sunday we arrived I made my first ap- 
 pearance in the chapel in the evening, Codrington 
 preaching about the continuity of office, and I saying 
 a few words at the end. The next day we all met 
 in the evening and talked over matters. This is a 
 great step, as we have rather too much isolation. . . . 
 When I held my first Confirmation in town [i.e., the 
 port where the Norfolk Islanders lived] there were 
 some thirty confirmed, and we had a very bright hearty 
 service. Altogether I think my episcopate here has 
 begun very brightly, and I hope we may keep it up." 
 
 The isolation he speaks of was a matter much in 
 his mind, and from time to time he tried various 
 methods of drawing the little Mission society more 
 closely together. A letter to his mother on this 
 subject may be quoted here, though it was not 
 written till some years afterwards : 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, Septuagesima, 1879. 
 
 11 Do you remember writing to me about our not 
 meeting together for prayer? Well, ever since I 
 have been Bishop I have been trying to rectify this, 
 but it has been uphill work. First, I tried Bible 
 reading, and each of us to say something, but people
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 119 
 
 held their tongues, and I defy any one to go on by 
 himself addressing all his intimate friends ! . . . 
 Now, I think, we have solved the difficulty. It has 
 always been the rule here that on alternate Sundays 
 we have Mota Holy Communion, and on the Satur- 
 day before, after church, the communicants stay and 
 are addressed by the leading man, Bishop, or who- 
 ever he may be. I have taken the idea from this. 
 On the evening before our English Holy Communion 
 we meet together, one of us (in turn) addresses us, 
 and we have prayers for our work. The addresses 
 turn on work as much as possible, and on the Holy 
 Communion, so with fresh minds every week they do 
 not get stale. I hope you will approve of this." 
 
 In the autumn of 1877 he went a voyage to the 
 islands, and used some of his spare time on board 
 ship to write to those who had sent him congratula- 
 tions on his consecration. 
 
 To MRS. 1 COURT-BEPINGTON. 
 
 "'SOUTHERN CROSS' (at sea), Oct. 31, 1877. 
 
 " I often wonder who and what I am myself, and 
 at times fall, oh ! so fall, even from my standard of 
 what a bishop should be. I sign myself as Bishop 
 Patteson used to, and as I have no definite diocese 
 I think it is the best way. As to title I am supremely 
 indifferent. On board my sailors call me * Bishop '
 
 120 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 generally, though the captain generally begins with 
 ' My Lord ' in the morning. Personally I like the 
 simple title best." 
 
 To REV. F. E. WATEES. 
 
 "' SOUTHERN CROSS ' (at sea), Nov. 2, 1877. 
 
 " Many thanks for your kind letters of congratula- 
 tion and sympathy. I need the latter far more than 
 the former, as the responsibility presses very heavily 
 on me at times, though the blessings are often very 
 great. You and I know what responsibility on very 
 young shoulders means, don't we ? It is very pleasant 
 to find you remembering and speaking of those days 
 as you do. I look back on them as some of the 
 happiest and certainly some of the most instructive 
 of my life. And the lessons of our short but very 
 full experience often come in to cheer and comfort 
 me now. Come what may, things can't look much 
 blacker than they did in the January days when we 
 used to serve out soup in the back kitchen, and then 
 
 go out to meet and and all the rest of them ! 
 
 I always think I learnt the power of prayer more in 
 those first few months than I ever did before." 
 
 " Come what may " ! He little knew the terrible 
 blow so soon to fall upon him. Few men who ever 
 lived have had a keener delight in the quiet joys 
 and intimacies of family life than he : few men
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 121 
 
 blessed with wife and children have suffered such 
 limitations of their happiness. Of the six years 
 that he had been married a large part had been 
 spent in voyages to the islands, when his wife had 
 been left for months together at Norfolk Island ; 
 another large part had been spent by Mrs. Selwyn 
 on her visit to England ; leaving a singularly short 
 period during which husband and wife were 
 together. Added to this was the absence in 
 England of his two little girls, an absence which 
 he of all men felt most keenly. Yet were these 
 things offered gladly : not one word of grumbling, 
 not one word of grudging, can be found in all 
 his letters. He was now to be tried still more 
 severely. On December 30, 1877, Mrs. Selwyn died 
 at Norfolk Island, leaving a little baby, Clara Violet, 
 to bear her name for a few short months, and then 
 to rejoin her in her rest in Paradise. 
 
 There are one or two letters giving an account of 
 that sad day, and it is impossible not to be touched 
 by the simplicity and resignation, the certainty that 
 " all is well," and the never failing generosity with 
 which he offered even this his very heart to the 
 Master whom he served. 
 
 To the EEV. F. E. WATERS. 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND, Feb. 6, 1 878. 
 " I have only just been able to begin my letters
 
 122 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 again, as since my dear wife's death on December 30 
 I have been almost constantly engaged in nursing 
 Mr. Penny [one of the Mission staff, now Rector of 
 Wolverhampton], who was very ill ; and then a 
 vessel came in from Auckland, necessitating report 
 writing, &c. I can hardly yet realise the loss of 
 that dear bright life which was the light of my 
 home. One goes about and does one's ordinary 
 round of work and is so busy that there is hardly 
 time to think, but it is very terrible at times ; and 
 yet I am so very happy for her sake that I am 
 wonderfully upheld and comforted, and I can always 
 soothe myself by going to her grave. It was a 
 sudden and yet not an unlooked-for blow, as of 
 course we had prepared for her confinement, and 
 BO, though the last few days were clouded by 
 delirium, I was not unhappy, as the most childlike 
 trust and love shone through it all, and one could 
 see her mind was stayed on God, and was therefore 
 in perfect peace." 
 
 To MBS. A. COUBT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "March 11, 1878. 
 
 " She fell asleep in my arms at twenty minutes 
 past ten on Sunday morning. I was so wonderfully 
 blessed. I went to service that morning and gave 
 the blessing, and in the evening, when we buried her, 
 I followed in my robes, and felt so strong that I
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 123 
 
 read the last part of the funeral service. It was a 
 sight to see how the people loved her. I think 
 nearly every one in the Island came to the funeral, 
 and the children of her classes sent me afterwards 
 five pounds to get some memorial of her. My girls 
 all take great interest, and every Sunday we have a 
 fresh wreath of flowers, and a fresh set of flowers 
 for the cross itself which lies on the grave, and they 
 stand round and sing hymns. And so I am won- 
 derfully upheld." 
 
 What a beautiful picture this is ! The native 
 girls, for whose sake she had given up so much and 
 had worked so hard, who had been used to gather 
 round her when the Bishop was on his voyages 
 and sing the hymn for those at sea, now standing 
 by her early grave and comforting the husband she 
 had left by singing the sacred songs that she had 
 taught them. 
 
 Bishop John Selwyn never used the melancholy 
 language so frequently heard about death. When 
 speaking of the cousin to whom he was so deeply 
 attached as a boy, or of his dear friend Stephen 
 Fremantle, or, later on, of his father, his words are 
 an example of the really Christian manner in which 
 death should be spoken of. There are two letters 
 from him, both to Mrs. a Court-Eepington, written 
 nearly twenty years apart, which bear witness to 
 this :
 
 124 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " ST. GEORGE'S VICARAGE, WOLVERHAMPTON, 
 
 "Aug. 11, 1872. 
 
 " I only hope you are having as lovely a day for 
 the funeral as we are here, with bright sun over- 
 head and all nature laughing round. I never think 
 there is much sorrow in a funeral. There is such a 
 resty feeling about it all, such a sense of lifting 
 upwards in the service, that I am sure it is really less 
 sad than any other part of the death." 
 
 To MKS. 1 COUKT-REPINGTON. 
 
 " 18 DE VERB GARDENS, W., Oct. 18, 1891. 
 
 " In God's mercy the brightness of the light from 
 the other world grows, as the darkness of the sorrow 
 ever lessens. The departure of a very loved soul 
 wrings our hearts for a while, but there is nothing, 
 not even the words of Christ Himself though of 
 course it is by the power of those words that it acts 
 nothing which so leads one's own soul to contem- 
 plate the happiness of those who are gone and makes 
 us try to follow them. 
 
 " I like to think of you by that quiet grave which 
 I am sure now will be able to soothe not sadden you, 
 and your own St. Luke will still be a beloved phy- 
 sician, and tell you of Him who raised Jairus' 
 daughter, or better still that most wonderful of all 
 stories for its marvellous simplicity, of Him who saw
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 125 
 
 the lonely mother and had compassion on her. I 
 wonder whether this will all sound commonplace to 
 you ? I hope not, for indeed it is very real to me. 
 My own grave at Norfolk Island has never for four- 
 teen years lacked its flowers, and I lay them now 
 very much as a thank-offering for all that grave has 
 taught me. May it be so with you, dear friend, and 
 may you at the end find that the loss that seemed 
 so terrible has been in reality a blessing to you 
 both. It must be so." 
 
 On February 18 he consecrated the churchyard 
 where he had laid his wife. The letter describing 
 this brings to mind the incident related as happen- 
 ing when he went out in 1866 to visit his parents in 
 New Zealand and rescued a little boy under similar 
 circumstances. It must be noted, however, that the 
 word " boy " as used in Melanesia simply means a 
 native, and does not refer to his age. 
 
 To REV. F. E. WATERS. 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND , 
 
 " On the day [anniversary] of my consecration we 
 consecrated the cemetery where my dear wife rests. 
 It was a very solemn little service. The clergy 
 walked in procession round the graveyard while all 
 our boys and girls sang the 23rd Psalm and the 
 ' Nunc Dimittis.' Then we had a lesson, and finally
 
 126 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 a very pretty hymn written by Mr. Codrington. I 
 only just got back in time for it, as on that day one 
 of our boys was carried away in a small canoe, in 
 which he was fishing, right out to sea. The news 
 came while we were at dinner. I rushed off at once, 
 got a boat, and rushed down to the spot where he 
 was last seen. . . . We found him some three miles 
 off the land. He was sitting on the canoe, which 
 was bottom up. There was tremendous excitement 
 among our boys when he was brought up here." 
 
 On the following Easter Day he wrote to his 
 mother from on board the Southern Cross at sea : 
 
 " You can easily believe what a different Easter 
 Day this has been to any that I have ever had yet. 
 ' Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the 
 first-fruits of them that slept,' pervades every 
 thought and every service. . . . The separation now 
 is very different from anything one ever felt before, 
 and yet it is nearer. * Set your affection on things 
 above' seems easier, too, and surely God in His 
 mercy means it to be easier when He takes away one 
 who was so great an earthly help. . . . We began 
 by an early Communion at seven o'clock, and I said 
 to Penny that I think we and those at Norfolk 
 Island were probably the first who began to keep 
 Easter Day in all the world, as there are hardly 
 any churches eastward of us except those in New
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 127 
 
 Zealand, and hardly any of them begin before eight 
 o'clock." 
 
 Meantime Mr. Still, knowing well the anxiety 
 that would be felt in England about the Bishop's 
 welfare, wrote to Mrs. Selwyn (the Bishop's mother) 
 as follows : 
 
 " NORFOLK ISLAND, April 9, 1 878. 
 
 " All is hurry now that the Southern Cross has come in ; 
 but I thought you would like just a line to say how our 
 Bishop is on leaving for the Islands. He has been wonderfully 
 well all this time, going about his work in the old hardworking, 
 cheerful spirit. I fancy it is even harder for him now that 
 the first strain is over, but he bears up most bravely. He 
 very seldom speaks gloomily of himself, though he sometimes 
 says it seems to get worse as time gets on." 
 
 More than one allusion will have been noticed in 
 the foregoing letters to the love of flowers which 
 seems to have characterised the native girls at the 
 school on Norfolk Island, and must have had a 
 civilising influence. Not only is the use of flowers 
 for adorning graves repeatedly mentioned, but 
 Bishop John Selwyn speaks of the brides at the not 
 infrequent weddings which took place " looking so 
 nice in their print dresses, with their hair dressed 
 with white flowers." In another letter he says : 
 
 "We thought much of dear Eebie on Monday 
 [her birthday], and the girls made such a pretty
 
 128 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 wreath for her picture. After it had hung there 
 awhile I took it off to her mother's cross. I thought 
 the child would like it as it were coming from her." 
 
 This year, 1878, was probably the saddest in the 
 whole of the Bishop's life. In the course of the 
 spring he went off for a voyage among the islands, 
 staying for some time at various places. Amongst 
 these was Maewo, and here he was to receive 
 another blow. He had left his only son, Stephie, 
 and little Clara Violet, the baby, in safe keeping at 
 Norfolk Island. Of the latter he wrote that she 
 was " a very bonny baby " when he came away. 
 He was now to learn that God had seen fit to 
 take His lamb into His eternal arms. He thus 
 describes the news being brought to him : 
 
 To MRS. A. COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "MAEWO, July 18, 1878. 
 
 "The boy who came up to my little house at 
 Maewo shrank from telling me the news, and said 
 only, 'Your child is dead.' I gasped out 'Which?' 
 I felt as if I could not spare Stephie, and it was a 
 great joy almost when I heard it was the little one. 
 Not that I did not want my little Violet to keep 
 alive her mother's name ; but I could spare her, and 
 perhaps nay, certainly God is merciful and has 
 taken her from the evil to come."
 
 DEATH OF MRS. J. R. SELWYN 129 
 
 This chapter shall close with a beautiful letter 
 written to his mother while on this voyage : 
 
 " ' SOUTHERN CROSS ' (at sea), 
 
 " SOUTH OF SANTA CRUZ, June 8, 1878. 
 
 " I liked reading of the joyous Christmas that the 
 children had, though it was a strange contrast to 
 the sad hard fight with death which was going on 
 in our little room at Norfolk Island. But they 
 were spared that wondering awe which attends a 
 child's first meeting with illness and death, and that 
 wistful longing which would have come over them 
 for the mother who was gone. It was well. One 
 likes to wonder if her spirit was allowed to cross 
 those 16,000 miles of space and look down on the 
 children she missed so much, and yet gave up so 
 freely. It would, to our thinking, be a fit reward. 
 And yet one knows nothing of conditions of life 
 between here and the day of judgment, and even if 
 such glimpses were allowed, one cannot separate the 
 thought of them from the longing which such a 
 glimpse would give if vouchsafed to a soul living 
 here. Does death so change the conditions of our 
 being that such a sight would be pure joy ? We 
 cannot tell. And yet even to us there is more of 
 joy than of sorrow in the thought of the spirit 
 mother watching Rebie dancing into the room as 
 the New Year, or hearing Pearlie singing the 
 Christmas hymn. It is very very wonderful.
 
 130 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " June 12. I meant to have written to you last 
 night when you were all assembled probably at 
 Eton for St. Barnabas, but I went to sleep. It 
 was not for want of thinking of you, though, as I 
 thought of little else all day, and told my boys in 
 the evening how year after year the Eton party had 
 helped our work, and I told them also how I had 
 first heard for certain that we were to go out at 
 that meeting, and how Clara had determined to 
 come as a ' daughter of consolation.' Do you re- 
 member that day, mother ? How well I remember it 
 the pouring wet, and the pew-opener who would 
 lead us close to you, and then your little note, and 
 above all I remember my darling's earnest though 
 tearful face as she pressed my hand and gave herself 
 up to that work from which she never flinched no, 
 not once. A.nd then we looked together and spoke 
 of the figure of our Lord in glory, who with open 
 arms seemed to call us on. The real arms have 
 closed round her now, and she has learnt, I earnestly 
 believe, -what peace He can give."
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 DEATH OF HIS FATHER VISIT TO ENGLAND 
 
 THE letters written by Bishop John Selwyn to his 
 mother and to one or two other specially favoured 
 correspondents are wonderful for the fulness of 
 detail and graphic description, which make his life, 
 whether at Norfolk Island or on voyage among the 
 islands, extraordinarily vivid. But it is impossible 
 not to be equally struck with his reticence. Con- 
 versation with any of those who worked by his 
 side reveals how often and how seriously he was 
 attacked by malaria and other illnesses due to the 
 climate. His own reference to such things is 
 always of the slightest, and frequently coupled with 
 some joke or cheery word which might do away 
 with any anxiety on his behalf. Thus he would 
 say: 
 
 "We have been back from the Islands about a 
 month, two weeks of which I have spent indoors 
 under a dragon of a doctor who was very savage
 
 132 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 when I got ague a second time through going about 
 too much." 
 
 " Since I last wrote I have had one attack of 
 ague, and hope I am getting rid of it. The result 
 has been oceans of tonics and quinine : which I 
 always forget, and the doctor looks reproachfully at 
 iny full bottle ! " 
 
 On this voyage in the summer 1878 he was (to 
 add to his other troubles) by no means free from 
 illness, and in the following note there is the first 
 allusion to anything going wrong with his feet, in 
 which, and in his legs, he was afterwards to suffer 
 so severely : 
 
 " I had an attack of ague the other day, but that 
 has passed over and I am very well ; only my foot 
 hurts me sometimes." 
 
 But this terribly eventful time had yet another 
 sorrow in store for him. In a totally unexpected 
 and accidentally abrupt manner he learnt that his 
 father was dead. 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "MAEwo, July 2, 1878. 
 
 " MY DARLING MOTHER, 
 
 " I have come down here for news, and news 
 I have got. How can I pour out my heart to you
 
 DEATH OF HIS FATHER 133 
 
 or tell you how you live in my heart, and how I long 
 to comfort you ? I could do that, as I have passed 
 through the same great sorrow myself, and now I 
 can hardly realise that the end of that grand un- 
 selfish life has come at last, and the crown won. You 
 have endured many a separation, and He will help 
 you to endure this. But how I long to be with you ! 
 Perhaps some telegram may come to say that you 
 want me, and then I shall come at once. I am 
 writing on board a labour vessel where I have only 
 heard that my dear father is dead. The agent said 
 to me just as the man did about Bishop Patteson, 
 ' By-the-by, who is that Bishop Selwyn who is dead 
 in England ? ' And all I have seen is that Maclagau 
 succeeds him. . . . 
 
 " I wrote to him [his father] only last night, and I 
 shall let the letter go, as you will like to see it. 
 May God pardon me for the sorrow my carelessness 
 has caused him, though I rejoice to think that the 
 few last years I have been some help and comfort 
 to him if only by my absence [i.e., his taking up the 
 work in Melanesia]. I cannot write here, and must 
 wait till I get home to my little house at Maewo, 
 when I can think it all over, and weigh what I ought 
 to do. ... May God guide you and help you and 
 be with your children. I can't bear to think of that 
 dear old home broken up. 
 
 " ' So grows in heaven our store.' God is trying 
 us heavily this year ; I hope it may be for our
 
 134 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 eternal good. Now I must try and carry on his 
 work, that what he began may go on as he would 
 have made it. That is his legacy to me, and please 
 God I will do it. Give my fondest love to our 
 chicks. 
 
 " Your most loving and dutiful son, 
 
 " J. R. SELWYN, Bishop." 
 
 At this point in his letter he wrote out in full 
 the Collect for All Saints' Day, and the passage in 
 the prayer for the Church Militant, beginning with 
 " We give Thee humble and hearty thanks." 
 
 " Distance softens sorrow wonderfully. I feel as 
 if he was nearer to me now as I sit alone in my little 
 hut at Maewo with a great gale roaring overhead at 
 midnight, and all my love goes swelling out towards 
 him, and the acknowledgment of what he was to 
 me, without the sense of blankness which one feels 
 when one is very near those who are taken. That 
 comes when I look at his letters and think that I 
 shall nevermore see those beautifully straight lines, 
 and well formed letters, and trace the love growing 
 stronger between us day by day. I did hope, too, 
 that I might have been allowed to officiate with him 
 once as bishop. We must wait now. 
 
 " July 4. I have been pondering all day on what 
 I ought to do, and I think I ought to go home, if
 
 DEATH OF HIS FATHER 135 
 
 only I could get there now. It seems it ought to 
 be now rather than later, as I shall be able to help 
 you to settle your plans, if only I could get home in 
 the next few months. 
 
 
 
 " I pray so earnestly, though not as earnestly as 
 I could wish, for you, mother. To-day I went down 
 to bathe and prayed by the side of the stream in 
 the glorious evening light, and seemed so near you 
 all. This work seems now his special legacy to me 
 his and Bishop Patteson's and yet at times I feel 
 very cold and dead about it. 
 
 
 
 " My mind is very full of you and plans as I 
 trudge along the narrow paths, and I hate the 
 thought of all the business I shall have to do if I 
 show my face in England. That horrid S.P.G. will 
 send me to preach at least half a dozen sermons, for 
 which I have very little taste ; I must try and write 
 some on board." 
 
 He frequently poured out his thoughts, especially 
 on matters that moved him deeply, in verse ; and, 
 though most of the poems he composed were 
 obviously not meant for publication, yet here and 
 there some lines have been preserved which give a 
 clearer insight into his feelings on some special 
 occasion. A good example of this is found in the 
 verses he wrote on hearing of his father's death.
 
 136 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " Alone I stood upon the shore, 
 Where oft my father stood before, 
 When first he came to plant the Cross, 
 Disdaining all the world calls loss, 
 Contented for the love of God 
 To follow where his Master trod, 
 And seek, where clustering islands hedge 
 The ocean highway's farthest edge, 
 The souls whom Jesus would compel 
 To throng His marriage festival. 
 
 " I felt alone : for, though my boys * 
 Whispered in sympathy, our joys 
 Are deeper far than they can know, 
 And deeper, therefore, is our woe. 
 They scarcely feel the ties of home 
 Which bind us wheresoe'er we roam, 
 Nor that fond link of mutual love, 
 The mystery of God above, 
 Since therein unto us is given 
 To know the Father's love in heaven : 
 
 " But loneliest then, when came the thought 
 Of all the ship's return had brought 
 Of tenderest sympathy, the shower 
 Of love a wife knows best to pour. 
 Ah ! then a double blankness pressed 
 With silent force upon my breast. 
 
 But for one moment : then the light 
 Burst forth across my faithless sight, 
 ' Why should I wish my darling here 
 To share my sorrow ? Surely there 
 She shares his joy. To her is given 
 To welcome him within that heaven 
 
 * Melanesians.
 
 DEATH OF HIS FATHER 137 
 
 Wherein the Lord's redeemed rest, 
 With His eternal presence blest. 
 The daughter did but go before ; 
 The father follows : on that shore 
 Our store increases evermore ! ' 
 
 " I need not mourn the ship's return : 
 Thoughts such as these more truly burn 
 With comfort than the written line, 
 For that is human, these divine. 
 These are the messengers of love 
 Which bind us to our home above, 
 These the communion of God's saints 
 To cheer us when our spirit faints. 
 And bid us think that they and we 
 Are one in Christian unity." 
 
 He quickly determined that it was necessary that 
 he should return to England. There was his 
 mother's future to arrange for, and there was the 
 guardianship of some relatives which now fell on 
 him and required his attention. On board the boat 
 by which he sailed to Australia en route for England 
 he wrote to announce his arrival, in the course of 
 which letter he says : 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "SS. <WOTONGA' (at sea), Sep. 1, 1878. 
 
 " On Sunday evening we discovered a vessel under 
 the land, which turned out to be the Dai/spring, the 
 Presbyterian Mission vessel, which was cruising 
 round. I went on board, and they were very civil,
 
 138 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 and asked me to hold service. This was rather 
 formidable, as I had no idea what a Presbyterian 
 service was like. However, I thought of my father, 
 and used all the Church prayers I could remember, 
 and read a chapter of the Bible, on which I held 
 forth. Then we had a good talk, and they told me 
 a little about my father, and gave me a copy of 
 Punch, with lines to his memory. I then learnt for 
 the first time when he died." 
 
 On arrival in Australia he got letters telling him 
 much detail of which he had hitherto been ignorant, 
 and learnt of the project of " Selwyn College " as a 
 memorial to his father. It should be mentioned that 
 on this voyage home he brought his little son Stephie 
 with him, acting as his nurse, and looking after him 
 in a way that greatly touched his fellow passengers. 
 Here is an extract from a letter written at this time: 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "BATHURST, Sep. 30, 1878. 
 
 " I like the idea of a College as at Keble, but it 
 will take a vast deal of money. However, Bishop 
 Abraham does not seem at all doubtful about it. 
 You will like Stephie, and I hope to have him 
 thoroughly in hand by the time we get home. He 
 fights me stubbornly (like his father) in the most 
 comical way, as if I was one of his girl nurses, and
 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND 139 
 
 wonders that I don't give way. My love to my 
 darlings. I can't believe that next month I may 
 almost say, if God will, I shall see them. Tell them 
 that daddy won't be long after this, and they must 
 have their best kisses ready for him and Stephie." 
 
 At last the travellers, the Bishop and his baby 
 boy, arrived at Lichfield. It was nearly six years 
 since he had seen his mother, and several since he 
 had seen his little girls, who were now six and nearly 
 four years old respectively. It is not therefore sur- 
 prising that they had almost forgotten him, and 
 relate that they felt " dreadfully shy " as they sat 
 up to what seemed a very late hour awaiting his 
 coming. They, with their grandmother, were staying 
 with Bishop Abraham close to the Cathedral at 
 Lichfield, during the time that the house in the 
 Close, in which Mrs. Selwyn now lives, was being 
 prepared. 
 
 Is it not possible to picture the scene ? The 
 silent Close ; the dark December night ; the listening 
 for the sound of wheels ; the stream of light as the 
 door is thrown open ; the sturdy figure of the Bishop 
 bearing in his arms his little Stephie (wrapped in 
 shawls against the cold of an English winter), and 
 hurrying forward with eager eyes that hungered for 
 a sight of his widowed mother and his motherless 
 girls. But his own words are best, written just a 
 year afterwards :
 
 140 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "' SOUTHERN CROSS' (at sea) DEC. 6, 1879. 
 
 " Look at that date, mother, and see if you 
 remember it. I was just arriving at Lichfield, and 
 can see the picture now so vividly the pretty 
 drawing-room looking so warm and bright the two 
 shy chicks sitting up to see daddy, and the dear old 
 mother in the corner with them. ' And that is a 
 whole year ago ! It seems ten and yet only yester- 
 day. Well, it was worth the long journey and the 
 hard racket but it was all too short. And then, 
 dear mother, I renewed my lease of you. We have 
 always been doing that in our lives : in 1861, 1866, 
 and now again in 1878 ; and each time has brought 
 its own help to me." 
 
 A Lichfield lady used at that time to come in as 
 governess to the two little girls, and from her pen 
 there is a further account of the impression made by 
 Bishop John Selwyn. It is contained in a short 
 sketch of him written for his daughters since his 
 death. This lady says : 
 
 " How well I remember my first meeting with him in Bishop 
 Abraham's dining-room ! He came in with you two girls 
 clinging one to each hand and Stephie on his shoulder, and 
 dear grandmamma bringing up the happy little procession. 
 I can recall the strong active figure, and the beautiful dancing
 
 VISIT TO ENGLAND 141 
 
 light in his eyes, as well as the rested happy look in his 
 mother's face, and I love to remember that my first meeting 
 with him included his thanksgiving in the Cathedral for his 
 safe arrival. His first request to me was, * Come with us all 
 to give thanks, 1 and my last meeting with him included that 
 happy Easter Communion with you all in 1897 hi grand- 
 mamma's little room. So my first and last memories of him 
 are of * giving thanks, 1 which surely was the very key-note of 
 the bright, joyous spirit none of us can ever dissociate from 
 memories of him. 11 
 
 He was endowed with a large measure of that 
 great gift from God, a natural love of children. No 
 wonder, then, that his heart went out in special 
 fulness to these little maidens, and that they hi 
 return were devoted to him. Long separation such 
 as fell to their lot could not fail to make some little 
 difference, not in the measure of their love, but in 
 the complete and absolute freedom and familiarity 
 which insensibly grows up between parents and 
 children who are always together. He, when he 
 was with them, was always a little bit afraid of 
 spoiling them, and they on their part were always 
 a little bit in awe of him. Possibly his impetuous 
 nature, and the quickness with which he would be 
 " down upon " anything he did not like, accounted 
 to some extent for this, though the impression thus 
 caused would invariably be removed at once by the 
 return of his sweet smile and the gentle explanation 
 which followed. Of his treatment of his children, a 
 capital picture is drawn by the same lady :
 
 142 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " The one thing that impressed me most deeply in his love 
 for you all was his strong sense of your need of discipline, and 
 the firmness with which he always maintained it in spite of your 
 being so young and his having so short a time with you. 
 I think he feared being either too indulgent or too severe, 
 but to me this side of his love was very impressive. He once 
 said to me quite sadly : ' I fear my children will only re- 
 member me as a big playfellow.' I don't know what I an- 
 swered, I only know that to me his treatment of you was a 
 deep lesson, and that all my life long I shall feel that my belief 
 in ' the Fatherhood of God ' owes much of its strength and 
 clearness to the exhibition of his fatherly love and care for you. 
 
 Two pictures of his dealing with his children's faults 
 
 come before me, both connected with the same child. Once, 
 when first he came, we were all sitting in the drawing-room at 
 Bishop Abraham's. I was in a low easy chair, with my feet a 
 little stretched out. One of you little girls stumbled over 
 them, and your father told you to say, ' I beg your pardon.' 
 These words were exceedingly repugnant to you, and you 
 utterly refused. He could not of course pass it over, but in 
 a room full of people it was not an easy matter to insist. 
 However, insist he did. He picked you up in his arms, and 
 standing in front of me dictated the following speech : * I'm 
 a very heavy little personage, and I came down on your toes 
 like a cartload of bricks, and I humbly beg your pardon.' 
 This you had to repeat bit by bit, and every one laughed except 
 poor you and I ; but when it had been done with many sobs 
 you were kissed and comforted, and it was all said with his 
 arms holding you tightly. The other time was a sterner 
 rebuke. He overheard a piece of childish rudeness and was 
 really angry, but, as soon as you had apologised, in your own 
 words this time, he once more picked you up and let you sob 
 out your grief in his arms." 
 
 His love of, and power with, children, was a
 
 LOVE OF CHILDREN 143 
 
 marked feature of his whole life. References have 
 already been made to the happy way he had of 
 dealing with the boys and girls in Norfolk Island. 
 It will not be out of place to quote just one or two 
 more here. In 1888 there was a severe epidemic 
 of meningitis in the school, and he wrote to his 
 mother as follows : 
 
 "Meanwhile we have to try and keep up the 
 boys ' spirits in every way, and if you had seen my 
 small class this morning you would not have 
 thought they were very bad. I have a long stick 
 with which I whack them in fun, and they all love 
 this stick dearly. If I leave my class in another 
 room one of them is sure to appear with it, and if it 
 is mislaid another makes its appearance next school 
 unfailingly. Then I have a two-pronged stick of 
 portentous length. Some one proposed breaking 
 off a prong, but the girls rushed at the proposer 
 and said, 'No, you mustn't do that : the Bishop likes 
 licking us with two sticks ! ' Isn't it jolly having 
 people like that to deal with ?" 
 
 In 1881 he was staying in the Island of Mota, and 
 he draws an exceedingly pretty picture of the 
 games of the native children and of his own share 
 in them : 
 
 " They have a most excellent form of prisoners' 
 base which big and little can play at together. ... I
 
 144 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 wish you could see one or two of the lithe little 
 forms. There is one child in particular, about 
 Pearlie's age and size, with a little short petticoat, 
 who is the picture of grace and life. It is quite a 
 study to see her with her eyes open wide, and 
 parted lips, and body all poised to spring back, 
 advancing to challenge the other side. I could 
 not resist one evening as the old nursery feeling 
 came over me, and out I rushed to join them. It 
 was such a pleasure to the chicks. Those opposite 
 made a dead set at me at once, while my side, and 
 especially the young girl aforesaid, took pride in 
 nursing me through the intricacies of the game. 
 One little dot set her whole heart on catching the 
 Bishop, and was always after me when I tried to 
 get out. I tried hard to humour her, but could not 
 manage it gracefully. The children are simply 
 marvellous in their good temper. Palmer and I 
 have been examining all the schools. . . . The 
 children, when they pass creditably, get a piece of 
 print for a petticoat, and * it was pretty ' to see 
 them sitting about under the trees sewing them 
 (very badly, I must confess). . . . Fancy the 
 delight, when your only garment is a yard of blue 
 print, in winning another of red stuff, and then 
 making it into a real petticoat, all your own work, 
 with the hem outside, which has to be done again, 
 and then having the whole inspected by the Bishop 
 with much shyness and equal pride. . . . My heart
 
 LOVE OF CHILDREN 145 
 
 does go out to meet these little ones, and I think 
 they feel that it does." 
 
 Again, after revisiting England, on one occasion 
 he wrote to his mother : 
 
 " Well, it is a very great blessing to have been 
 home and have had it all, as it is very humanising 
 and softening. I can see the little children stop 
 and look at me because my eyes look lovingly at 
 them for my chickies' sake, and other children whom 
 I play with make great friends on the strength of 
 my little women at home." 
 
 During the last years of his life, when a con- 
 firmed cripple, children were a special delight and 
 solace. "When in London he would have himself 
 carried into a ward of the Victoria Hospital for 
 Children, and there hold a simple service for them. 
 In Cambridge many little ones still remember his 
 delightful stories. He would gather them round 
 him, no matter how distinguished the rest of the 
 company might be, and begin a yarn half fairy- 
 tale, half fact gathered during his travels of which 
 shipwreck and rescue by the aid of wonderful big 
 white birds not infrequently formed part. These 
 stories were too often interrupted (as much to his 
 own annoyance as to that of the children) by some 
 ecclesiastical female who was " simply dying to 
 have a word with the Bishop." 
 
 E
 
 146 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 During the short six months he was in England 
 in 1878 and 1879, he was continually in request for 
 sermons and meetings, and spent a great deal of the 
 time, which he would have wished to give to his 
 mother and children, in pleading for the Melanesian 
 Mission. This was a considerable trial, and people 
 were not always very considerate in putting forward 
 claims upon his time. " For all that, " says one who 
 saw much of him just then, " I never remember 
 seeing or hearing the slightest trace of impatience 
 or irritation on the subject." Nothing ever seems 
 to have been too great or too small a thing for him 
 to give. 
 
 At last the dreaded moment came when he must 
 leave all the love and happiness he had been enjoy- 
 ing and start back for Melanesia. Just at that 
 period of life when the affections are perhaps the 
 strongest he was only thirty-five he had to 
 leave all whom he loved behind him, for little 
 Stephie was now to remain in England with his 
 sisters. Out there in Norfolk Island there was not 
 one of his own flesh and blood to welcome him 
 only a quiet grave with its cross of flowers. No 
 wonder he wrote to Mr. Bill on the voyage of the 
 bitterness of the parting : 
 
 "SS. ' GARONNE ' (at sea), June 25, 1879- 
 
 " Many thanks for your letter, which reached me 
 just before I started. I don't know how I got over
 
 RETURN TO MELANESIA 147 
 
 the next day, and especially the next night. I felt 
 as if my heart would break in the evening, or my 
 head go. But, thank God, I am all right again 
 now." 
 
 To a man with his sunny disposition and love for 
 his fellow creatures the feeling of desolation could 
 not last long. Amongst other things his delight in 
 sailors came to his rescue. Here are some extracts 
 from letters to his mother written on board the 
 Garonne. 
 
 "June 24,, 1879. 
 
 " The passengers are a very nice pleasant set, and 
 our prayers are really a sight to behold. To-day I 
 should say we had thirty, or even more. Sang the 
 ' Te Deum ' very well. This is most thankworthy. 
 Also the sailors let me go down to them, and we 
 had some forty in the forecastle last Sunday even- 
 ing." 
 
 "OFF CAPE BREDA, July 31, 1879. 
 
 " I was seeing the sick wife of one of our passen- 
 gers (the same poor woman who lost her two children 
 the other day), and while I was there her little boy 
 came in, and with great triumph produced a paper of 
 sugarplums which had been given him and which 
 was ' for mother.' Then, when he had given them 
 her, he climbed up into the berth and put his arm 
 round her, and got hers coiled round him. It was a
 
 148 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 very pretty picture, but I could not help thinking 
 how my boy would never have that most blessed of 
 loves which exist between a mother and her son. 
 You see, mother, I know a great deal of that." 
 
 The Southern Cross seems to have been sent to 
 meet him, and convey him to the Islands en route 
 for Norfolk Island. There is a letter to his mother 
 in which the hunger for a sight of the little ones 
 he had left cannot be suppressed. 
 
 " ' SOUTHERN CROSS ' (at sea) Sep. 26, 1879. 
 
 " I do not know when you thought of moving from 
 Torquay ; still, I should think you would be nearly 
 home by this time, and I look at the little photograph 
 of the ugly house [Mrs. Selwyn's residence hi the 
 Close, Lichfield] in its ugly aspect, and think how 
 lovely I should think it if I could see the little faces 
 looking out of the night-nursery window." 
 
 He was unfortunate enough to be taken seriously 
 ill with ague just at this time, a fact which he 
 ascribed to having lost his acclimatisation during his 
 visit to England : 
 
 To MRS. 1 COUBT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "' SOUTHERN CROSS' (at anchor), Oct. 18, 1879. 
 " I have only just begun to think again of writing,
 
 RETURN TO MELANESIA 149 
 
 as I had to put my letter away again as I was very 
 poorly, and then out came (what I think had been 
 threatening for a long time, as I never felt so 
 wretched and listless) a bad attack of ague. It was 
 a little more than ague, that is, I never was free from 
 it and had a continual heat and partial delirium."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 MELANESIA 
 
 As has been stated in the Preface, it is not intended 
 here to write a history of the Melanesian Mission, 
 or even of those years when Bishop John Selwyn 
 was at its head. That is left for another hand to do. 
 At the same time it is necessary that some idea 
 should be given of the work he did, and the sort of 
 places he visited, and people with whom he had to 
 do. This shall be divided into two parts : the first, 
 consisting of a number of extracts from letters 
 written at various times and from various places, 
 which may serve to give a general impression of his 
 life in Melanesia ; the second, of an account of one 
 or two of the most important actions and missionary 
 feats accomplished by him during his career. 
 
 His reluctance to speak much in his letters about 
 his frequent illnesses, or the gradual undermining of 
 his constitution, has been already mentioned. He 
 was equally reticent concerning the risks he ran on 
 numbers of occasions when landing among strange
 
 MELANESIA 151 
 
 and possibly hostile natives. It is certain that, while 
 making as light as possible of such things, he often 
 wrote farewell letters to those he loved in case any- 
 thing happened to him. These letters were seldom 
 sent, but one will be found, as an example, in the 
 account of his going ashore at Gaieta (Florida) to try 
 to persuade the chief to deliver up the murderers 
 of Lieutenant Bower. One thing is quite certain : 
 he never allowed any one to incur any danger that he 
 was not willing to share, and when possible he would 
 land first alone, and take the whole risk himself. 
 These things will come out clearly in the following 
 extracts, as will also the character and habits of the 
 islanders for whose salvation he was working. 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 " MAEWO, June 26, 1878. 
 
 " I have just come back to such a terrible thing, 
 that it makes one's blood run cold to think of it. I 
 had been for a splendid walk in which all sense of 
 seediness produced by three wet days had passed 
 away, and had come back to find the people had 
 brought me heaps of water, and the old gentleman 
 of the place had come up and drawn me aside to show 
 me three yams he had been digging for me. My 
 boys were boiling the water for tea, my school- 
 children were hanging about waiting for school 
 altogether it was as simple, bright a little scene as
 
 152 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 one wanted to see, when I heard that a woman had 
 died at the next village. They had not told me of 
 her illness, and it was no good going down, so I sat 
 quietly down to tea and entertained an old fellow 
 who had been very civil to me yesterday. All of a 
 sudden one of my boys looked up and said, ' Yes, 
 poor woman ! ' ' Who ? ' said I. ' The mother of 
 the woman who died,' said he quietly ; ' they have 
 stamped on her and thrown her into the grave, and 
 she was not dead' Can you imagine anything more 
 terrible ? All this had been going on not 300 yards 
 from where I was sitting. However, it is not quite 
 so bad as they made out, although bad enough. She 
 had implored them to take her life, as she did not 
 want to survive her daughter, so they bound the 
 living and the dead together, and then trod the 
 mother to death. It is the first time such a thing 
 has been done in this part of the island, though it is 
 common in the southern part. The deed was done 
 by her own sons, and I suppose they thought they 
 did her good service. One can imagine it all. A 
 woman here has very little that makes life worth 
 living at the best of times, and if sorrow is super- 
 added she may well say 'let it end,' even though 
 
 her creed is nothing after death. 
 
 
 
 " I am very well, but nearly eaten by mosquitoes, 
 and the rats are something wonderful They have 
 lived on my biscuits, got a bit of glass out of the
 
 MELANESIA 153 
 
 front of the biscuit-box where it was only slightly 
 broken and lived on that; and now that I have 
 stopped both these sources of food I am mightily 
 afraid lest they should live on me. If you hear of 
 your son as a second Bishop Hatto, please do not 
 think that it is because I oppress the poor. On the 
 contrary, I had the oldest man hereabouts to tea to- 
 night, and fed him with haricot mutton and biscuit, 
 and heard his story of the coming of the first ship, 
 which they thought was a spirit and brought the 
 ghosts of dead black men, which had shadows that 
 you could see through ; and I have bound up four 
 bad legs and one bad neck ; so that though I have 
 stowed away the biscuits in a box I don't deserve the 
 fate of the Ehenish Bishop." 
 
 To MKS. 1 COURT- EEPINGTON 
 
 "MoTA, Oct. 18, 1880. 
 
 " I spent my five weeks while the ship was at 
 Norfolk Island on (to us) new ground at the Torres 
 Islands, very nice, noisy, simple-minded folk. They 
 were afflicted with a terrible sort of ulcer, principally 
 caused by dirt, but partly, I fancy, by deterioration 
 of blood. It was terrible. One day I dressed thirty- 
 seven bad legs ; and there were others so bad that 
 they would not let me touch them, and prepared to 
 die : and, indeed, I could do nothing for them. I 
 think I saved a good many, and the people were very
 
 154 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 good, and cleaned up their houses, washed their 
 bandages, and generally kept themselves cleaner. 
 But I longed for Sister Dora's skill and power, and 
 sometimes for her appliances." 
 
 This reference to Sister Dora comes naturally from 
 the pen of a Staffordshire man, for though not by 
 birth, yet by all associations, he was closely connected 
 with that county. 
 
 From these same Torres Islands he wrote a long 
 letter to his mother, in which he laments that he 
 had not the enthusiasm of his father or of Bishop 
 Patteson, and thanks God for the sense of duty which 
 kept him up to his work. He ends up these thoughts 
 with the following rather pathetic words : 
 
 " I think the real truth is that I dislike being 
 Bishop. I shrank from it at first, and the liking has 
 never come. * But in I am and on I must,' which 
 is what my father would say." 
 
 His estimate of himself was full of humility, but 
 lacking in true appreciation. Had the enthusiasm 
 been absent, no amount of mere sense of duty could 
 have carried him forward to the great achievements 
 of his life. Besides which, there is evidence that 
 when incapacitated for the work he realised only too 
 well his devotion to it. The very nature too of his 
 work was such that, unless he had had the true love 
 and ardour for it, he would have never been able to
 
 MELANESIA 155 
 
 sustain its vicissitudes. He once said in a letter to 
 his mother that he sometimes compared his life with 
 that of an ordinary bishop, whose interests are 
 usually general rather than particular ; whereas 
 there, besides the care of the churches, there was 
 the care, bodily and spiritually, of every individual, 
 and this was never absent from his mind. The 
 following description of a day's work in Florida will 
 illustrate this : 
 
 To MRS. LONG INNES. 
 
 "BoLi, FLORIDA, Nov. 1 6, 1881. 
 
 " Shall I tell you what a day is like here ? To- 
 day, for instance ? Well, I got up at 6.30, and 
 went to my tub, which is behind a screen outside. 
 Thence I yelled to have the bell rung, and then 
 trotted off to school. . . . Here I bothered two 
 girls out of their life by my individual attention to 
 their reading. Then prayers. Then back to break- 
 fast. This is a great event, and really it is very 
 nice save that one gets awfully tired of preserved 
 meat. . . . Before I get to this repast I am seized 
 on by a woman to do her baby's leg, and generally 
 there are two or three other legs and an ear or two. 
 Then I eat, and then I smoke a cigarette, buy any- 
 thing, settle anything that has to be settled before 
 I get to work. But as the Bishop's house is com- 
 fortable and contains sundry good things, people
 
 156 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 who are not going to work think it rather a nice 
 place to sit, so in drop two or three friends. Now, 
 they are all very well when I want to learn Florida, 
 but I don't want them in the morning, so I am in a 
 difficulty as I don't like to kick them out. But I 
 generally go out myself; then, when they have 
 evaporated, I slip back, and down goes a mat before 
 my door and my * oak is sported/ and then to my 
 Greek Testament. To-day the mat was raised and I 
 was summoned to a child in strong convulsions. I 
 wish you had been by, as you would have known 
 what to do. I rushed off with the kettle and 
 mustard, and put the child at once into a hot bath 
 in a bucket. But the fits have been going on all 
 day, and I am afraid it won't live out the night. 
 As the father was a Christian I baptized it. I 
 stayed there a long time and got it a little warmer, 
 but that was all. Then back to my reading, and so 
 till it was so hot and I was so sleepy I could read 
 no more. Then a siesta. Then I woke up and 
 found some boys and went for a good walk. Oh ! 
 so pretty along the beach of firm white sand, with 
 overhanging trees, and orchids and ferns on every 
 trunk, and the white surf breaking on the reef out- 
 side, and then rolling across the lagoon to break in 
 ripplets at your feet. . . . Home, to find that some- 
 body in his zeal had rung the bell on a half- holiday, 
 so the school was all hard at work. Prayers in the 
 open air, as it was nearly dark. Then dinner, and
 
 MELANESIA 157 
 
 then two new candidates for baptism to gladden my 
 heart. What do you think of that for a quiet day 
 in the dreaded Solomons ? " 
 
 This day, as so many others, ended by his writing 
 several sheets of letters, and this addition to his 
 work should always be borne in mind. From the 
 letters to his mother written during this same expe- 
 dition two extracts must be given as illustrating the 
 feelings and thoughts of the natives on the one hand 
 and of himself on the other : 
 
 To his MOTHER 
 
 "Bou, FLORIDA, Sunday, April 2, 1882. 
 
 " What a bore self is ! I am always debating about 
 things. How far one is bound to consider oneself: 
 e.g., one takes one's waterproof sheet and a plaid, 
 and hears one of one's small boys shivering next 
 door. Ought one without any hesitation to give 
 him the sheet ? I am on a matted floor, mind, and 
 should not get damp, but I may get skin disease. 
 One is always having St.-Martin-of-Tours sort of 
 questions, and I am afraid I do not answer them in 
 his way. In fact, I think the tendency of this life 
 is to make one selfish, as one has to be constantly 
 asserting oneself. 
 
 All these people are such beggars. They are to
 
 158 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 one another, and they carry it out fully to strangers. 
 Everybody who comes to you is only thinking what 
 he can get. ' Bishop, this is somebody's brother,' 
 'Bishop, this is the uncle of a boy at Norfolk 
 Island,' &c. If it is not begging it is buying, and 
 if it is not buying it is coming into one's den and 
 making remarks on everything one has got. After 
 a time one can keep people well within bounds, but 
 in newish places one has to live in a constant state 
 of repressing, which is disagreeable. The chiefs are 
 worst of all. I went at the man here the other 
 day. ' Lifa,' said I, ' you went up in my vessel to 
 Norfolk Island the other day, did you not ? and you 
 stayed at Norfolk Island, did you not? and you 
 came back again, and you had presents there : how 
 much food had you to buy on board?' He said, 
 ' None.' Then said I, ' I have been in your country 
 for a fortnight, and you have not sent me a single 
 yam, but have begged everything you could. Is 
 that like a chief? I do not care. I can buy all I 
 want ; but chiefs ought to behave as such.' " 
 
 To his MOTHER 
 
 " BOLI, April 5, 1882. 
 
 "I have been trying to get Good Friday and 
 Easter well observed here, but I am afraid I 
 cannot do much except among the teachers. It is 
 too early yet with these people to get them to mark
 
 MELANESIA 159 
 
 days and seasons, when heretofore they have never 
 known what a season meant at all, and one is afraid 
 to make it too much of a yoke. I find also that it is 
 very difficult to get them to understand abstract 
 history, for such the history of our Lord is to them. 
 But all this will come as their minds grow. This 
 week I am trying to make them know the facts, with 
 but little theory, of the death of Christ. That is 
 after all the real Gospel, as I have been reading to- 
 day in a capital book of R. W. Dale's, a Congrega- 
 tionalist, on the Atonement. I wish you would read 
 it, as I think you would like it. The style is very 
 pleasant, and one wonders as one sees how very near 
 they are to us, or rather one sees how broad is the 
 basis and how little is the difference between different 
 schools as to the real bearing of Christianity. 
 
 * 
 
 " I wonder whether I wrote to ask you to send 
 the pastoral staff? I should like it to use at 
 functions in our chapel at Norfolk Island indeed 
 I ought to have had it for the consecration, but I 
 forgot it." 
 
 The above refers to his father's pastoral staff, 
 which was afterwards used at many of the episcopal 
 ceremonies in Melanesia by Bishop John Selwyn. 
 
 In 1884 he visited Nukapu in order to set up the 
 cross to mark the place where Bishop Patteson was 
 killed. This could not have been a very easy task,
 
 160 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 and required the full exercise of his tact and daring. 
 Here is his brief account : 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "'SOUTHERN CROSS' (at sea), Oct. 26, 1884. 
 
 " We got to Nukapu last Saturday, and the chief 
 came out to us at once, and we went in together. I 
 took the engineer in to help me to put up the cross. 
 I was a little bit afraid that the people might be 
 shy at the last moment, but they all manifested the 
 most eager zeal, and dug holes and cleared the 
 ground with great vigour. We put it just in front 
 of the house where Bishop Patteson was killed, at 
 their earnest request, as they said people could see 
 it from the sea. I am afraid they can't very well, 
 as it does not show out much, but it stands very 
 well when you land." 
 
 At this point it is necessary to make a break in 
 these extracts so as briefly to describe what took 
 place in the following year a year of great import- 
 ance to the Bishop.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 HIS SECOND MARRIAGE RENEWED WORK 
 IN MELANESIA 
 
 IN 1885 he paid another visit to England. It was 
 six years since he had seen his daughters, and six 
 years at their time of life meant a great change. 
 His eldest child had been ill, and on his return he 
 took the whole party down to Llanfairfechan, where 
 he obtained a pony cart for their general use, and 
 laid himself out in every way to ensure one of those 
 happy bits of family life which at long intervals 
 brightened him on his way. 
 
 There was at this time staying with a married 
 sister in London a Miss Annie Mort, whose home 
 was in Sydney, and whom the Bishop had known 
 in very early days, when with his father and mother 
 he had stayed at her father's house. Later on their 
 acquaintance had been renewed at Alrewas, where 
 Miss Mort and her sister used to spend their 
 holidays at the vicarage when he was curate of that 
 parish. On his return to England in 1885 he went 
 
 L
 
 162 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 to see Miss Mort in London, and in a very short 
 time they became engaged, and were happily 
 married on August 11 of that year. It has been 
 said that if he had married again a little sooner his 
 life might have been prolonged, for he became rather 
 reckless about his health, neglecting to take off wet 
 clothes, and being in many ways careless of himself. 
 It was, as may be imagined, a great joy to all who 
 cared for him to know that he had thus taken a 
 fresh lease of happiness of life, and that he would be 
 accompanied to his far-off work by one who would be 
 a helpmeet for him in every way. It was an added 
 gratification when it was found that the second Mrs. 
 John Selwyn was as ready as the first had been to 
 devote herself to the interests of the Mission. 
 
 In the following November Bishop and Mrs. John 
 Selwyn sailed for Melanesia, and very shortly after 
 their arrival he must have started on a voyage to 
 the islands, as may be gathered from the following 
 letters. It will be noticed that reference is made in 
 the first of these to a bad foot a symptom, doubtless, 
 of the trouble to come. 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 " ' SOUTHERN CROSS' (at sea), Easter Day, 1886. 
 
 " My foot is nearly well, but I have to nurse it a 
 bit, which means sitting down more than I care about.
 
 MELANESIA 163 
 
 "There are signs that the old religion is breaking 
 down. C. has had a new house built, and to do this 
 a house belonging to a spirit had to be pulled down. 
 Nobody liked doing this very much, but two of the 
 Christian boys went at it and down it came. 
 
 " ' Poor Poian ' (the owner), said old Taki, ' I am 
 sure he will die.' He thought the outraged spirit 
 would kill him. However, he didn't, nor the boys 
 who pulled the house down. And so the other day 
 they were sent for, as being spirit-proof, to remove 
 another spirit's tree. No religion can long stand 
 this open defiance of it. They believe that any one 
 who offends the spirit will die, and consequently 
 they never have put his power to the proof. But 
 when they find that he can be insulted with im- 
 punity they soon cease to believe in him. 
 
 
 
 " I don't dare to begin counting the weeks. It is 
 like thinking about the end in a boat-race : nothing 
 does you up so soon or makes the end seem so far 
 Well, mother dear, I have this advantage over every- 
 body else in this work, that no one has such a 
 mother or such a wife or such children as I have to 
 give up, so I hope I do not offer what costs me 
 
 nothing. 
 
 
 
 
 
 " May 8. At Boli there was a bad piece ot news. 
 Old Takua, the old chief there, and Dikea, his
 
 164 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 brother, had made a raid on one of our teacher's 
 people (he -was away at Norfolk Island) and driven 
 them away, and then they invaded his house, broke 
 some of the school things, and took away two 
 banners. These, however, they put back. The 
 ostensible reason was that they wanted to punish 
 them for harbouring a young fellow who had 
 offended Dikea, but some of my best teachers told 
 me that Takua had said, ' Let us drive away this 
 new doctrine ; we will do some little damage, and 
 then wait and see what happens. If no man-of-war 
 comes and punishes us, then we will attack them 
 more determinedly.' ' 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 " YSABEL, Sunday Evening, July 11, 1886. 
 
 " I am here on my way back from visiting the 
 great chief of these parts, who has been and is very 
 ill, and to whom I have just administered a strongish 
 tonic of brandy and quinine, which I find to be a 
 most efficacious remedy (pace the teetotalers). My 
 going was one of those little trials which one has to 
 face here nothing very great in themselves, but 
 with a possibility of consequences which have to be 
 taken into consideration and make one feel grave. 
 Some time ago I went to see him and found him 
 ill with influenza, and gave him some pain-killer, 
 which generally proves efficacious. Last night
 
 MELANESIA 165 
 
 when I came back from a long excursion to see a 
 case in the neighbourhood of Tega I heard that he 
 was very ill, and had removed from his own home 
 to an outlying island (this probably to get away 
 from his Tidalo or spirit), and that his people said 
 that my medicine was the cause of his sickness. 
 This was serious ; so after church this morning I 
 came away to visit him. My boys came with me 
 without hesitation, though I fancy they thought 
 there might be danger. I wrote to Annie [his wife] 
 last night, and told her why I went. That is the 
 hard part of what we have to do, not the doing it 
 ourselves. I think if we really see our path of duty 
 clear we can commit our souls to God as unto a 
 faithful Creator, and my path was very clear. I 
 had to think of my teachers here, who would be 
 very likely to have my imaginary sin visited on 
 them. But still it is very hard to face probable 
 sorrow for those you love, and I knew what a 
 terrible thing it would be to her, and to you and the 
 chicks though you all, if you had known, would 
 have told me to go ; so I had much prayer and felt 
 strengthened. When we were half-way on our 
 journey we picked up his brother, who said that who- 
 ever originated the report it did not come from Soga 
 himself, as he declared that the Bishop's medicine 
 had done him good. So we found when we reached 
 our destination. He was touched at my coming so 
 far to visit him, and accepted the tonic in a good
 
 166 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 spirit. It was a mediaeval sight, the administering 
 of it. I mixed it with great gravity, then drank a 
 shell-full myself to show that I meant no harm, 
 then Hugo had a sip, and then the men all round 
 tasted it, and finally the chief had his shell-fulL 
 Then Hugo and I held forth, and so came away 
 after a little prayer to God before Soga that He 
 would bless the medicine. And all this for a man 
 who only a month ago attacked and massacred a 
 whole village. And yet I am sure I am right. A 
 chiefs death is such a serious matter here, and 
 please God if he gets well I may win his heart. 
 You may imagine that my heart is light to-night. 
 There was no danger, but there might have been, 
 and I had to face the ' might.' ' 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 ' SOUTHERN CROSS ' (at sea), 
 
 " NUKAPU, BEARING S.E. BY E., 
 
 "DISTANCE 1 LEAGUE, 
 
 "Sep. 2, 1886,7A.M. 
 
 "There are nice associations in that heading, 
 mother, which I have set down with the precision of 
 Nelson to call your attention to it. It is good for your 
 son to think of you on your seventy-seventh birthday 
 when within sight of the island where one who was 
 like a son to you, and dear to you as one, laid down 
 his life for Christ. I think his death, like the death
 
 MELANESIA 167 
 
 of all those who are departed in the faith of Christ 
 and the love of God, has helped me to realise more 
 vividly than before the Communion of Saints and 
 the life of the world to come. 
 
 "I always feel that the assurance of the con- 
 tinuity of our Christian life, that the life here is the 
 life there, is the greatest possible help to try and 
 make the life here a fitting preparation for that 
 which is to come. 
 
 . 
 
 " Here is the boat coming off' from Nukapu after 
 being ashore for a long time. I did not go in, as I 
 have had a bad cold, and want to keep out of the 
 sun. We have been waiting about outside just as 
 the Southern Cross did in '71, but it is all right this 
 time, and the people are as friendly as possible." 
 
 In the autumn of 1886 Mrs. John Selwyn 
 accompanied her husband on one of his cruises. 
 
 To MRS. 1 COUBT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "'SOUTHERN CROSS' (at sea), Oct. 18, 1886. 
 
 "I am like a snail and carry my home on my 
 back just now, as, to my intense happiness, and I 
 think hers also, Annie is with me. We have made 
 her very comfortable on board, and her only horror 
 is the cockroaches ! "
 
 168 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To his MOTHER 
 
 " ' SOUTHERN CROSS ' (at sea), Nov. 14, 1886. 
 
 " I told Pearlie how we met the man-of-war at 
 Port Patteson, and how we went to dinner in state, 
 Annie much exercised at only having a print frock, 
 but looking very nice therein, and I proudly conscious 
 of the fact that I had a white shirt and a decent 
 coat. I wonder if you and my father were ever in 
 similar straits ! But we had a very happy visit, 
 and then met again three days afterwards at Santa 
 Cruz. The men-of-war people made themselves 
 extremely agreeable to the Santa Cruzians, and the 
 Captain went ashore with me, so altogether it was a 
 very happy visit, and ought to do good, as they have 
 so often had unfriendly men-of-war. 
 
 " Walter Woser's ordination took place at his own 
 church, but, as all the people round came, that was 
 far too small, so we moved the altar outside, and all 
 the people sat round. It was a very pretty and 
 very solemn sight in the early dawn. There were 
 eighty -six communicants, and we were four clergy. 
 
 " After the service we had a bright happy break- 
 fast party in the school, and then Annie and I 
 walked to another church about a mile and a half 
 off, where we had morning prayer, with seventeen 
 candidates for baptism, the first-fruits of a new place.
 
 MELANESIA 169 
 
 Then home to rest for a bit, and finally no, not 
 finally, but last of the services the Confirmation of 
 thirty-seven candidates at Ava. That, again, we had 
 out in the open air, as the church was too small. 
 
 " After dinner a magic lantern with sacred pictures 
 made the end of a tolerably hard day." 
 
 Meantime, of course, the work of the school in 
 Norfolk Island went on, and took up what time the 
 Bishop could spare from the other islands. All his 
 letters concerning this side of his life are full of good 
 cheer and encouragement. He combined many 
 offices in his own person, as, for instance, when he 
 writes that he must close his letter as it was dinner- 
 time, and he had to stand punctually before the 
 door to blow up those who were late ! 
 
 The following extracts taken at intervals from his 
 correspondence give some idea of his work with the 
 native boys and girls at St. Barnabas' Mission 
 Station. 
 
 I. 
 
 " I have just read an entry in one of my boys 
 journals : ' This was a very good Sunday, we received 
 the Holy Communion in the morning.' This is only 
 for himself to see, and I was greatly pleased at it. 
 I think it shows a little that they really do feel the 
 blessings of that holy feast. I wish I could get 
 nearer to them than I do. I think they trust me,
 
 170 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 and will come to me in difficulties, and know that I 
 will do anything for them, but I can't keep up a 
 conversation with them and draw them out as some 
 folks can. I talk to them, but they don't talk to 
 me. Nevertheless I am very fond of them, and 
 should be much out of my element elsewhere." 
 
 n. 
 
 " The school wants pulling up a bit, so I am glad 
 to be here. I can hardly believe that I am to be at 
 home for nearly six months. It is too delightful to 
 think about. And home is so pretty and so nice, 
 and the dear wife fills it all with her presence and 
 her love, and I am very blessed thankful, I trust, 
 for all God's mercies to me. 
 
 "I have just made out rough statistics of our 
 work for the year [1886], which show: Schools, 69 ; 
 scholars, 1967 ; Confirmations, 36 ; Church Conse- 
 cration, 1 ; Ordination, 1 ; teachers, 161 ; baptisms 
 (adult), 561." 
 
 m. 
 To his ELDEST DAUGHTER. 
 
 " I generally take the girls to teach [preparation 
 for baptism] if I can get them, and when I have 
 them I think of you, and feel as if they were my 
 daughters through you . . . and as if I loved them 
 because I love you so dearly. They are so shy when
 
 MELANESIA 171 
 
 they come in to see me, and I have to bend my head 
 down to catch what they say, but they are very 
 much in earnest." 
 
 IV. 
 
 "I have a class of catechumens every day. I 
 always begin in the same way : ' Do you really wish 
 for baptism ? ' c Yes.' ' Why ? ' There is the crux, 
 and oftentimes I have to wait a quarter of an hour 
 before I get the answer. But it is generally the 
 
 right one, and not a stock answer. Little , of 
 
 Santa Cruz, made me the best, I think very shy 
 but very decided * To do away with sin.' One girl 
 said ' Mabo,' which is the Florida for ' peace and 
 reconciliation.' " 
 
 v. 
 
 " Last night three of the boys came for separate 
 interviews till nearly ten. This is very hard work 
 as they will not speak, so one has to pump up 
 thoughts, and I was so sleepy I could barely think. 
 But the prayer at the end with my arm round the 
 neck of each is very helpful, and I think must assure 
 them that there is an earthly care and love around 
 them as well as the care and love of God." 
 
 One specially charming incident must not be 
 omitted. The Bishop was continually trying to 
 teach the Christian grace of unselfish care for others.
 
 172 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To emphasise this he determined on the bold experi- 
 ment of interesting the boys at the school in those 
 who needed help in far-off lands, just as children in 
 our churches are taught to care for foreign missions. 
 The particular work about which he told them was 
 that carried on by the late Bishop Walsham How 
 in East London. The venture succeeded beyond his 
 furthest hopes, as is witnessed by the following 
 letter : 
 
 "NORFOLK ISLAND, 
 
 "Feast of the Epiphany, 1886. 
 
 " MY DEAR BISHOP or BEDFORD, 
 
 " Before I go to bed to-night I should like to 
 write you a line about a matter which has helped 
 me very much, and will, I hope, help you. 
 
 " I preached to our boys on Advent Sunday about 
 preparing the way of the Lord, with all its obvious 
 thoughts. . . . Lastly I told them that we must 
 all try not only to do something but to give some- 
 thing for that end. ... I did not think my words 
 had gone very deep, but a few days afterwards a 
 deputation came in very gravely, and one of our 
 deacons produced a pocket-handkerchief full of 
 silver which the boys had collected among them- 
 selves. Poor fellows ! they are not very wealthy, as 
 you may imagine, all they get being for the little 
 things they do for us as gardeners, &c., and their 
 friends at home are such terrible sharks and expect
 
 MELANESIA 173 
 
 them to bring back stores for the common weal, so 
 that this represented considerable self-denial on their 
 part. This sum was offered on Christmas Day. . . . 
 Then I asked them what they would do with it. 
 First, they unanimously wished to help white rather 
 than black people, and when I told them of your 
 swarming East End population, their utter poverty, 
 and (what would strike them) the absence of trees 
 and gardens and open air life, they determined to 
 send it you to do what you liked with. It is not 
 much, but I believe it really comes from the boys' 
 hearts. If you have got anything like an orphan- 
 age at which they could have a boy, or anything 
 about which somebody could write them a line now 
 and then, I think it would help them. It may help 
 some London boy to think that these far-away 
 Islanders are thinking of him. . . . 
 " Believe me always 
 
 "Your affectionate brother in Christ, 
 
 " J. R. SELWYN, Bp." 
 
 A case was soon found for the use of this most 
 touching gift, and a little motherless lad whose father 
 had deserted him was enabled by the generosity of 
 his black brothers to be taken into a home and cared 
 for on his discharge from an East End hospital. A 
 letter descriptive of the lad and of the help they had 
 given him was despatched to the boys on Norfolk 
 Island.
 
 174 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 These detached instances of Bishop John Selwyn's 
 work both on his voyages in the Southern Cross and 
 in Norfolk Island may serve to give some faint notion 
 of his life during his missionary career, while it is 
 hoped that they do not in any way trespass on the 
 ground which is to be occupied by the History of the 
 Melanesian Mission. 
 
 It may be possible to summarise the causes of his 
 success in missionary work. There was, first, the 
 complete and generous self-surrender without which 
 the rest would have availed little. This comes out 
 in every detail of his life from the day when he 
 offered himself to Melanesia under the influence of 
 the death of Bishop Patteson. Then there was his 
 power of inspiring the natives with an absolute trust 
 in him. To this he paid great attention, taking 
 infinite care to carry out his smallest promise. Thus, 
 if he had, when leaving a place, said that he would 
 call there on his way back, nothing prevented his 
 doing so. The winds might be adverse, and many 
 days' delay might be incurred : there might be no 
 special reason for going except that he had said he 
 would do so ; but he considered it well worth while 
 in order that the natives might know that what he 
 said, that he did. Another element in his success 
 was his carefulness about details. This must have 
 been particularly difficult to him, for he was naturally 
 careless in his dress and untidy in his habits, but in 
 his life in the islands and on board the Southern Cross
 
 MELANESIA 175 
 
 he was strictness itself as to neatness and order- 
 liness. When Mrs. J. R. Selwyn accompanied him on 
 a voyage in the schooner she was one day unable to 
 find him anywhere on board, and at last discovered 
 him in a far corner of the hold teaching some boys 
 how to scrub the floor, because he had noticed that 
 it had been badly done. It was the same on Norfolk 
 Island. When he came back everything tightened 
 up, because he used to go about perpetually, seeing 
 that the whole place was kept clean and tidy. 
 Lastly, there was the power of a Christian life lived 
 openly in close contact with them all, which could 
 not fail to influence the native mind. 
 
 That he was a muscular Christian added, no doubt, 
 to this effect, for the Melanesians greatly admired 
 his physical strength and skill as they saw it 
 exercised in navigating or hauling up a boat, or in 
 any of the numerous ways in which he was able to 
 show them that he was a strong man. His courage, 
 too, was often in evidence, and deeply impressed 
 them with the admiration felt by every human being 
 for a really brave man. But his essentially Christian 
 character bore its fruit, too, though sometimes it 
 may have been long in ripening. Here is a beautiful 
 story to illustrate this. There was a boy at Norfolk 
 Island who had been brought from one of the rougher 
 and wilder islands, and was consequently rebellious 
 and difficult to manage. One day Mr. Selwyn (it 
 was before his consecration) spoke to him about
 
 176 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 something he had refused to do, and the lad, flying 
 into a passion, struck him in the face. This was an 
 unheard-of thing for a Melanesian to do. Mr. 
 Selwyn, not trusting himself to speak, turned on 
 his heel and walked away. The boy was punished 
 for the offence, and, being still unsatisfactory, was 
 sent back to his own island without being baptized, 
 and there relapsed into heathen ways. 
 
 Many years afterwards Mr. Bice, the missionary 
 who worked on that island, was sent for to a sick 
 person who wanted him. He found this very man 
 in a dying state and begging to be baptized. He 
 told Mr. Bice how often he thought of the teaching 
 on Norfolk Island, and, when the latter asked him 
 by what name he should baptize him, he said, " Call 
 me John Selwyn, because he taught me what Christ 
 was like that day when I struck him, and I saw the 
 colour mount in his face, but he never said a word 
 except of love afterwards." Mr. Bice then baptized 
 him, and he died soon after.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 
 
 IT remains to give one or two of the chief missionary 
 adventures brought to a successful issue by Bishop 
 John Selwyn. 
 
 The first of these occurred very early in his 
 episcopate, when in 1878 he succeeded in obtaining 
 a footing on some of the small islands in the Santa 
 Cruz Archipelago. He was accompanied on this 
 occasion by Mr. Still and Mr. Penny, each of whom 
 has written a graphic account of his experiences. 
 Mr. Still says : 
 
 " After Bishop Patteson had been killed at Nukapu, and 
 the place afterwards shelled by a man-of-war, all intercourse 
 with this group was at an end. The natives were fiercely 
 hostile to the white man, and it would have been useless 
 to attempt a landing anywhere. The only thing to be 
 done was to wait patiently until in some way an opportunity 
 was afforded of visiting them in a friendly way. And the 
 opportunity came about in this way. In 1877 Bishop John 
 Selwyn, on visiting Malanta, found that two men from the 
 Santa Cruz group had been cast away there, and were being 
 
 H
 
 178 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 held as prisoners. With much difficulty he managed to buy 
 one of them, and returned him to his home in the Santa Cruz 
 group. This gave just the opening so long waited for, and 
 the following year the Bishop determined to visit these islands 
 and try to get on a friendly footing with the natives. On 
 May 5, 1878, the Southern Cross was running slowly through 
 the group with a nice breeze, hoping that as she went along 
 some of the natives would come off in their canoes. The first 
 canoe, with two men, come out from Panavi ; they were very 
 shy, and could hardly be induced to come near the ship, but 
 after a good deal of coaxing the Bishop managed to get them 
 near enough to hand them a few pieces of hoop iron, and off 
 they went. We then stood nearer in, and several canoes, 
 encouraged by the success of the first, came off to see us. 
 One came alongside, when, owing to the roll of the ship and 
 a nasty job on the sea, it very nearly filled, so that two out 
 of the three men in it jumped on to the ship's ladder, and left 
 the third man to bale out. I induced the younger of the two 
 to venture as far as to look down through the skylight, but 
 he would go no further. 
 
 " The Bishop made them a present, which encouraged two 
 more men from another canoe to stand on the ladder and 
 receive presents ; but not one would come any further. 
 
 "After this, we ran along the coast of Lomlom to 
 Nufiloli, where two canoes came out, and hailed us in a 
 friendly manner. As we stood nearer in to the land, we were 
 met by quite a fleet of canoes twenty-three in all some 
 with three and some with two men in them. Kesi, the 
 Nufiloli chief a fine, dignified man came on board and 
 seemed to understand that we were come as friends, as he 
 knew Tuponu, the man whom the Bishop had bought at 
 Malanta. After the Bishop had made him a present of an 
 axe, the chief and his friends left us, and we stood out to sea 
 for the night. 
 
 "Thi next morning, after a beat with a stiff breeze
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 179 
 
 against a strong westerly set, we fetched in to leeward 
 of the small island of Nimanu, where canoes came off in 
 greater numbers than the day before, and a smart trade was 
 carried on in native ornaments and mats. They were very 
 eager traders, hoop iron being in great demand. There was 
 a nasty sea on, and several canoes were swamped alongside ; 
 however, the men seemed to care very little about that ; they 
 swam about, first picking up their floating things, and then, 
 taking hold of one end of the canoe, worked it quickly back- 
 wards and forwards until most of the water was out of it, and 
 then got in and baled out the rest. 
 
 " After a short stay we ran down to Nufiloli, and hove to 
 off the reef. There was a nasty sea on, but several canoes 
 came off to us at once, and Kesi, the chief, brought the 
 Bishop a present of a pig, which was quite acceptable. 
 
 "As all seemed so friendly the Bishop made up his 
 mind to land and pay a visit to the village, and I was told 
 to get the boat ready. I picked out four of the most 
 trustworthy of our boys for a crew, and lowered the boat, 
 into which the Bishop, with Kesi and another man, got, and 
 we rowed them to the reef. The Bishop and his two friends 
 landed on the reef, which was alive with hundreds of natives 
 all very excited, and then started off to walk across the 
 lagoon to the island some three-quarters of a mile away. We 
 pulled our boat off about thirty yards from the reef and lay 
 on our oars waiting. We were soon surrounded by canoes 
 whose occupants were eager to trade, and wanted all we had 
 in the boat rowlocks, rudder-lines, or anything they could lay 
 hands on. With considerable difficulty we persuaded them to 
 leave us for the ship, where they might trade to their hearts 1 
 content. 
 
 "For two long hours we waited, anxiously straining our 
 eyes in the direction of the island to see something of our 
 Bishop, and hoping that all was going well. One could not 
 help thinking of Bishop Patteson as we sat there in the same
 
 180 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 boat that had taken him in on his last journey, waiting for our 
 Bishop, just as Joseph Atkin and his native crew had waited 
 for theirs, whom they were not to see alive again. However, 
 we fared well, for the natives this time seemed quite friendly 
 and good-humoured, and by-and-by we spied the Bishop re- 
 turning across the lagoon in a canoe, as the tide had now risen 
 considerably. One could see the anxiety clear away at once 
 from the faces of the boat's crew as they rowed in with a will 
 to bring the Bishop off. He had had a most satisfactory visit, 
 and had been well treated by all. An immense crowd had 
 now collected on the reef from Nufiloli, Lomlom, and Pileni, 
 all men ; no women or children were to be seen. We hoisted 
 our boat sail, and went off to the ship with light and thankful 
 hearts, dragging after us a tail of six canoes. The Bishop now 
 determined to land at Pileni close by, as so many of the 
 natives of that island had come over, and seemed quite friendly 
 and anxious for a visit. It was Penny^ turn this time to 
 take the Bishop ashore, and a very lively time they had of it." 
 
 Mr. Penny now takes up the story : he says : 
 
 " It was towards evening, and, as we coasted along a huge 
 fringing reef, looking for an opening, canoes from the shore 
 followed us ; but their occupants, though keenly anxious to 
 trade, were uncertain of our intentions and afraid to trust 
 themselves on board the ship. Presently we rounded a point 
 and sighted a tiny islet, that corresponded to a minute arc of 
 the reeFs circumference, and we made out an indentation in 
 the white line of foam where a flotilla of canoes lay sheltering 
 from the swell and break of the rollers, and on the coral rocks 
 a crowd of figures were grouped. The little island, we knew, 
 was called Pileni just such another as Nukapu hard by and 
 the spot we had sighted, the captain thought, was fit to land 
 at from a boat. 
 
 " As we rowed away from the ship the canoes came out
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 181 
 
 to meet us, and turning accompanied us to the shore. As 
 we neared the landing-place they crowded round the boat 
 so that our crew could with difficulty get their oars into the 
 water, some of the natives scrambling on board and talking at 
 the top of their voices. The din they set up was simply 
 deafening, and we couldn't make out a word of their language 
 and had to trust to signs. One man, I remember, as he bawled 
 at the Bishop, kept drawing a finger from ear to ear across 
 his throat. He wanted a necklace, we subsequently discovered, 
 though the action was suggestive of another desire. My 
 Solomon Islanders, who formed our boat's crew, I could hear 
 from their remarks, didn't like the situation, and the Bishop 
 agreed with me afterwards that at the time we had shared 
 their opinion. The natives, we found, meant only friendship, 
 and they were simply wild with excitement at seeing us, but 
 they were just children of nature, liable to be swayed by any 
 passing wave of feeling, and we couldn't in the least tell what 
 they were going to do next. 
 
 " The Bishop determined to land, so leaving me to look 
 after the boat and entertain those of our new friends who 
 preferred to keep me company, he accepted a back from 
 a stalwart native and was carried through the surf to the 
 shore. I fancy I see the scene as I write the sandy beach 
 and the dense foliage beyond it glowing with the golden 
 light of the evening sun the crowd of natives splashing 
 through the shallow water of the lagoon, and the Bishop's 
 white helmet and grey flannel shirt, as his head and shoulders 
 appeared above the throng that bore him towards some houses 
 among the trees. I confess that when I saw the Bishop come 
 out of those houses I felt profoundly thankful. The uneasi- 
 ness we both felt on this occasion was rather strange we 
 never could quite explain it ; for we were more than once 
 together in a really tight situation without such anxiety. 
 Perhaps the sight of Nukapu in the offing affected us, and the 
 reflection that the two sets of circumstances up to a certain
 
 182 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 point were curiously alike, Patteson landing just as I have 
 described Selwyn's landing, entering a house and being clubbed 
 there, while a shower of arrows from the men on the reef 
 struck down Joe Atkin as he minded the boat. 
 
 " The Bishop's landing set the natives very much at their 
 ease, they were less rough and noisy, and our only difficulty was 
 to get them out of the boat, for night was coming on and we 
 could not take a party on board and return them to Pileni before 
 dark. So we made signs to them to follow us in their canoes, 
 which some did. And these enterprising ones profited largely 
 by their confidence in us, for they sold their possessions and 
 went home j ubilant and loaded with good things. So ended our 
 first visit to Pileni. The Mission has a good school there now."" 
 
 Mr. Still, continuing the narrative, says : 
 
 " There was a feeling of much thankfulness on board that 
 night that this first visit had passed off so successfully, and 
 that the door had apparently been once more opened. The 
 next morning we were close down upon Nukapu where Bishop 
 Patteson was killed, and the question was whether it would be 
 wise for the Bishop to attempt a landing, or be satisfied with 
 a visit from the natives if they would come off in their canoes. 
 
 " We sailed round to leeward of the reef and hove to. With 
 a glass we could see a number of people on the beach, who 
 were waving to us and holding up green branches. Presently 
 canoes began to put out into the lagoon and paddle towards 
 us. We counted ten afloat ; some of the more venturesome 
 came through the break in the reef and paddled towards us. 
 We beckoned them on, and the leading canoe with a pig on 
 board, which they carefully made to squeak loudly while a good 
 way off to show that they were friendly and only bringing 
 food, came close up alongside the ship. We bought their mats 
 and bags, whicn emboldened one of the men to come up the 
 ladder and sit on the rail. Then feeling that we were really
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 183 
 
 friendly he solemnly rubbed noses first with the Bishop, and 
 then with me, and presented us each with an arrow. He 
 seemed very nervous, and was evidently much relieved when 
 once more safe in his canoe. By this time the rest of the 
 canoes had come alongside, and a brisk bartering was going 
 on. The chief Moto was off, and asked us to come ashore, 
 which the Bishop said he would do if two of their men stayed 
 on board the ship. They were all the time constantly affirm- 
 ing that the land was a good one. * Fenua lavui ' was re- 
 peated over and over again as though they were conscious 
 that they had a bad name with us. It was now that the 
 question of going ashore had to be decided. The Bishop was 
 anxious to go. Penny and I tried to persuade him not to. 
 We strongly recommended him to be satisfied with so friendly 
 a beginning for the present, and on a future visit to go ashore 
 if he then thought right. He left the deck and went below 
 into the cabin, and presently I looked down through the sky- 
 light, and there saw the Bishop on his knees, with that strong 
 earnest look upon his face which we all knew so well, asking 
 God to direct him in this matter. Whilst he was thus praying 
 the canoes all cleared off and went back to the island, so that 
 when he came on deck again the disappearance of the canoes 
 settled the question. The natives of this island were at that 
 time evidently most nervous and suspicious, and there can be 
 no doubt that it would have been unwise, and running an un- 
 necessary risk, to have tested them too severely on that first 
 occasion." 
 
 The promptness and foresight shown by the Bishop 
 in purchasing the freedom of Tuponu and using this 
 man as an introduction to hitherto hostile islanders 
 cannot be too highly commended. It showed that he 
 was able to combine diplomacy with boldness and 
 self-sacrifice. The incident of the Bishop praying in
 
 184 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 his cabin is just characteristic of his whole life. It 
 will be remembered that even as a child his " prayer- 
 fulness " was noted ; no wonder that on expeditions 
 such as the above, when few were with him and 
 many against, he is found often upon his knees. 
 
 Two years later he was able to carry out a still 
 greater enterprise. It was through this intercourse 
 with the Reef Islands in the Santa Cruz Archipelago 
 that he succeeded in 1880 in getting a footing on the 
 dreaded Santa Cruz itself. 
 
 The Bishop's own journal shall give the account of 
 this event, the most important, perhaps, in the whole 
 of his career. 
 
 " We left Norfolk Island in the Southern Cross 
 on June 29, and on July 5 stopped at Neugone to 
 pick up the Rev. Mano Wadrokal and his wife, who 
 had been for a short holiday at their own home there. 
 . . . On July 20 we were off the Reef Islands, and 
 were soon boarded by our friends from Nufiloli and 
 Pileni. I went in with our visitor, Mr. Coote, to 
 Nufiloli, and showed him what sort of a place a man 
 can live in if he chooses. . . . Previously to this we 
 had a long consultation about going to Santa Cruz 
 with the vessel. Would they take us over and intro- 
 duce us ? They all jumped at the idea, and thought 
 it was a most delightful thing to be carried over in 
 safety in our big ship. ... In the evening I had to 
 break to them that I wanted to go to Santa Cruz,
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 185 
 
 that Wadrokal might be stationed there. This was, 
 as I expected, a great blow to them, and they said at 
 first it could not be. [This was because they did not 
 want to lose the services of Wadrokal, who had been 
 stationed on their islands.] When I promised that 
 the vessel when it came to Santa Cruz should always 
 come and see them, adding (somewhat craftily) that 
 they could always ensure this by letting us have 
 some boys from their islands, they assented cordially 
 and worked most heartily with us. 
 
 " We found that the place they were going to take 
 us to was Leluovu, about the middle of the northern 
 face of the island. It was well adapted for our 
 purpose, as it is separated by about five miles from 
 the bay where Commodore Goodenough was killed, 
 and about the same distance from Graciosa Bay, 
 where the attack was made on Bishop Patteson in 
 1864. 
 
 " We kept a good way off till we could stand in at 
 right angles to the shore, avoiding thereby running 
 along the coast and being followed by a fleet of canoes 
 from every village that we passed. . . . About two 
 miles off from the shore a whole fleet of canoes came 
 out to us, but at first were very shy and would not 
 come near, but directly they saw our Reef Islanders 
 and heard their story the whole scene changed. 
 With one accord they made a rush at us, and climbed 
 up the side unarmed in the most perfect confidence. 
 . . . Then they became clamorous for us to go
 
 186 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 ashore. Wadrokal and I went in as pioneers. . . . 
 Of course I was a little nervous as to what might 
 happen, as there had been so many mishaps on shore 
 on this island, but everything, thank God, went 
 perfectly smooth, and the chiefs showed the most 
 entire confidence in us. 
 
 " When we got ashore we had to go through the 
 usual ceremony of sitting in the club-house and 
 having presents, and we then talked about Wadro- 
 kal's staying. They were all delighted ; and Meti, 
 the second chief, promised him a new house at once, 
 and forthwith carried him off to see it. Mesa, the 
 head chief, meanwhile carried me off to his own 
 abode, a little collection of huts surrounded by a 
 stone wall, where I was introduced to his wives and 
 fed by them. Then we went on board again to pack 
 up Wadrokal and his wife, and at 3 took them in, 
 Mr. Coote and Mr. Comins accompanying us. ... 
 Then we bade good-bye to Wadrokal and his wife 
 with a very fervent prayer for their safety and use- 
 fulness. I was very proud of them as I left them 
 standing alone on the beach in the midst of so many 
 strangers. . . . And so we went on board, accom- 
 panied to the last by Mesa, the chief, who came off 
 in my boat totally unarmed. It was a day to be 
 thankful for, as we have tried so long to get a footing 
 there. Bishop Patteson went to Nukapu that he 
 might use it as a stepping-stone, and was killed 
 there. Commodore Goodenough also fell in trying
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 187 
 
 to open up the way, and now the way has been 
 opened to us, by the bringing back the cast-away 
 islanders to their home, and they in turn have intro- 
 duced us to their friends. May God give us grace 
 to use this opening to His honour and glory." 
 
 Two extracts from letters are given here ; the first 
 giving Bishop Selwyn's own opinion on the exploit, 
 the second, that of his mother and of Dr. Cod- 
 rington : 
 
 To MES. A COURT-KEPINGTON. 
 
 "' SOUTHERN CROSS' (at sea), Aug. 25, 1880. 
 
 " We have got a footing on Santa Cruz at last. 
 This is most thankworthy, and I am greatly pleased 
 at it. Perhaps there is a little spice of vanity in 
 my pleasure, as my friends all accuse me of being 
 hot-headed and impetuous, and I did work this 
 business with such extreme caution that I hope they 
 will now acquit me. But really things have worked 
 wonderfully well for us, under God's direction, I 
 trust." 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-REPDJGTON from MRS. SELWYN. 
 
 "THE CLOSE, LICHFIELD, Dec. 22, 1880. 
 
 " You heard of the landing at Santa Cruz. It was a great 
 venture of faith. Mr. Codrington says : ' For the Bishop's 
 courageous and discreet management of this great missionary
 
 188 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 feat we cannot be too thankful. The present success is, I 
 think, the greatest in that way that remained to be accom- 
 plished, for there is no other place that ever was anything 
 like so difficult of access. Deo laus sit. 1 To which I say, 
 'Amen,' rejoicing that his dear father's son walks in his 
 steps."" 
 
 In the following year Bishop John Selwyn under- 
 took, and brought to a successful conclusion, another 
 difficult, dangerous, and delicate business. This was 
 nothing less tban landing at Florida to induce the 
 chiefs of the tribes implicated to give up the mur- 
 derers of Lieutenant Bower and his boat's crew. 
 He was probably the only man who could have done 
 this, and his action no doubt saved the whole of the 
 Florida Islanders from war. On his way he paid 
 another visit to Santa Cruz, accompanied this time 
 by Mr. Alan Lister Kaye, who with Mrs. Lister 
 Kaye had been doing good work in the Mission for 
 several years. 
 
 To REV. F. E. WATEES. 
 
 " ' SOUTHERN CROSS ' (at sea), OFF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, 
 
 "May 9, 1881. 
 
 " Please observe the date, and remember that it 
 was at this time that you and I were in full swing 
 at St. George's ten years ago. How time flies, 
 doesn't it ? I have good reason to remember this 
 very day, as it was the day when you may remember
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 189 
 
 Miss Innes came over from Alrewas, with Mrs. 
 "Walsh, and consented to be my wife. Dear old 
 place, with all its ups and downs one remembers it 
 as a very bright spot in one's life, and I hope you will 
 always think that I remember you especially in it. 
 
 " We are just going up into Still's old district, and 
 then I go on to Florida, where things are not in a 
 pleasant state. You will have heard of the massacre 
 of the boat's crew of a man-of-war, and, perhaps, 
 have heard that that took place at a district where 
 we have got more hold than in any other part of 
 Florida. I hope our people who live inland had 
 nothing to do with it, but the people on the coast 
 undoubtedly had, and a man-of-war has been down 
 there since, so matters are complicated. However, 
 I do not think that there is any danger for us, as the 
 place is so divided up into districts, under separate 
 chiefs, that we can live in one without being exposed 
 to any danger from any other. 
 
 " We have just been to Santa Cruz, and Kaye and 
 I slept ashore there. We found everything going 
 on very smoothly. . *. . You would have been 
 amused to see a school of thirty-six drawn up in 
 excellent line to receive us, and hardly boasting any 
 clothing. This, however, is more from custom and 
 rule than anything else, as a boy does not put on 
 his clothes till he attains a certain age and kills 
 a pig."
 
 190 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To C. BILL, ESQ. 
 
 "BUOOTU, YSABEL ISLAND, SOLOMON ISLANDS, 
 
 " July 27, 1881. 
 
 " When we got near this part of the world, going 
 by a small island where there is a good anchorage, 
 we were brought up by a gun from a vessel we 
 could just see lying there, which turned out to be 
 the Cormorant sent down to punish the murderers 
 of Lieutenant Bower [of the Sandfly]. I knew the 
 Captain [Bruce], and so we consulted together, as 
 the island, and especially the district where Bower 
 was murdered, is one of our principal stations. I 
 offered to see the chiefs and get them to surrender 
 the principal men concerned if they would. He 
 came on after me, and we met at Florida. There 
 I went to see the chief concerned, who, I was glad 
 to find, was not actually implicated, though he went 
 very near the wind. The actual murderers were 
 only five ! They saw the boat land without any ship 
 being near, and started incontinently to attack it. 
 Fancy an armed boat's crew being done to death by 
 five fellows armed with tomahawks, three of them 
 boys. But they had left all their arms in the boat, 
 and were attacked when bathing and the Captain 
 at a distance. We had no end of negotiations, and I 
 put great pressure on the chiefs all round, as Bruce 
 said that he should hold the whole group respon-
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 191 
 
 sible if the men were not surrendered. So first of 
 all the leading man was sent in, and was shot on 
 the island where he committed the murder. Then I 
 went over to Kalikona again and got him to sur- 
 render his son, nearly all the things that were in 
 the boat, and poor Bower's skull. . . . Ajfter this 
 Bruce went away for a bit, and when he came back 
 they brought another man, the actual murderer of 
 Bower, who was hung .... It was, as you may 
 imagine, rather horrid work having to go in for all 
 this murderer hunting, but I am quite sure I was 
 right in doing it, as it saved the whole people from 
 war, and also gave them and all the islands round a 
 very salutary lesson." 
 
 It was on this occasion that he wrote one of the 
 farewell letters to which reference has been made. 
 There was, of course, a most unsettled feeling among 
 the islanders, and it was extremely doubtful, in 
 view of their excitement and dread of punishment, 
 how they would receive him. Here is the letter he 
 wrote at the supreme moment, just before going 
 ashore : 
 
 To his MOTHER. 
 
 "OFF GAIETA, FLORIDA, May 16, 1881. 
 
 " DEAREST MOTHER, 
 
 " I write you a little line to tell you of my 
 fondest love and gratitude to you. I am going ashore
 
 192 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 at Gaieta to see Kalikona, the man who is partly 
 responsible for the murder of the man-of-war's 
 boat's crew. I have been trying to save the Florida 
 people from being made jointly responsible for it, 
 and now I am going to try and induce Kalikona 
 to give up the actual murderers. I do not think 
 there is the slightest danger, but still there might 
 be, and so I write this line. 
 
 " You will like to know if anything happens to me 
 that I was trying to do my duty, and that I believe 
 with all my heart in the love of God our Saviour, 
 though I am sadly conscious how often and how 
 grievously I have sinned against that love. 
 
 " Kiss my darlings from me, and let them know 
 how fondly I loved them ; and tell them that the 
 love of God alone can make life bright and death 
 easy. You know what my love to you is : it grows 
 greater every year. 
 
 " Your most loving, grateful, and dutiful son, 
 
 J. R. SELWYN, 
 
 " Missionary Bishop." 
 
 Then when all was well over, he adds a postscript : 
 " May 20. You may like this, so I send it. " 
 
 In a subsequent letter to his mother (undated) he 
 adds the following particulars : 
 
 " I sent a message to Kalikona, the implicated
 
 MISSIONARY ADVENTURES 193 
 
 chief, to say that I would meet him alone if he would 
 come and see me. Accordingly I went in to Gaieta, 
 and we met on the beach. It was like an old 
 mediaeval meeting, as he had his armed following, 
 and Sepi's Christian friends were also armed and 
 stood on my side, while Kalikona and I met on the 
 open beach midway between the two. I gave him 
 the Captain's message that he must surrender the 
 men, and after a long confab he agreed to it. ... 
 And now good-bye, dearest mother. What can I 
 tell you of these thirty-seven years that are gone ? 
 [This makes it probable that the letter was written 
 on his birthday, May 20, 1881.] Only that that is 
 the number by which my love for you is multiplied. 
 My manhood does not cling to you a whit less than 
 my infancy did, and I lean on you just as lovingly 
 now with all the force of reason and love as I did 
 by instinct when I first lay in your arms as a little 
 child." 
 
 This last extract summarises the character of 
 the man. It was the marvellous combination of 
 courage and manliness with a tenderness and love 
 more commonly ascribed to the nature of woman, 
 which supplied the power and attraction of his 
 personality. 
 
 While engaged on this exploit at Gaieta he saw 
 much of Captain (now Admiral) Bruce, who speaks 
 of his conduct of the business with the greatest 
 
 N
 
 194 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 admiration. He also relates how when on board 
 the man-of-war the Bishop preached magnificently 
 to the sailors. He would stand at the wheel and 
 speak to the men, and then would sometimes turn 
 round and with flashing eye address the officers 
 behind him. 
 
 Nothing has been said as to the general appear- 
 ance of Bishop John Selwyn on his missionary tours. 
 Possibly his dress might shock some of the clergy 
 who phi their faith on a rigidly ecclesiastical attire ! 
 Certain it is that he would wade ashore and preach 
 in a sun-helmet, with his feet bare, and on one 
 occasion was barefooted even on the platform in a 
 church where he and Dr. Codrington were taking 
 service. But the warm heart and the flashing eye 
 were there, and the man was the man " for a' that."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA 
 
 DURING the last few years of his work in Melanesia 
 more than one endeavour was made to tempt him 
 to other sees. In 1886 he wrote to his mother : 
 
 "I am glad the Bishopric of Melbourne is filled 
 up. My friends have been persistently saying that 
 it was offered to me. I fancy myself following 
 Bishop Moorhouse ! No : I can do the work here 
 after a fashion, et l fy suis et fy reste,' as MacMahon 
 said." 
 
 Again in 1889 he wrote : 
 
 " Would you like me to be Bishop of Tasmania ? 
 They rather fished as to my willingness to accept it. 
 ... It was tempting, as they are such nice hearty 
 people ; but poor Melanesia ! who would care for my 
 people there ? They know me and trust me, and I 
 will stick to them as long as I can. Whether my
 
 196 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 bronchitis will allow me is quite another question, 
 as it comes and goes in a fitful sort of way, and is by 
 no means well yet." 
 
 His forecast was correct. Early in that year his 
 health became so much broken that he and Mrs. 
 John Selwyn left for Italy en route for England. 
 His health really began to fail in 1888. In the 
 earlier part of that year he was at Norfolk Island, 
 where his house was some three minutes' walk from 
 the school buildings. He had to go across many 
 times a day and seemed always to feel fagged. He 
 would look across at the school and say, " Crossing 
 our field seems like half a mile, I am always so tired 
 now." Sometimes he didn't seem up to it, and his 
 class would come to him. When he returned from 
 a voyage to the islands in December of that year, 
 Mrs. Selwyn went with him to New Zealand for the 
 Synod. There the rest of the bishops were so much 
 struck by his worn appearance, that, without even 
 speaking to him about it, they wrote him a most 
 kind letter, signed by them all and headed by the 
 Primate (Bishop Harper of Christchurch), begging 
 him to go at once to England for a thorough rest 
 and urging it on him as a duty. He hesitated a 
 good deal because he had returned from England 
 so lately, but in the end he was over-persuaded, 
 and undertook the journey home. His two 
 daughters with their governess met them in Italy,
 
 LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA 197 
 
 and they all spent some time together in Rome, 
 where he recovered greatly from his bronchitis and 
 managed to do a great deal of sight-seeing. 
 
 To MES. 1 COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 " HOTEL VICTORIA, ROME, May 10, '89. 
 
 "You will be surprised to hear from me here, 
 unless some one has told you that I was most un- 
 expectedly sent home by my brother Bishops. I am 
 trying to get rid of my bronchitis, which has been 
 troublesome for a year, and might become chronic." 
 
 He arrived in England in June, and made a stay 
 of six months, during which time Dorothy, the 
 eldest child of his second marriage, was born. In 
 the following January he with Mrs. Selwyn and the 
 baby started back again in the ss. Pekin, spending 
 some little time in Egypt on the way. It is to be 
 feared that he had not completely got rid of his 
 bronchitis, and he was also suffering from the result 
 of a sharp attack of influenza, for in a note sent 
 ashore just before the ship sailed he says : 
 
 " I am really much better : my bronchitis is hardly 
 bothering at all." 
 
 From every stopping- place he sent home most 
 characteristic letters to his daughters. Here are
 
 198 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 one or two extracts which show him the same cheery, 
 child-loving man as he had been twenty years 
 before. 
 
 ' Your godchild [the baby] is in great form. I 
 am head nurse in the afternoon, and it is quite 
 pretty to see how she likes my strong arms, lies 
 down in them quite contentedly when (and this is 
 the point) she has been crying with other folks, and 
 then goes off to sleep to the tune of ' The British 
 Grenadiers.' She is a great duck." 
 
 From Gibraltar he wrote describing with great 
 glee an altercation between a native cabdriver and 
 a private of the South Staffordshire Regiment, the 
 latter being the possessor of a pair of black eyes, 
 which the Bishop did not consider a credit to the 
 county ! 
 
 At Brindisi he and Mrs. Selwyn went for a walk, 
 in the course of which, he says : 
 
 " We were going over to the other side of the 
 Harbour by the ferry, but a small boy came along, 
 and asked with a sweet smile whether we wanted a 
 boat, so we took him. . . . He was wonderfully 
 struck with my knowing all about the sail, and said, 
 ' Why, he is a sailor ! ' ' 
 
 After a slow progress the little party arrived back
 
 LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA 199 
 
 at Norfolk Island, and the Bishop seemed more like 
 his old self than he had done for some time, and he 
 stayed there quietly until the following July, when 
 he started on a voyage to the islands. 
 
 He kept pretty well till the middle of October, 
 when he began to have very painful boils or abscesses 
 in his leg. These were accompanied by what he 
 described as severe rheumatism, and for the rest of 
 his visit to the islands until the ship picked him up 
 in the Banks Islands on November 15 it was only 
 with great pain and difficulty that he could get from 
 place to place. Walking on the coral reefs seems to 
 have distressed him much and added to his suffer- 
 ing. This was practically the beginning of the end 
 as far as his Melanesian work was concerned. The 
 pain prevented him from sleeping at nights, and he 
 became really seriously ill. His journal letter to 
 Mrs. J. R. Selwyn, dated Maewo, November 27, is 
 most pathetic, and is of special interest as giving an 
 account of the last days' work he was ever to do in 
 his beloved islands. 
 
 " I have had ten very hard days. I got down to 
 the boat from Zehartob fairly well, and so to Pun, 
 where 0. did the school and Harvey Tagalad and I 
 examined the Baptismal candidates. Then I bap- 
 tized eight of them, and got back dead beat. Next 
 day examined the schools at Milwoa and Wole, and 
 then that at Totoglag, and so home. [These are all
 
 200 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 places in Motalava.] Rheumatism very bad, and 
 very little sleep. Next day ship came and we got 
 into Mota at dark. I could just crawl up the hill, 
 and next day locomotion was very bad, but I 
 managed all the near schools. Then I addressed 
 the Confirmation candidates, and after tea confirmed 
 them. I sat down all the time. Next day crawled 
 on board, and oh ! I have been bad since. Could 
 not sleep, and could only just crawl on deck. I am 
 rather better now, but I can't sit up for more than 
 a quarter of an hour without feeling very done, 
 and I can't sleep much yet. I hope I shan't shock 
 you as a cripple when I arrive. I simply long for 
 home. The days and nights seem endless, and 
 rheumatism makes one ' blue/ so that I see all sorts 
 of difficulties about everything." 
 
 The Rev. Leonard P. Robin, who accompanied him 
 on this voyage, adds the following touching details : 
 
 " The Bishop held a Confirmation at the head station [in 
 Mota]. He got through with difficulty, and one could see the 
 intense effort it was. His exhortations, however, were as 
 spiritual, as manly, and as earnest as any I ever heard him 
 give. He was terribly fatigued afterwards, and said when he 
 sank upon a stretcher in the Mission-house, * That's the 
 hardest bit of work I've ever done in Melanesia.' The next 
 morning we prepared to leave. I had ague, and was in the 
 preliminary shivering stage when we went down to the beach. 
 The Bishop was in such pain that he could not put his foot to 
 the ground, and had to be half carried down the steep rough
 
 LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA 201 
 
 path to the rocks by the seashore, where we waited for the boat 
 to come in from the Southern Cross * to take us off. They 
 spread his small mattress on the rocks for him, and he lay on 
 it leaning against his bundle of pillows and rugs. Presently 
 he looked round and said, ' Where's Robin ? He's got ague, 
 poor fellow. Take him the mattress and tell him to lie 
 on it. I can do quite well with this ' touching his bundle 
 of rugs. 
 
 "We soon got on board, but he seemed to grow worse instead 
 of better ; so, after watering the ship at Maewo, it was decided 
 to call nowhere else, but to make straight for Norfolk Island. 
 He was soon unable to climb into his berth, and had his 
 mattress spread on the cabin deck. One day I was lying on 
 one of the long seats in the cabin : it was my ague day, and 
 it was on me in full force. I think I was only half awake 
 or semi-conscious, and no doubt my breathing was loud and 
 rapid. Presently I noticed a shuffling sound, and looking 
 round saw the Bishop clinging to the table and making his 
 way round to me. He came and put his hand on my forehead 
 and said, * You've got a pretty stiff bout this time, old boy, 
 haven't you ? Wait a bit : I'll get you something.' I begged 
 him to go and lie down, but he would not. He made his way 
 to the medicine-chest and mixed and brought me a dose. I 
 drank it, and he took the glass, put it back, and then sank 
 down upon his mattress with a sigh of relief. The story needs 
 no comment but this what wonder that we loved him ? " 
 
 From this point Mrs. J. R. Selwyn takes up the 
 story : she says : 
 
 " After this he became too ill to write more, and was finally 
 brought ashore on December 10, 1890, lying on a mattress at 
 
 * This is the last time he was ever on board this Mission ship, 
 which had been built mainly at the cost of himself and Mrs.
 
 202 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 the bottom of the boat, looking a perfect wreck. He did not 
 leave his bed for eight months. The intense pain and sleep- 
 lessness continued, and after some time the doctors discovered 
 a terrible abscess in his thigh, which had burrowed in every 
 direction. It was doubtless this which he had thought was 
 rheumatism. The doctors said that the cause of it was hard 
 living and exposure when he was in a low state of health. 
 For six months he suffered the most terrible agony from 
 neuritis caused by the abscess. To this sleeplessness was 
 added, and his only relief was gained from morphia. He 
 could not move his position in the least, and all sorts of com- 
 plications added to his sufferings. [He had to endure a 
 terrible operation at this time, pieces of bone being removed 
 by the doctors from his leg. This he endured with his usual 
 cheerfulness and pluck.] Had it not been for the skill and 
 devotion of Dr. Metcalfe and Dr. Welchman, together with 
 his own wonderful courage and patience and almost unfailing 
 good spirits, he could never have recovered. Dr. Welchman 
 was a member of the Melanesian Mission, and Dr. Metcalfe 
 was the medical man in charge of the Norfolk Islanders. 
 Admiral Lord Charles Scott very kindly sent down a man-of- 
 war, once to bring air-pillows for my husband, and twice 
 more to see if he could be brought to Sydney. [The first of 
 these occasions was the very day that Mary, the second child 
 of Mrs. J. R. Selwyn, was born, and the Bishop and Mrs. 
 Selwyn were so seriously ill that the doctors were in great 
 anxiety about both.] During this time he managed a Con- 
 firmation by his bedside, and before finally leaving was carried 
 over to the chapel on his bed, which was laid on the altar steps, 
 and from thence he gave his last address to his dear Me- 
 lanesians. At last H.M.S. Rapid came, early in July, and 
 took my husband and me and Dr. Welchman to Sydney. He 
 
 John Selwyn. At the present moment the Melanesian Mission 
 is seeking funds to supply the place of the Southern Cross, which 
 is worn out and hardly fit for use.
 
 LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA 203 
 
 had to be carried on his bed, which had four long handles 
 attached, for three miles across the island to the landing- 
 places, relays of eight Melanesians bearing him. There his 
 bed was placed in a whale-boat, and we rowed about two miles 
 to the ship, and it was hoisted up by ropes and swung in- 
 board. By this time he was getting better, and was able to 
 enjoy seeing his friends in Sydney. Indeed, he actually 
 addressed a missionary meeting gathered at our house from 
 his bed. 
 
 " I must not forget to say how very kind every one was on 
 board the Rapid, and how the Blue-jackets, attracted to him 
 as all sailors were, begged to be allowed to carry him on board 
 the mail -steamer, as they had carried him ashore. Dr. Welch- 
 man came home with us, nursing him with the utmost 
 devotion." 
 
 The boat that brought him home to England from 
 Sydney was the Ballarat, the steward on board (who 
 has since died) being warmly remembered still for 
 all the attention and kindness he showed on the 
 voyage. 
 
 He arrived in London in September 1891, and was 
 met at Tilbury by his daughters, who found him so 
 much better that he was able to sit up at dinner in 
 the saloon for the first time. 
 
 The Bishop was taken in an ambulance to an 
 hotel in Queen's Gate, from which he afterwards 
 removed to De Vere Gardens. The surgeons, 
 headed by Dr. Pickering Pick, had a great con- 
 sultation over him and decided that the risk of 
 amputation was too great, so that all they dared 
 to do was to cut the sinews, which had so con-
 
 204 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 tracted that his right leg was eight inches shorter 
 than the left. 
 
 It was when at 18 De Vere Gardens that Sir James 
 Paget was called in to advise, and told him plainly 
 that he would never be able to climb a ship's side 
 again and must resign his post. 
 
 To MRS. 1 COURT-BEPINGTON. 
 
 "18 DE VERB GARDENS, Nov. 11, 1891. 
 
 " When you come you will find me in a very spic 
 and span dressing-gown, and able to hop from my 
 room to the drawing-room on crutches. . . . But 
 my fate is sealed. We had Sir James Paget 
 in to consult with Pick the other day, and he told 
 me quite decidedly that I should never be able to 
 do the work in Melanesia again, and not much of 
 anything else. So a chapter in my life closes, to my 
 wife's and my infinite sorrow. But it is so plainly 
 my duty that it takes away the misery of having to 
 decide." 
 
 He then took a house at Shottermill, near Hasle- 
 mere, and gathered his family round him. His 
 pleasure was in some measure spoilt by an attack of 
 influenza in January 1892 which brought on a severe 
 bout of the old pains. His sense of humour never 
 deserted him through it all, and when he, who had 
 been used to camp out by himself and be his own
 
 LAST YEARS IN MELANESIA 205 
 
 cook and bed-maker, found himself in the hands of 
 a solemn valet, whom he had engaged to see after 
 him, his amusement and jokes knew no bounds. 
 This careful attendant would come into the room at 
 the exact moment, and gravely presenting a salver 
 would say, " The pill, my Lord " a proceeding 
 altogether too much for the Bishop's gravity. 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 " SHOTTERMILL (undated). 
 
 " I am writing in bed with the old weight on [a 
 heavy weight was attached to his leg to keep the 
 sinews from contracting] after another five weeks of 
 it. Influenza brought on inflammation of all the 
 nerves of my bad leg, and it was a case of ' as you 
 were/ ... I could not stand or sit, and can only 
 do the latter now, and that for a short time. 
 
 " I have set up a man nurse, who valets me in 
 the most lordly way, whereat Annie laughs con- 
 sumedly." 
 
 In April 1892 he took Langhurst, near Witley in 
 Surrey, and when there used sometimes to manage 
 on his crutches to take a service in the little school- 
 church at Grayswood. In November of that year 
 he went to London to have a further operation to 
 try to lengthen his leg, and when there his mother 
 had a very terrible illness, which kept them all in
 
 206 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 London for most of the winter, and was a cause of 
 great anxiety to the Bishop. It seemed as if his 
 cup of suffering both physical and mental was just 
 then full to overflowing, and there did not appear to 
 be anything in prospect to cheer or interest his life 
 beyond the family love which was ever one of his 
 greatest joys.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 IT was no very bright prospect that lay before 
 Bishop John Selwyn at this time. A hopeless 
 cripple, cut off from the one sphere of labour to 
 which he had given his life's devotion, there seemed 
 little left him but to drag out a few more years of 
 comparative uselessness. 
 
 But there was still a work for him to do. It was 
 in the spring of 1893, when he was staying at 
 Worthing with his second daughter, who was ill at 
 the time, that the offer came to him of the Master- 
 ship of Selwyn College. Nothing more unexpected, 
 nothing more startling, could have happened. At 
 the first moment he even conceived the thing to be 
 some kind of huge practical joke. He took the 
 letter up into his daughter's room, threw it on her 
 bed, and sat and roared with laughter at it 
 " What do you think they want me to do now ? " 
 he said. The idea that he, " a rough man who had 
 been out in the wilds and was not fit to associate
 
 208 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 with dons and such folk," as he described himself, 
 should be Head of a College appeared to him nothing 
 short of preposterous; 
 
 The Bishop of Peterborough (now Bishop of 
 London) was deputed by the Council of Selwyn 
 College to convey their wishes. Here are his 
 letters : 
 
 "THE PALACE, PETERBOROUGH, 17 'th March, 1893. 
 
 "Mr DEAR BISHOP SELWYN, 
 
 "I have been requested, as one of a Committee 
 appointed by the Council of Selwyn College, to ask you if you 
 would be willing to succeed Mr. Lyttelton as Master. I may 
 add that if you were willing to do so I think the Council 
 would unanimously elect you. 
 
 " I may further say that this decision was not arrived at 
 without a full consideration of all material facts. I am sorry 
 to say that personally I am unknown to you ; but that was 
 not the case with the majority of those present. I can only 
 suppose that I was deputed to write to you that I might with 
 greater frankness assure you that all the objections which 
 would present themselves naturally to your mind want of 
 academic experience, and the rest were and are before us. 
 But we were of opinion that you possess qualities which, in 
 the present condition of the College and of the University, 
 would make your acceptance of the office of Master peculiarly 
 useful to those great interests which we all wish to serve. I 
 shall await with great expectancy your answer, though of 
 course it is unreasonable to suppose that it can be given 
 without due consideration and some days of reflection. 
 "I am, 
 
 " Yours very truly, 
 
 "M. PETERBURG."
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 209 
 
 " PETERBOROUGH, March 20, '93. 
 
 **MY DEAR BISHOP SELWYN, 
 
 " May I venture to say one or two things, as one 
 who knows Cambridge and the duties of a Master of Selwyn 
 College ? 
 
 "(1) The important point in a Master is that he should be 
 known outside Cambridge. 
 
 " (2) Equally important is it that in Cambridge he should 
 distinctly represent some definite side of the work of the 
 Church. You would represent elements of the greatest im- 
 portance, which are not at present represented. 
 
 " (3) There is no difficulty in getting teachers for the Uni- 
 versity Examinations. The work of the Master need not be 
 more than seeing that the requisite teaching is supplied, and in 
 supplementing that by spiritual teaching of his own. You 
 would find a loyal staff of teachers : but you would be able to 
 give teaching of a general and valuable kind ; it might be as 
 informal as you like. You would find that it would be 
 welcomed by many men outside Selwyn. There is absolutely 
 no need that you should be responsible for any of the ordinary 
 teaching. 
 
 " (4) Masters of Colleges may be of many kinds. What 
 Lvttelton has done will not be the same as what any successor 
 will do. The new Master will follow his own lines. 
 
 " The Council was of opinion that there was no one who 
 could advance the interests of the College so much as yourself. 
 
 "Yours very truly, 
 
 "M. PETERBURG." 
 
 His astonishment and amusement at the position 
 in which he found himself may be gathered from the 
 following extracts : 
 
 o
 
 210 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 To MRS. LONG INNES. 
 
 " WORTHING, April S, 1893. 
 
 " On Saturday I went up to London and saw the 
 Council of Selwyn College, whom I fought to no 
 purpose ; so now, as you will see in the papers, I am 
 Master of that ilk. Don't laugh, but, if you do, you 
 can't laugh as much as I do at the idea of my being 
 a Don ! Every one told me it was my duty, so I 
 am going ; but I don't in the least like it." 
 
 To MRS. A. COTTRT-BEPINGTON. 
 
 "WORTHING, April 17, '93. 
 
 " What do you think of me as a Don ? I think 
 it is the very funniest notion that I ever heard of, 
 and I can't conceive how it is to be done." 
 
 To R DURNFORD, ESQ. 
 
 " 95 MARINE PARADE, WORTHING, 
 
 "April 18, 1893. 
 
 " MY DEAR DICK, 
 
 " My feeling when such an one as you writes 
 to me anent Selwyn College is 'risum teneatis 
 amid ' (must quote now I'm a Don). Can you by 
 any stretch of imagination fancy me in that position 
 or can you fancy any sane body of men forcing me
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 to take it ? I went to their meeting, and spoke to 
 them with much plainness of speech. I appealed to 
 my ignorance of the least rudiments of the classics, 
 to my utter ignorance of the veriest outline of 
 academic work. I quoted Stephie [his son, who had 
 just matriculated at Trinity], whose opinion of my 
 attainments was expressed with the utmost frank- 
 ness . . . But it was no go, and so I am dragged 
 to the Groves of Academe from the wilds of the 
 Pacific. I laughed so consumedly at the thought 
 when it was first mooted that my mother was quite 
 angry. But it was all no good. Every soul I 
 consulted said ' Go,' and so I go, the very squarest 
 peg in the very roundest hole the world has 
 ever seen. Cincinnatus (was it not C. ? ) is not 
 in it in comparison. My wife trembles at the idea 
 
 of and and the blues of Newnham looking 
 
 over our garden wall [Newnham adjoins Selwyn 
 College]. 
 
 " Seriously, I go because I am told to go, and I 
 tremble at the thought. I only hope I may get at 
 the men, and turn them out as ' men.' I could do 
 that when I could lead in Melanesia. How on earth 
 I am to lead in my study I know not. However, 
 people say it is all right, and, if I fail, I shall go 
 with rapidity ! . . . 
 
 " Best love to my godson. 
 
 " Yrs. affect. 
 
 J. R. S., Bp."
 
 212 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 Amongst the "plain things" that he spoke to 
 those who pressed upon him the Mastership was 
 the characteristic observation, "If you had called 
 me to take command of a man-of-war I should 
 have understood something about it, but a 
 College !" 
 
 The unanimity with which his acceptance was in- 
 sisted upon by all his friends counted for much, but 
 chiefly he was influenced by his mother's strong wish 
 that he should undertake the work. It may, perhaps, 
 have been gathered in the course of this book that 
 he was hardly likely to withstand the desire of a 
 mother who had been so much to him throughout 
 his life. All the same, just at first he often regretted 
 the step he had taken. He had been offered, and had 
 refused, a small living in Surrey, and used sometimes 
 to say, " Why didn't you let me go to Busbridge ? " 
 Universal satisfaction was expressed when his de- 
 cision became known. The College authorities were 
 satisfied that his past achievements were credentials 
 enough, and that the chance of having a Selwyn at 
 the head of Selwyn College was not to be lost. It 
 was thought by all a graceful act to offer the post to 
 his father's son ; and finally letters came from many 
 quarters giving sound reasons for congratulation 
 on the appointment. It may be sufficient to quote 
 two one from a lay, the other from a clerical, 
 source.
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 213 
 
 From THE LATE RT. HON. GEORGE DENMAN. 
 
 "8 CRANLEY GARDENS, S.W., April 3, 1893. 
 
 "My DEAR BISHOP, 
 
 " What glorious news ! Selwyn of Selwyn ! Hurrah ! 
 The Selwyn Boat will be head of the River ! 
 " New Zealand will be glad. 
 "Melanesia will shout for joy. 
 
 " Trinity and Eton will be prouder than ever of their stock. 
 But none will rejoice more heartily than does 
 "Yours most sincerely, 
 
 "G. DENMAN."' 
 
 From DR. TALBOT, Bishop of Rochester, at that time Vicar 
 
 of Leeds. 
 
 "THE VICARAGE, LEEDS, April 6, 1893. 
 "My DEAR BISHOP, 
 
 " May I send a word of cordial congratulation from 
 an old friend at the appointment which I see in the papers ? 
 I cannot say what pleasure it gives me, for on the one hand it 
 seems to secure to the College (D.V.) another lease of efficiency 
 and prosperity, and all the advantage that comes from being 
 efficiently represented in the University, and, on the other 
 hand, I cannot help feeling a real delight that after all your 
 troubles you should have the prospect of a new career which 
 cannot fail to be to you full of rich interest and opportunity, 
 and in which you may do such first-rate service for Church 
 and State. I feel a pure pleasure in the news, and I should 
 not like to go without just saying it and wishing you God- 
 speed. 
 
 " Yours always sincerely, 
 
 E. S. TALBOT."
 
 214 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 This last letter was specially valuable as coming 
 from one who had been for many years head of Keble 
 College, Oxford,* and therefore knew better than 
 most other people what was the nature of the work 
 to which Bishop John Selwyn had been called. 
 
 In June 1893 he was formally installed as Master 
 of Selwyn, and it is noteworthy that the foundation- 
 stone of the College chapel was laid the previous 
 day. This building was an immense interest to him, 
 and to it, as will be seen later on, he gave lavishly 
 of his time and money. There is a remarkable 
 unanimity in the expression of the effect that he 
 made on entering the University life of Cambridge. 
 With one voice he is said by all to have been like a 
 fresh sea-breeze blowing through the place. He him- 
 self fancied that at first he did not " hit it off" with 
 the Dons, but this feeling quickly passed away, and 
 it was not long before he said, " I think Cambridge 
 people the kindest in the world." It can readily be 
 understood by all who are acquainted with University 
 life, even of the present day, that the influence of 
 the coming of such a man would be to blow away, or 
 at least disturb, much of the dust which settles 
 down imperceptibly in such places. Nothing is 
 sadder than to watch the slow but sure narrowing of 
 a man who, with little interest outside his College 
 
 * Keble at Oxford and Selwyn at Cambridge are Colleges 
 upon strictly Church of England lines where a somewhat cheaper 
 education is provided.
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 215 
 
 walls, spends year after year in the same routine of 
 duties. And though their number is fewer, yet there 
 are still in our Universities many who answer to this 
 description. There are many more who, while spas- 
 modically interested in matters concerning the outer 
 world, consider the politics and life of their own 
 University of paramount importance, and deem a 
 man unable to pronounce the special academic Shib- 
 boleths a person of small account. 
 
 To these came Bishop John Selwyn with the smell 
 of the salt Pacific still upon him : with the uncon- 
 ventionality of the island explorer visible in all his 
 ways: with the conviction that there were in the 
 wide world interests at least as great as those of 
 Cambridge : with a body broken down by disease, 
 but a heart as strong as ever, and a keenness which 
 many another man of fifty might envy : and, lastly, 
 with a resolve to use his remaining powers to their 
 utmost extent in the service of those young men with 
 whom he had so much in common. 
 
 His success was assured from the first. It may be 
 that he made mistakes sometimes ; possibly his 
 quick temper created difficulties now and again ; but, 
 as Professor Stanton said in his memorial sermon, 
 he was "a winning, noble-hearted man, for whose 
 presence all ought to be the better." That was the 
 secret of it ; he was so no&Ze-hearted. No matter 
 what the mistake, no matter how deeply irritated he 
 had been, he was quick to make amends, never being
 
 216 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 able to rest until he had expressed his own sorrow 
 and sought the renewed friendship of others. 
 There is a remarkable story illustrating this of an 
 incident which happened during these last years of 
 his life. He was passing through London, and drove 
 in a four-wheeler from King's Cross to catch his 
 train at Paddington. The cab crawled along, and 
 time was getting short. The Bishop called to the 
 driver to quicken up, and got an exceedingly rude 
 reply. He lost his temper for a moment, and told 
 the man he was not going to a funeral and must get 
 along faster, whereat the cabby got more angry still. 
 At Paddington the Bishop paid the man his exact 
 fare but nothing more, telling him it was because of 
 his incivility. Next day the whole story was told 
 to Mrs. John Selwyn, the Bishop expressing his own 
 unhappiness at having vexed the man by his careless 
 words and then not having tried to help him after- 
 wards. A week later he had to go to London again, 
 so started by a very early train to try and find the 
 man. On inquiry at King's Cross he learnt that the 
 cabman's stand was at Paddington Station, so he 
 hurried off there, and waited for an hour, watching 
 all the cabs in and and out, but in vain. At last 
 he had to drive off to Waterloo to catch his train, 
 and there, to his great joy, saw his man just entering 
 the station. He had a long talk with him, telling 
 him how sorry he was for what had occurred. The 
 man followed suit, and it ended by the Bishop finding
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 217 
 
 out all about his home, and afterwards sending ten 
 shillings to his children. This was a great comfort 
 to the Bishop, for he had been worrying about it 
 all the previous week. 
 
 The man who could take such pains to make up a 
 dispute with a cabman was not likely to have pro- 
 longed troubles with the Cambridge folk, either Dons 
 or undergraduates. 
 
 His main work lay, of course, with the latter, and 
 it was not long before he worked a change in the 
 general tone of Selwyn College. The discipline was 
 not particularly good when he first took the reins of 
 government. This was largely owing to a curious 
 experiment which had been made by his predecessor, 
 Mr. Lyttelton (now Bishop of Southampton), who 
 had tried the plan of combining in his own person 
 the offices of Master and Dean of the College. To 
 most old University men it will be obvious that the 
 result of such an experiment must be that the 
 College would either have a Master or a Dean, but 
 certainly not both, the two offices being singularly 
 incompatible. Bishop Selwyn reverted to the old- 
 fashioned plan, with excellent results. But it was 
 also his personality which did so much to produce a 
 better state of things. It is said that on the first 
 Sunday after the College service the following words 
 were overheard from one of the rowdiest of the men : 
 " I say, I don't like the look of that chap's eye ! " 
 And no doubt that flashing eye which had controlled
 
 218 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 Melanesian savages, and searched the hearts of 
 sailors as he preached on the deck of a man-of-war, 
 was of no little effect as he spoke to the under- 
 graduates whom he had come to govern. 
 
 Perhaps his extreme unconventionality added 
 slightly to his difficulties in this direction. It was 
 not always understood by the men, who were not 
 used to being shouted at from the window of the 
 study of the Master's Lodge. But, if unconventional 
 himself, he would stand no relaxation of discipline 
 on the part of others. Probably the luckless under- 
 graduate, who came one day to see him in his study 
 wearing a pair of white boating shoes, still remembers 
 the weighty words of the Master on that occasion ! 
 It is certain, however, that many Selwyn men recall 
 with gratitude and affection those talks over a pipe 
 late at night (also, perhaps, a little unconventional !) 
 which ended so often in the pouring out of religious 
 difficulties, after which the Bishop took the place of 
 the Master, and the undergraduate knelt with him 
 in prayer and received his episcopal blessing. 
 
 It was his tact, too, which helped him to keep up 
 the discipline of the place. As in many another 
 College, the question of letting off fireworks on the 
 night of the fifth of November was a burning one. 
 He showed his full appreciation of the fact that it is 
 not fireworks that the undergraduate's soul desires, 
 but illegal fireworks, and issued an invitation to the 
 College to come and let them off in his own grounds !
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 219 
 
 Nothing could more gracefully and effectually have 
 quenched the whole subject. 
 
 He was much interested and excited during the 
 great contest in Cambridge about women's degrees, 
 taking a strong line against their concession. He 
 wrote several letters bearing upon this subject, from 
 which the following extracts are interesting : 
 
 To a COUSIN. 
 
 " SELWYN COLLEGE LODGE, Jan. 9, 1 897. 
 
 "I attribute to the deep reverence that I carry 
 
 about with me, and which grows deeper as years go 
 on, for womanhood hi its purity and lovableness. 
 I do hope the girls of the present day will not throw 
 aside much of that charm in their thirst for learning, 
 which brings them into contact with so much that 
 may harden them, and so spoil them. It wih 1 be a 
 bad day for mankind if they do." 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-KEPINGTON. 
 
 "SELWYN COLLEGE, May 20, 1897. 
 
 " We are all agog about the women to-morrow. 
 I hope the non-placets are going to win handsomely. 
 The excitement is very great." 
 
 On the evening of the day of the voting (May 21)
 
 220 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 there was some most unchivalrous conduct on the 
 part of certain persons unknown outside Newnham 
 College. A letter was written by some one who 
 signed him- or her- self " Onlooker," which appeared 
 in the Spectator, and which accused members of a 
 " neighbouring College " of the outrage. Now, the 
 College that is neighbour to Newnham is Selwyn, 
 and great was the Master's wrath at the publication 
 of this letter, especially when he had fully satisfied 
 himself that the men of his College were none of 
 them to blame. He never rested till he got to the 
 bottom of the affair and had obliged " Onlooker " 
 to write a further letter to the Spectator admitting 
 the inaccuracy of many of the statements, and un- 
 reservedly withdrawing the accusation against the 
 " neighbouring College." 
 
 Of course his share in University business was not 
 very large, and his attainments did not fit him for 
 lecturing, but from the first he always gave one 
 lecture each week on Divinity to Selwyn men in 
 their first two years. Uncommonly racy and in- 
 teresting these addresses were, being largely taken 
 up by narratives of his own experiences. " I don't 
 know what I taught them," he said of his first 
 lecture, " but I know I made them laugh ! " 
 
 By far the most important work of this kind 
 which he did was in 1896, when he delivered the 
 course of pastoral lectures for that year at the 
 request of the University Theological Board. Any
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 one wishing to know further what manner of man 
 he was, and what manner of work he did, cannot do 
 better than read these lectures, which are published 
 as a separate volume by the S.P.C.K. 
 
 His devotion to his old life and work was still 
 intense, and his continual reference to them in his 
 lectures and conversation was so frequent, that " My 
 islanders " became a standing joke in the College. 
 Naturally enough, one of the matters which troubled 
 him most was the question of his successor in Mela- 
 nesia. At last he had the great happiness of know- 
 ing that the work would be carried on in the true 
 spirit. His close friend Canon Jacob (now Bishop 
 of Newcastle) was consulted by him, and recom- 
 mended an old curate, the Rev. Cecil Wilson, to the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Benson), Dr. Codring- 
 ton, and the Master of Selywn College, who had 
 been commissioned to make the appointment. For 
 Mr. Wilson's acceptance he was most thankful, 
 though his regret at his own resignation crops up 
 through all his letters on the subject. 
 
 To MRF A COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 " LICHFIELD, Jan. 8, '94. 
 
 "I must stay with Cecil Wilson, Vicar of 
 Moordown, whom I have stolen to be Bishop 
 of Melanesia ! Alas ! I don't like to think of 
 any one else bearing that name, but that is
 
 222 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 only a passing pang. . . . and he is such a nice 
 fellow." 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 " SELWYN COLLEGE LODGE, Feb. 20, '94. 
 
 " I have just been with Annie and Pearlie to hear 
 Bishop Tucker [of Mombasa]. He came to call this 
 morning and we had much talk. Oh ! my heart 
 burned to be out again. The shelf is not very 
 comfortable." 
 
 To the Same. 
 
 " SELWYN COLLEGE LODGE, Dec. 6, '94. 
 
 " I heard that Wilson was just starting for the 
 Islands, and is probably coming back about this 
 time. Then he goes to New Zealand, and finally 
 for a short tour in Australia to settle many things. 
 I cannot help seeing the wisdom of God in taking 
 me away when He did, as I had so broken down 
 that I should never have been fit for all these 
 things." 
 
 The building of the College chapel was an 
 immense interest to him. There were no funds for 
 properly furnishing it, and to raise these he devoted 
 much time and labour, starting the subscription List 
 with a gift from himself of 500. The handsome 
 and dignified carving of the stalls was an especial
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 
 
 object to him, and the completion of this part of the 
 work is the fitting memorial of his Mastership. No 
 one who has seen the chapel can fail to appreciate 
 the loving care with which every detail of a most 
 beautiful building has been carried out. In the 
 summer of 1895 the edifice had been nearly com- 
 pleted, and by a fortunate chance it fell to Bishop 
 John Selwyn's lot to preach in it for the first time. 
 As will be seen by the subjoined letter, there had 
 been no intention of using the chapel at all on the 
 occasion, and, when it was determined to use it, 
 Canon Gore of Westminster was to have been the 
 preacher, so that it was by a kind of double accident 
 that the Bishop's voice was the first one heard in 
 Selwyn College Chapel. The incident of the dove, 
 so curiously symbolical and beautiful, was a great 
 delight to the Bishop. 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-REPINGTON. 
 
 "SELWYN COLLEGE LODGE, July 28, 1895. 
 
 " Canon Gore is holding a retreat here, and 
 yesterday he broke down for a bit with the heat. 
 So I took the bull by the horns and rigged up the 
 new chapel, so that he could give most of his 
 addresses in it. He could not take the first, so I 
 took it the first words ever uttered in its walls 
 and, as a good omen, in came a dove to listen to the 
 ' Veni Creator.' "
 
 224 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 It is not surprising to find that besides the 
 religious life of the College and the discipline and 
 supervision of the work of the undergraduates, 
 Selwyn Boat Club received a considerable impetus 
 from the coming of a Master who had himself been a 
 noted oar. All sorts of stories might be told of his 
 endeavours in this direction. " If you can't row, I'll 
 make you," was no uncommon thing to hear him 
 say to the hesitating freshman. He was down on 
 the towing-path in his hand-tricycle whenever he 
 was well enough and could spare the time, and would 
 shout out orders to the Selwyn crew as he kept pace 
 with them in their practice. On one occasion he 
 was actually helped into the stern of a new Selwyn 
 four, and coxed it on its trial spin. In all such ways 
 he renewed the spirit of his youth, and gained 
 besides a more intimate knowledge of the men of his 
 College. The cups which he had won in University 
 races thirty years before he presented to Selwyn 
 College, where they will ever be cherished in memory 
 of one who was almost as keen for her success on the 
 river as in the schools. 
 
 His generosity towards the chapel has been 
 noticed, but this was but a small part of his lavish 
 expenditure on the College generally. At the risk 
 of repetition, this leading feature of his character 
 must again be insisted upon. He gave lavishly, 
 ungrudgingly, of his best. He spent largely on the 
 staff of College tutors, while his gifts to under-
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 225 
 
 graduates were so frequent as to be sometimes 
 thought a little indiscriminate. To the College 
 servants he was kindness itself. He took a personal 
 interest in each one of them, would call them to him 
 for a friendly word or two as they passed, and did 
 all he could to help their club and make their lives 
 happy. His relations with them may be summed 
 up in the words of one of them, who, on being asked 
 about the late Master twelve months after his death, 
 said, " I only know I lost the best friend ever man 
 had." 
 
 But his career at Cambridge was not memorable 
 in connection with Selwyn College alone. He threw 
 himself heartily into several kinds of outside work. 
 He preached and spoke for Melanesia, and took a 
 share besides in many matters ecclesiastical. Thus 
 in Advent 1894, he addressed the candidates for 
 ordination at Lichn'eld. " It is a day," said the 
 Bishop of the diocese (Dr. Legge), " that they will 
 never forget. The reality of the man, the strong 
 simplicity of his homethrusts, the enthusiasm for all 
 that is good and true, and the evident witness of his 
 own body that he bore in it the marks of the Lord 
 Jesus, touched, convinced, inspired us all." 
 
 Professor Stanton in his memorial sermon speaks 
 of another work to which the Bishop gave much 
 attention. This was the Barnwell and Chesterton 
 Clergy Fund, the object of which was to aid the 
 poorer parishes in Cambridge. He became president
 
 226 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 of this association, and under his care it gained a 
 renewed vitality. 
 
 His old love of hospital work and desire to help 
 and cheer the sick and maimed, especially any who 
 were cripples like himself, was most noticeable 
 during his last years. He visited the infirmary in 
 Cambridge regularly, and often took services there. 
 Not content with that, he undertook a certain 
 amount of pastoral work, obtaining the permission 
 of the late Vicar of St. Giles' to visit sick people in 
 that parish, and welcome was the sound of the 
 Bishop's crutches as he dragged himself up a cottage 
 staircase to bring a bit of sunshine to some poor 
 bedridden sufferer. 
 
 He never seemed able to pass a fellow cripple 
 by, and many amusing stories are told of his 
 persuading lame men to race him, and his delight 
 when his crutches proved faster than those of his 
 opponent. 
 
 In the general religious life of Cambridge he took 
 a large part, but, as might be expected, more 
 especially in all that concerned Missions. The 
 Cambridge branch of the Society for the Propagation 
 of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was greatly stimu- 
 lated by him, while at the same time he took a 
 leading part in the Board of Missions for the Pro- 
 vince of Canterbury. The Bishop of Newcastle 
 (Dr. Jacob) gives some account of this latter work. 
 He says :
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 227 
 
 " Bishop John Selwyn and I were almost contemporaries 
 . . . but we never came to know one another personally until 
 1888, the year of the Lambeth Conference, when I was secre- 
 tary to the Board of Missions for the Province of Canterbury. 
 But our intimacy and friendship were of still later date, and 
 extended over the last few years of his life, when he had come 
 back a cripple. We became Mends almost instinctively, and 
 the friendship became closer and closer. . . . Our common 
 interest in Missions was a great link between us, and Bishop 
 Selwyn's interest in what the Board of Missions had under- 
 taken was so great that at last, seeing how burdened I was 
 with the labours of the report and all my other work, he 
 most kindly offered to tabulate all the replies which we had 
 received from India to definite questions which we had sent 
 out. He not only did this, but wrote nearly sixteen pages of 
 the report, all bearing on discipline and order, without which 
 I could never have got the report done. . . . On my becoming 
 Bishop of Newcastle in January 1896, he succeeded me as 
 Secretary to the Board of Missions. He had thrown himself 
 so vigorously into the work, and had so well helped on 
 the Missionary Conference of the Anglican Communion in 
 1894, and had so happy a power of inspiring others, that he 
 was the obvious man for the post if he were willing to accept 
 it, and it was a great joy to me when I heard of his appoint- 
 ment. I cannot say how much I loved this delightful man. 
 I stayed with him at Cambridge after he had accepted the 
 Mastership of Selwyn College, and he honoured me by taking 
 part in my consecration. We found ourselves in close accord 
 on nearly all the subjects we discussed together. His pluck 
 when suffering from terrible pain was something to see. His 
 absolute unselfishness ; his power of throwing himself into all 
 the interests of another ; his power of inspiring young men 
 and bringing out all that was manly and good in them ; his 
 hatred of ' red-tape ' or of any kind of sham ; his intense 
 longing for the evangelisation of the world ; his love for
 
 228 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 Melanesia and the Mission to which he had given his life all 
 this is now a memory of the past, but a memory that inspires. 
 When I heard of his death I thanked God that I had known 
 and loved him well, and I felt the singular completeness of 
 that heroic life." 
 
 Mission work in the poorer parts of London had a 
 
 "great attraction for him, and he was, of course, 
 
 specially interested in the Eton Mission at Hackney 
 
 Wick. A characteristic story is told of one of his 
 
 visits there by one who was present. It runs thus : 
 
 " The Eton Mission Church was filled one weekday evening 
 with a large congregation of those poorer members of society 
 who lived (as they themselves describe it) ' under the arch ' 
 through which you had to pass into the Mission district. No 
 one, they said, lived * under the arch ' who could afford either 
 financially or morally to live elsewhere. But they had many 
 of them come to church (an old iron church) that night 
 because their Missioner (the present Bishop of Zululand) had 
 invited them to hear the message of the Bishop of Melanesia, 
 an old Etonian, whose teaching would certainly help them. 
 The processional hymn was heard, and the procession itself 
 proceeded on its way round the church, the last figure in it 
 being the Bishop. Suddenly he was missed, and the pro- 
 cession itself proceeded on its way unconscious of its loss. 
 What had happened ? Why, just this : John Selwyn had dis- 
 covered an old woman who could not find her place in her 
 hymn-book, and all his episcopacy was set on meeting the 
 need, however humble, of that one poor old soul. He was 
 a Bishop indeed, but he was a man first." 
 
 Not content with visiting the poor in London, he 
 had many of them to visit him at Cambridge.
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 229 
 
 Every Whit Monday about one hundred men from 
 one or other of the clubs managed by the Oxford 
 House in Bethnal Green used to come down to 
 Selwyn College for the day. There was always 
 dinner in hall for them, at which the Bishop presided. 
 After one of these Whit Mondays, Mr. Ingram (now 
 Bishop of Stepney) wrote to Miss Selwyn and said, 
 " Please thank your father very much indeed. The 
 men all fell in love with him." 
 
 But it was in the starting of the Cambridge 
 House that Bishop John Selwyn interested himself 
 most keenly of all. The following account, extracted 
 from a letter written by the Rev. J. O. F. Murray, 
 of Emmanuel College, makes clear the Bishop's part 
 in the initiation of the scheme. 
 
 " EMMANUEL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, June 5, 1 899- 
 
 " The outline of events is simple enough. On February 17, 
 1896, the Bishop of Rochester addressed a large meeting of 
 members of the University, senior and junior, in the hall of 
 S. John^s College. In the course of his address the Bishop 
 made an earnest appeal to the University as a whole to sup- 
 port and supplement the work of the various College Missions 
 in South London by providing ' a Cambridge something ' to 
 emulate, on such lines as might commend themselves to Cam- 
 bridge feeling, the work done for the East End by the Oxford 
 House. 
 
 " The way had been prepared for this appeal by a course of 
 lectures given in the preceding May Term by the present 
 Bishop of Stepney, then head of Oxford House, on ' Pastoral 
 Work in Large Towns. 1 These lectures had done a great deal
 
 230 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 to bring the work of the Oxford House before the minds of 
 the younger members of the University ; and at the close of 
 his last lecture the lecturer had expressly challenged his 
 hearers to found a similar institution in the name of Cam- 
 bridge in South London. But neither he nor they were in a 
 position to make the challenge effective, and nothing came of 
 it. 
 
 " It was, I believe, entirely due, under God, to Bishop 
 Selwyn that the Bishop of Rochester's appeal did not share the 
 same fate. 
 
 " Bishop Selwyn had been speaking the night before at the 
 annual meeting of the Trinity Mission, making, as the 
 Cambridge Review says, ( the speech of the evening.' His 
 mind was clearly full of the vast need of South London. He 
 had also, no doubt from his own experience, a keener sym- 
 pathy than the rest of us with the burden laid on a Bishop 
 who was called to wrestle with so terrible a problem : not only 
 his chivalry, but his reverence for the office of the speaker 
 made him feel that this appeal had at least primd fade 
 grounds for being taken as a direct call from God. He there- 
 fore set to work at once to organise a response to it. 
 
 " His first step was to arrange for a discussion of the appeal 
 by the members of a Graduate Church Society, of which he 
 was president. This meeting was attended by some of the 
 College Missioners from South London ; and the relative 
 advantages of proceeding by an immediate effort to procure 
 the foundation of fresh College Missions, and of trying to 
 found an institution which should bear the name of the Uni- 
 versity, were debated with great vigour. In the end a Com- 
 mittee was appointed to see whether any working scheme for 
 a ' Cambridge House ' could be devised. Of this Committee 
 Bishop Selwyn was chairman. 
 
 " The following paragraphs written by the Bishop, and 
 printed in the Cambridge Review on October 29, give a 
 convenient summary of the work of the Committee. After
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 231 
 
 describing the events which led to the appointment of the 
 Committee, he proceeds : 
 
 " * The Committee at once found themselves confronted by 
 two facts : (1) That it was impossible to call anything 
 a Cambridge " something " which did not include 
 Trinity ; and (2) that Trinity had already done, as 
 a College, what the Bishop desired the University to 
 do as a whole, by establishing not only a Mission 
 but a Settlement in South London. 
 
 " * The field of inquiry seemed, therefore, to be narrowed 
 to the one question: Would and could the Trinity 
 Settlement expand itself into the larger and more 
 comprehensive " something " which the Bishop pleads 
 for? 
 
 " l A meeting was therefore held in London with the 
 representatives of the Trinity Settlement, and a very 
 frank discussion and interchange of views took place. 
 The representatives of Trinity Court explained that 
 they had found it practically impossible to secure the 
 continuous services of a layman as head of the Court, 
 and they had therefore appointed the Rev. W. Falkner 
 Baily, on the following conditions, which they had 
 agreed upon at the instance of the Bishop of Durham. 
 
 " ' The Committee in inviting a Clergyman to take the 
 Headship of Trinity Court express their hope that 
 he will find, while holding the office, ample scope for 
 the fulfilment of his clerical duties. 
 
 " * In regard to the religious side of his work, they hope 
 that he will gather round him a body of men prepared 
 to work on a religious basis, while not excluding 
 those who cannot take the full position of Churchmen. 
 
 " ' They look to him to direct the devotional life of the 
 Court, and to give advice and assistance to its 
 members in any religious work they may undertake, 
 or in reading for Holy Orders. . . .'
 
 232 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 " This is the basis on which Trinity Court is now working ; 
 and it explains the resolutions in which the Settle- 
 ment Committee most generously offer that Trinity 
 Court should become a Cambridge House. These are : 
 
 " (1) The Settlement Committee are for their part willing 
 that Trinity Court should become a Cambridge 
 House, provided they can be assured that there is 
 a real and substantial demand for a Cambridge 
 House. 
 
 " (2) They are unwilling to recommend the alterations of 
 the present constitution, which has been found to 
 work successfully, without a guarantee that the 
 work shall be continued on a similar basis. 
 
 "The lines therefore of the Cambridge House would be 
 somewhat as follows : 
 
 " (1) There would be a clerical head, directing and super- 
 vising the whole work of the house. He would 
 hold such services as he might think best for the 
 welfare of those who might choose to come to 
 them. These services would form part of the 
 regular routine of the house, but on the distinct 
 understanding that attendance at them should not 
 be compulsory. 
 
 u (2) To this house Cambridge men who accept this basis 
 would come. Whether as laymen or as intending 
 hereafter to take Holy Orders, they would all find 
 work in which they could take part. Members of 
 colleges having missions would naturally assist 
 their own missions. Candidates for Holy Orders 
 would receive from the clerical head such assistance 
 and guidance as they might need. 
 
 " Such is the generous offer made by the Committee of the 
 Trinity Settlement to the University. Their first condition
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 233 
 
 has now to be fulfilled viz., 'that they should be assured 
 that there is a real and substantial demand for a Cambridge 
 House on the part of the University.' In order to ascertain 
 this, the distinguished Cambridge men who are named as 
 speaking at the meeting on November 10 are coming to 
 support the Bishop of Rochester in his appeal. It is no 
 small proof of his belief in the efficacy of such a house to aid 
 him in his arduous work that he should have been at the 
 pains to rally to his side such men. Their presence and 
 their words will tell us that they at least think that the 
 thing can and ought to be done. It is for the University to 
 decide whether it shall be done. 
 
 " On November 10 the Guildhall was filled from end to 
 end. The Bishop of Rochester was supported by the Bishop 
 of Durham, the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour, and the Hon. 
 Alfred Lyttelton, President of Trinity Court. The neces- 
 sary resolutions were carried with enthusiasm, and Bishop 
 Selwyn was appointed Chairman of the Committee nomi- 
 nated to carry them into effect. He remained Chairman of 
 the Cambridge Committee of the ' Cambridge House ' after 
 its constitution was finally settled, but for the last six 
 months of his life he was unfortunately unable to attend 
 our meetings. 
 
 " Such in outline was the history of the founding of the 
 * Cambridge House.' You will see from it, meagre as it is, 
 something of the extent of our debt to Bishop Selwyn. His 
 ear was the first to hear the call to the work. His energy 
 overcame the v is Inertice which is so very strong among us, 
 and which might have checked a less resolute spirit than his. 
 His tact and his statesmanship carried us safely through the 
 initial difficulties, not so much by any special subtlety of 
 resource as by the power of his personality. We all, whatever 
 our own preferences might be, felt that we could trust him, 
 and so he was able to conciliate conflicting interests and bind 
 us into a real unity. I trust that the institution which is in
 
 234 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 so real a sense his creation may have a long career of useful- 
 ness before it, and that his relation to it may be one of its 
 most treasured and most stimulating memories. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 "J. O. F. MURRAY." 
 
 In the spring of 1897 Bishop John Selwyn visited 
 the Mission, giving some lantern lectures, mixing 
 freely with the working men and enjoying their talk. 
 He managed to clamber, crutches and all, up the 
 movable ladder into the Mission chapel, and his 
 memory will live long amongst those to whom he 
 spoke his strong, bright, heartening words. The 
 delightful way he had with working women as well 
 as working men is instanced by a visit he paid to a 
 mothers' meeting which was held in an out-of-the- 
 way upstairs Mission- room in Fulham Fields. In 
 the middle of the meeting his cheery voice was heard 
 at the foot of the stairs telling a street urchin to 
 cany up one of his crutches, while he laboriously 
 toiled up with the help of the other and the boy's 
 shoulder. He arrived in the room breathless but 
 beaming, and sitting himself down began his talk to 
 them with some little joke about cutting out clothes, 
 telling them how his father cut out jackets and 
 skirts on the deck of his mission ship to clothe the 
 first Melanesian girls he brought away to teach. 
 He then talked most enthusiastically about his 
 Mission life, and brightened the careworn faces of 
 the women by his inspiriting words and stories. He
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 235 
 
 was terribly tired at the time, but would not dis- 
 appoint those who were expecting him an old rule 
 of life which he had laid on himself years before in 
 Melanesia. 
 
 A favourite missionary project of his was "The 
 Foreign Service Order," a scheme by which junior 
 clergy could be enrolled as willing to work in 
 distant lands if called upon to do so, with the con- 
 sent of their Bishop. He read a capital paper on 
 the subject at the Shrewsbury Church Congress of 
 1896, and in the following June the United Boards 
 of Missions of the Provinces of Canterbury and 
 York received a letter from the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, forwarding a copy of resolutions re- 
 specting a scheme for foreign service, which had 
 been agreed upon by the Bishops at their last 
 episcopal meeting. By this time the Order has 
 been formed, and a clerical secretary been appointed 
 in the person of the Vicar of Windsor ; so that one 
 matter which was very near Bishop Selwyn's heart 
 in the last years of his life is already being satis- 
 factorily carried out. 
 
 Among the many other good works, outside the 
 University routine, in which the Bishop interested 
 himself were the Girls' Letter League (an associa- 
 tion for the promotion of letter writing between 
 ladies and factory girls), of which he was president, 
 and the National Society for the Prevention of 
 Cruelty to Children, to the Cambridge Committee of
 
 236 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 which he belonged, and in the work of which his 
 great love for children caused him to be deeply 
 interested. 
 
 Of his home life at this time it is more difficult to 
 speak, for, though he never let it be felt more than 
 he could possibly help, the shadow of his pain and 
 weakness must have been always present. Never 
 had he before had so long a spell of uninterrupted 
 domestic happiness, and this he enjoyed to the full. 
 His tastes were so childlike and simple that the 
 little incidents of his home were a great delight to 
 him. He was never better pleased than when 
 planning little surprises for others, and he preferred 
 quiet enjoyments to great entertainments. This 
 simplicity was obvious, too, in his relation towards 
 God. He deprecated much introspection, and would 
 often say," If we try to know God's will and to do it, 
 He will supply the rest. We needn't fash ourselves 
 about our feelings" And again, " Look outwards 
 and upwards, not inwards, and realise God as the 
 loving Father of us His children." 
 
 He never allowed adverse criticism of others in 
 his home, and, if any talk of this kind began, he 
 used to say, " Can't we find something else to talk 
 about ? " One who has read through a large part of 
 the correspondence of his life is able to bear this 
 unique witness, that in all his letters not one word 
 has been found that might not be published for fear 
 Df hurting other people's feelings.
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 237 
 
 His consideration for the servants of his house- 
 hold was unbounded, as was their devotion to him. 
 He insisted that each one should have an armchair 
 in her bedroom, as well as several in their common 
 sitting-room, saying that they were the people who 
 earned it best. 
 
 He was naturally impatient in disposition, but 
 through his long sufferings all who came near him 
 were struck by his marvellous endurance. He made 
 so light of his illness and pain that both the 
 members of his family and his doctors were often 
 deceived by it. He was always intensely grateful 
 for anything that was done for him, and never 
 forgot to thank his nurses for the least service. He 
 never murmured. " I never heard him mention his 
 privations," says his mother. He always found 
 something to be thankful for or to make a joke 
 about. Even at that terrible moment in Norfolk 
 Island, when the doctors were taking pieces of 
 diseased bone out of his leg, he was making riddles 
 and epigrams upon them ! Mrs. John Selwyn adds 
 the following testimony : 
 
 " Not even to me did he ever own, except three or four 
 times during his seven years of lameness, how bitter a trial 
 it was to him, and then it was only to say, ' I do trust I am 
 making it a willing' offering. I try to make it so. 1 Once I 
 remember that he and I were standing in our garden at Cam- 
 bridge when Mr. Still and some other old College friends, who 
 had been talking with us, ran down the slope and across the 
 lawn to go to some boat-race. He was standing on his
 
 238 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 crutches, and his eyes filled with tears as he said, *Ah ! what 
 wouldn't I give to be able to do that ! It is so hard to be 
 such a log, and walking on crutches is so irksome. But I 
 mustn't grumble. I want my lameness to be a willing offering 
 to God, and I don't think I really grudge it. Let us talk of 
 something else.' He often used to say, * If any one had told 
 me in old days that I should be a cripple and an invalid, 
 I should have said it was the one thing I couldn't bear ; and 
 yet, by God's grace, it seems quite different now. But it is 
 only because He has helped me so."" 
 
 The society of his little children was a great 
 solace to him, and he delighted in playing games 
 with them, showing them tricks with string, &c., and 
 in many little ways letting them have their full 
 share in lightening his load. It was characteristic 
 of him that he got amusement even out of his 
 crutches, and was especially pleased when he could 
 use them for any out-of-the-way purpose. For 
 instance, he was seen using them to pull a footstool 
 out of the way of the choir in church, and delighted 
 to lend them for such things as pushing up a sash 
 window, or indeed for any purpose apart from their 
 proper use. 
 
 His pain and weakness never prevented the 
 exercise of his humour, and many things were 
 penned by him in most happy vein while Master of 
 Selwyn. For instance, when his old friend Mr. 
 Waters wrote to ask him for a subscription towards 
 building a Mission chapel at Hope, he replied as 
 follows :
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 239 
 
 "SELWYN COLL. LODGE, Dec. 18, 1894. 
 
 " MY DEAR WATERS, 
 
 " Do hawks pick out other hawks' een ? Am 
 I not building a chapel of my own which we have 
 waited for for fourteen years, and which I am risk- 
 ing Holloway to finish ? Am I not doing all I can 
 for Melanesia ? Where, then, does Hope come in ? 
 I live on hope. I tick on hope. I order screens, 
 benches, altars, electric lights on hope. And now 
 another Hope springs up. How can I stand another 
 Hope ? It is not hope, it is madness, it is despair ! 
 Nay, it is a flood of waters which hurries me into a 
 gulf of bankruptcy. Dun me not now : avaunt ! 
 aroint thee ! You ask for a Mission chapel, forsooth. 
 You combine them in one ; / have a Mission and a 
 chapel. What are thy wants to mine ? You have 
 no senior tutor who haunts your room by day and 
 by night, and tells you you are cold, you are fear- 
 ful, you are neglecting your duties. You have no 
 enthusiastic Bishop who proposes to attack the 
 whole of Queensland, to buy farms for 2000, to 
 work them at a dead loss. 
 
 " Cruel fate ! to be thus wounded by one I thought 
 my friend ! Hope for 5, but not yet is 5 for Hope. 
 If hope is not a sorry jade, then Hope shall have 5, 
 I hope. 
 
 "Yrs. aff., 
 
 "J. R. SELWYN, Bp"
 
 240 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 He was exceedingly fond of writing epigrams and 
 short scraps of verse. Just about this same time 
 his friend Mr. Richard Durnford sent him some 
 Latin lines written by the Rev. James Lonsdale, 
 when (many years ago) he was asked by Bishop 
 Chapman, then a Fellow of Eton, to preach to the 
 school in the chapel on some Sunday during the 
 Bishop's residence. The lines were these : 
 
 " Cur imparem me cingis honoribus, 
 Me triste lignum, me vetulum pigro 
 Sermone, fundentemque tardo 
 Ore soporiferum papaver ? " 
 
 Bishop John Selwyn sent back the following trans- 
 lation : 
 
 " Why do you crown with bays I cannot wear 
 . Me, a ' sad stick/ archaic, dry, and drear ? 
 Who even when my lips can find a sound 
 Pour nought but dullest soporifics round ! 
 
 At the beginning of the October Half in 1894 the 
 Eton boys were prevented from going back to school 
 by the state of the drains in College, and a short 
 time afterwards were sent home again because of 
 the floods. Hence came " a guardian's growl " from 
 the Bishop's pen. 
 
 " At first the drains took time away, 
 And now the floods come into play ! 
 We wish that Eton would take pains 
 To drain its floods, or flood its drains 1 "
 
 SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 241 
 
 In October 1896 his leg was worse again. He 
 had had a great treat in the enjoyment of a holiday 
 spent mainly on board ship, but the result was not 
 good. 
 
 To MRS. A COURT-EEPINGTON. 
 
 "SELWYN COLL., Oct. 18, 1896. 
 
 " The girls, Stephie, and I went to Norway this 
 summer and did the Fjords. I left them at Trond- 
 hjem and went with the training squadron to Shet- 
 land, and so home. It was very jolly, but I am not 
 sure that I did not catch a chill in Shetland, where 
 the weather was horrible and hence my leg." 
 
 This seems the only account of any special 
 recurrence of pain until the following year, when his 
 last illness began.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE END 
 
 DURING the whole of Michaelmas Term 1897 Bishop 
 John Selwyn was exceedingly ill. To add to his 
 other sufferings gastric trouble set in, and he was 
 unable to take any part in the busy College life 
 around him. He went up to London to preach in 
 St. Paul's Cathedral on October 3, but he was not 
 really fit for the exertion. October 20 was Selwyn 
 College Commemoration Day, and the Bishop of 
 Lichfield (Dr. Legge) preached the sermon. He 
 said afterwards : 
 
 "It was at Cambridge that I last saw him [Bishop 
 J. Selwyn], laid low by that attack from which he never 
 wholly recovered. He had asked me to preach on their Com- 
 memoration Day in the beautiful chapel which he had been 
 instrumental in building, a request which I could not dis- 
 regard, a privilege which I could not fail to prize. It was a 
 great disappointment to him to be unable to attend any of the 
 services on that occasion, but in the brief interviews I had 
 with him, amid the evident signs of pain and discomfort which 
 clouded a little the usual brightness of his smile, there was
 
 THE END 243 
 
 the same eye of fire, there were the same strong features telling 
 of a high and noble purpose sustained by unwavering faith in 
 God." 
 
 From this time until the middle of November he 
 gradually became worse, and the gravest fears were 
 entertained. Then, however, his old rallying powers 
 seemed to come to the rescue, and for a time he was 
 a little better. There is still preserved a touching 
 little pencil note which he wrote on November 20 
 to his aunt, Mrs. Thompson. 
 
 " MY DEAREST AUNTIE, 
 
 " I am trying to write a line or two to amuse 
 myself and, I hope, to gratify my friends. God has 
 been very good to me, and I am a little better, but 
 the gastric trouble has been awful, and I am still 
 very shaky. I have lived on milk for three weeks. 
 People here are so kind. 
 
 " Your loving, 
 
 "J. R. S.,B P ." 
 
 Dr. Bradbury, Downing Professor of Medicine, 
 was unremitting in his care of the Bishop, and 
 Professor Clifford Allbutt was also called in in con- 
 sultation. Towards the end of the year great hopes 
 were expressed that a change of climate to some 
 warm dry place might complete his recovery. He 
 himself was anxious to try Sorrento, but the journey 
 was pronounced to be too long, and finally it was
 
 244 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 arranged that he should be taken to Pau. He waited 
 until after the first Sunday in the ensuing term, and 
 on January 23, 1898, he attended Morning Prayer 
 in the College chapel for the first time since the 
 previous summer, and for the last time in his life. 
 He read the absolution and gave the blessing his 
 last blessing to the members of the College, none 
 of whom could look at him, and notice the ravages 
 wrought by his long illness, without a keen pang 
 and a heaviness of heart as they feared lest they 
 might see his face no more. 
 
 On January 25 he left Cambridge accompanied by 
 Mrs. J. R. Selwyn and his eldest daughter, the 
 little party arriving at Pau on February 2. 
 
 Just one week afterwards he had an exceedingly 
 bad night, much disturbed by the gastric trouble, 
 and a nurse was then obtained to undertake the 
 night work. On the following day, February 10, 
 and again on the llth, he seemed to be a little 
 stronger, but was tired out from want of sleep. On 
 this latter day he read a little, but very little, and 
 towards evening became slightly breathless. About 
 one o'clock on the following morning (Saturday, 
 February 12) there was some small stir in the house, 
 and the voices of doctor and nurse were heard in 
 consultation. Then the former came out of the 
 Bishop's room and told Mrs. Selwyn that the end 
 might come at any time, but that it was hardly 
 likely to be that night.
 
 THE END 245 
 
 The doctor hurried away to fetch some oxygen to 
 ease the breathing, and meantime Mrs. and Miss 
 Selwyn remained in his room, finding a wonderful 
 strength and help in being with him. He wondered 
 why they should stay with him at that time of night, 
 and begged them to go to bed, but they told him 
 they wanted to see him easier before they left. The 
 oxygen which the doctor brought relieved him con- 
 siderably, and the watchers were able to go and get 
 some rest. All that last day he was very weary 
 and tired. He could only lie on his left side, for 
 lying on his back increased the breathlessness, and 
 his other side was painful from perpetual resting 
 upon it. 
 
 Just before four o'clock in the afternoon Mrs. and 
 Miss Selwyn, who were with him, thought him 
 worse and called the nurse, who at once saw that 
 the end was near. Miss Selwyn read the Com- 
 mendatory Prayer and some other prayers, after 
 which the Bishop thanked them and said, " Please 
 be quiet now." Presently he said, " I think I am 
 dying," and then for nearly three hours his mind 
 seemed wholly given to prayer, his eyes looking 
 upwards as they always did when he prayed as he 
 lay in bed. He again and again said, " The grace 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and 
 the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with us all 
 evermore " ; and even when his speech became in- 
 distinct those who watched him could catch the
 
 246 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 words " love of God " and " with us allj with such 
 emphasis on the " all" Now and then scraps of 
 Collects and Psalms fell from his lips, and then he 
 would say, " Oh ! I'm so tired ! " and " I'm done, 
 I'm done." Once his mind went back to old days 
 on board the Southern Cross, and he said, " Call 
 me at one bell." Up to the very end he looked first 
 at one of those whom he loved so dearly and then 
 at the other with a long earnest gaze which assured 
 them that he was conscious and knew them to the 
 last. 
 
 The sun, which had been streaming into the room 
 all the afternoon, had set, and it was growing dark, 
 when he turned a little more upon his side, the 
 rough breathing ceased, a few long gentle breaths 
 came, and he " fell asleep " as softly and gently as a 
 little child. God had called him just at " one bell," 
 as he wished. 
 
 He was robed for burial in full episcopal attire, 
 with a little much-prized gold chain and cross round 
 his neck, and crosses of violets on his breast and 
 feet. Early in the morning of February 14 he was 
 taken to St. Andrew's Church, and there his dear 
 ones found him lying before the altar when they went 
 to the celebration at 8.30. The funeral was that 
 same afternoon, and was taken by Mr. Torry Mr. 
 Acland-Troyte, the chaplain at Pau, being unwell. 
 The Bishop's favourite hymn, " Hark ! the sound of 
 Holy voices/' was sung by the little choir to the tune
 
 THE END 247 
 
 which was used at Selwyn College. Many English 
 visitors followed the coffin all the way to the ceme- 
 tery, and the evident sympathy and reverence of the 
 crowds of wayfarers, who were attending a market 
 in the place, helped to take away the inevitable sad- 
 ness of laying a much-loved body to rest in a strange 
 land. One little incident was especially touching. 
 As the procession skirted the barrack square the 
 soldiers, who were drilling, stood at attention and 
 saluted, and the sentry presented arms till he had 
 passed. It was so exactly what he, with his love 
 for soldiers and sailors, would have wished. 
 
 As may easily be supposed, the news of Bishop 
 John Selwyn's death caused a very widespread sorrow. 
 Letters to members of the family poured in, ex- 
 pressive of affection and admiration for him. The 
 steward of Selwyn College (Mr. Dempster) wrote in 
 the names of himself and the servants at the College, 
 saying that their late Master had been dearly loved 
 by all of them, and that they felt they had lost a 
 friend who could never be replaced. The following 
 extracts from letters will give some idea of the feeling 
 that was aroused : 
 
 " To-day Canon Gore, in his University sermon, spoke of 
 him as the ' hero-spirit "* in terms which must have touched 
 the hearts of all that great congregation. It seems to me 
 that any one to whom he ever spoke must have loved him. 
 Now the great son is with the great father the two who 
 both fought so gallantly against the kingdom of darkness in
 
 248 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 the remotest corners of earth and sea ! . . . The last time I 
 saw him I sat beside him in Marlborough College Chapel. 
 The lesson that evening was 2 Corinthians iv., and as the 
 10th and following verses * sounded in my ears I glanced 
 at the crutches that lay at his feet, and felt that every word 
 might have been spoken by him.'" 
 
 A well-known Cambridge resident also bore witness 
 as follows : 
 
 " It is a great thing for us in Cambridge to have had 
 among us, even for a few years only, that noble cheering 
 presence, which told one that it was possible to 'rejoice in 
 the Lord always.' " 
 
 A Cambridge friend wrote : 
 
 '"Many old residents might envy the way in which the 
 Bishop has endeared himself here in these few years. Cer- 
 tainly he is one whose life has been measured by love, and we 
 would not be of the world which reckons by years."" 
 
 A domestic servant, who had been at Selwyn 
 College Lodge, and whose great sorrow was that she 
 could not serve him to the very end, wrote : 
 
 " I feel too heart-broken to write any more. The whole 
 College with us are mourning a beloved Master's loss." 
 
 How great was the grief which was felt by his 
 islanders in Melanesia can be imagined. Probably 
 
 * " Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord 
 Jesus," &c.
 
 THE END 249 
 
 no one with whom they had ever had to do had 
 obtained such a hold on their affections, and their 
 simple hearts must have been wrung when the news 
 of his death was passed from island to island. 
 
 The Rev. Clement Marau sent the following letter 
 to Mrs. J. E-. Selwyn, and from it can be gathered 
 the depth of feeling stirred in those distant seas. 
 
 Translation of the REV. CLEMENT MARAUDS Letter to 
 MRS. SELWYN. 
 
 "My BELOVED MOTHER, 
 
 "What shall I write? Can it be that I should 
 pleasantly give you news ? No ! but let me converse with 
 you in grief, because I was surprised when I heard by a letter 
 in which the Rev. J. Archdeacon Palmer told me that * our 
 father indeed, Bishop Selwyn, was dead.' It was like the 
 darkness of night to me, as if I was not yet willing to hear 
 the news of death, of him, or of you, or of Dr. Codrington. 
 Ah ! it pains me to hear that one who loved us so much has 
 died so ; our minds are confused because our father is dead. 
 I look now in vain for love. All of us here, his children at 
 Ulawa, are thoroughly grieved for him in sympathy with you. 
 If it were all dry land for you and us we could meet together 
 to weep and to grieve together. I have not yet seen in any 
 one now a love greater than that with which you and your 
 husband have loved us black people. Bishop Selwyn wholly 
 gave and laid down his life for us, and he worked very hard 
 for our benefit, and illness came upon him because of that, and 
 he was long in suffering, and died because of that. I have 
 always seen the evidence of his love and yours in this ship of 
 ours. I know how much money you two gave for it in love 
 for us. It was as if he gave his life for us ; and everything of 
 all sorts he gave for us. It was not only money and a ship,
 
 250 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 not only all sorts of things, but it was the true example he set 
 for us, all his good life for us. And therefore I suppose it 
 was as if God saw his love more than man sees, and took 
 him away from us ; and God has given him a heavenly life, 
 greater than the life that he has given up to us his children in 
 Christ. I cannot speak to you with words of comfort. It is 
 for you to comfort us the children of both of you in the Lord. 
 When we are in grief and calamity, or in any doubt it is for 
 you to help us with good words that can comfort us. Still 
 we wish all of us to sympathise with you in grief for our true 
 father, whom the Father of all has taken from us ; and we 
 wish that you should see the proof that we still think of your 
 husband and you, and of that love that came forth from him 
 to us, because he thoroughly loved every one ; and I think also 
 that it came forth above all to me. The gift of you two still 
 remains whole with me, and the words that came with them I 
 shall always take great care of. And the last gift I suppose was 
 sent near his death : he heard with compassion that I was build- 
 ing this church here at Ulawa, and he sent me several pounds, 
 more than any one could easily give. I shall never be able to 
 forget Bishop Selwyn and Bishop Patteson, who both indeed 
 gave their lives for me, until my day comes when they lay me in 
 the grave. I know by eye-witness that they two were true 
 men of God, who will change their lives for a life of glory. 
 We shall be sorry that his body is removed from us, and that 
 our eyes cannot reach to see him, the hand cannot reach to 
 touch him ; but his life has reached and taken hold of the life 
 of Christ. I shall add my grief to yours, my mother, for my 
 father ; and I shall also praise God for the high place that he 
 has received in the place of eternal life. I wish to know on 
 what day of the month he died, that always on his day I and my 
 people may pray and thank God for him. If you please write 
 and tell me ; and, if it can be, I wish for a little prayer appro- 
 priate for him which you will write and give me, to help the 
 little prayer which I have thought of myself. I have called
 
 THE END 251 
 
 one boy by the name of Selwyn for a remembrance of him. 
 Good-bye, my mother, 
 
 "I am, 
 
 "CLEMENT MARAU." 
 
 On May 14 a meeting was held in the Combination- 
 room at Trinity College, Cambridge, to promote a 
 memorial to the late Bishop. The Vice- Chancellor 
 presided over an influential gathering, which decided 
 that the memorial should be twofold viz., in Cam- 
 bridge and in Melanesia. The really remarkable 
 outcome of the meeting was the fact that the com- 
 mittee which was appointed to carry out the various 
 schemes was of an unusually influential character, 
 consisting as it did of the Bishops of London, 
 Lichfield, Ely, Melanesia, with Bishop Abraham, 
 Lord Ashcombe, Lord Windsor, Sir John Gorst, 
 M.P., most of the Heads of Houses, and numerous 
 other well-known persons. 
 
 The fact is that his heroism attracted all who ever 
 heard his name, and his lovableness all who ever 
 saw his face. 
 
 No more admirable epitome of the man can be 
 found than Provost Hornby's inscription on the 
 memorial brass placed to his memory in Eton College 
 Chapel. 
 
 JOHANNES RICHARDSON SELWYN 
 
 GEORGII AUGUSTI 
 NOV.E ZELANDIJS EPISCOPI PRIMI 
 
 FILIUS NATU MINOR 
 OLIM EPISCOPUS MELANESIENSIS
 
 252 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 DEINDE COLL: APUD CANTABRIGIENSIS 
 IN PATRIS MEMORIAM CONDITO 
 
 PRjEFECTUS 
 VIR INOENUO VULTU FORMA VIR1LI 
 
 SPECTANDUS 
 
 ANIMI CANDORE SANCTITATE VTTJE 
 
 A PUERITIA ^QUALIBUS NOTUS 
 
 RERUM NAVITER AOENDARUM 
 
 AUCTOR STRENUUS IMPAVIDUS 
 
 PATREM UT CORPORE ITA ANIMO REFEREBAT 
 
 LABORUM APPETENS NELIGENS SUI 
 
 CHRISTI FIDELIS MILES ET SERVUS 
 
 AD VIT.fi SU.fi FINEM 
 
 OBIIT PRIDIE IDUS FEBRUARIAS 
 
 MDCCCXCVIII ANNO .fiT. LIII 
 
 The following is Bishop Abraham's translation : 
 
 JOHN "RICHARDSON SELWYW 
 
 younger son of 
 
 George Augustus 
 
 First Bishop of New Zealand 
 
 was for some time Bishop of Melanesia 
 
 and then Master of the College at Cambridge 
 
 founded in memory of his Father 
 
 He was a man remarkable for his 
 
 frank countenance and manly figure 
 
 well known from boyhood among his compeers 
 
 for singleness of mind and purity of life 
 
 being a strenuous fearless Leader 
 
 in all vigorous action 
 he reminded men of his Father 
 
 both in body and mind 
 
 thirsting for hard work and forgetful of self 
 a faithful Soldier and Servant of Christ 
 
 unto his Life's end 
 
 He died on the 12th of February 1898 
 at the age of 53 years
 
 IT is just possible that, in the interest aroused by 
 the life of a stirring man who loved movement and 
 adventure, his spirituality may be to some extent 
 passed over. Yet Bishop John Selwyn could never 
 have achieved what he did had he not had a deep 
 wellspring of spiritual life within him. Given to 
 prayer from his childhood's days, he lived as in the 
 sight of God. He was not much addicted to talk 
 on religious matters, but his letters contain more 
 allusions to this side of his life than might have 
 been expected. Some few are given here that those 
 who may be trying to follow his example in some 
 little way may better learn what manner of man he 
 was : 
 
 To one grieving over a Sons fatal Illness. 
 
 " Your letter arrived just when I was at my 
 worst, and all I could do was to tell you of my 
 loving sympathy and prayers. And what more can
 
 254 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 we do than commend you to Him who knows why 
 He sends you this bitter trial, and why He calls to 
 Himself the young life which He sent into the 
 world through you ? This mystery of pain and 
 sorrow is with us always, and it would be unbearable 
 (as I have seen it unbearable amongst those who 
 have no hope) had not our God's Only Son taken 
 the pain and sorrow on Himself, and thereby taught 
 us that it is no blind fate, but something which 
 hangs on the very deepest love of God Himself. 
 And so we turn to the Man of Sorrows in our 
 sorrow, and find grace to help in time of need. 
 And you will find that grace in helping to bear up 
 your boy's soul and bring him nearer to God, so 
 that the dread may pass away, and he may find 
 peace and rest in the arms in which you lay him. 
 Do you know I think this will be the most sus- 
 taining thought you can have, that you must get 
 close to God yourself and learn to trust Him, so that 
 your boy may feel himself borne by the very 
 strength of your mother-love and trust into the 
 stronger love of the Father to whom she leads him. 
 This is what I have been praying for you, very 
 dimly and imperfectly, but with a strong certitude 
 of the strength which I am asking for you. It is 
 that you may be the channel through which, just as 
 life came to him by you, so now the highest life may 
 flow. This thought will keep your eyes ever upward, 
 and looking up means being strong."
 
 LETTERS ON SPIRITUAL MATTERS 255 
 
 As to joining the Church of Rome. 
 
 " I feel all you say about the beautiful unity of 
 the Roman Catholic Church, but I think you will 
 find that that unity is more apparent than real. I 
 cannot conceive that our Lord gave St. Peter such a 
 definite headship as the Pope claims on the most 
 slender authority. If He did, then St. Paul utterly 
 resisted it, and he was right, when St. Peter was to 
 be blamed and was wrong. And I cannot believe 
 that our Lord delegates His power of infallibility to 
 any mortal man. I would rather go on with our 
 unhappy divisions than bow to that which I cannot 
 believe. The declaration of infallibility cuts off the 
 Church of Rome from the Catholic Church, which 
 is a far greater thing. There is no such thing as an 
 universal Bishop, and one of the greatest of the 
 Popes, the man who sent Augustine, expressly dis- 
 claimed it. But there is a far greater division than 
 this. The God not the doctrinal, perhaps, though 
 I think I could quote you one or two things on this 
 head which would stagger you but the practical 
 God of the Roman popular Church is the Virgin 
 Mary. It is a lovely idea that the heart of woman 
 should be tenderer than the heart of man, and the 
 popular mind has seized on it, and goes to the Virgin 
 to influence her Son. But it is utterly derogatory 
 to the Incarnation. Christ took on Him 'humanity/ 
 not the nature of man or of woman, bub our common
 
 256 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 nature. If then you allow the woman to come 
 between, you derogate from the perfect humanity of 
 our great High Priest. I know the Church will 
 quote you volumes to the contrary, but go into any 
 country you like and see whose altar is attended 
 and to whom prayers are addressed, and you will 
 see that the Virgin ousts Christ." 
 
 On the Love of God. 
 
 " I know so well how at times the blackness seems 
 to settle down like a London fog all of a sudden, 
 and nothing seems to lift it, until you look up into 
 the face of God. God is Love, and I for one can 
 never conceive that God shuts out any human being 
 from that love either here or in the world to come. 
 But I think that a man can, and often does, as we 
 know, so harden himself in sin here that he shuts 
 away the love of God from himself. Now, God 
 never compels, so that it is possible that this pro- 
 cess may go on hereafter. I cannot conceive God 
 not trying to reach the soul, but I can conceive the 
 soul getting so hardened and devilish that it may go 
 on resisting for ever." 
 
 On Freewill after discussing the Jlrst chapter of 
 "Pastor Pastorum" 
 
 " Suppose a husband and wife start together with 
 wills which, though they love one another very
 
 LETTERS ON SPIRITUAL MATTERS 257 
 
 much, are yet constantly liable to clash, and do 
 clash very often. But suppose that as time goes on 
 those wills fall into a mutual harmony and become 
 practically one. Is the love and service which the 
 wife renders to him less pleasing to the husband 
 because now it is almost involuntary (I use the word 
 advisedly), that is, it is unconscious ? The ' service' 
 has become ' perfect freedom,' and, though it is the 
 result of effort in the past, it is now accomplished 
 without effort. So with God. Now we have to 
 strive to serve Him : then, knowing as we are known, 
 we shall find it the most absolute joy to do His 
 will. Surely that will not be a lower service, or one 
 less pleasing. 
 
 "I don't know how we shall be guarded from 
 temptation there. What I think is that the 
 Beatific Vision, the knowing God as He is, will 
 make us like Him, so that we cannot fall. ... I 
 always think that there is a hint of what the 
 effect of God's presence must be on those who stand 
 before it in the indignant answer of Gabriel to 
 Zechariah who doubted his word : ' I am Gabriel 
 that stand in the presence of God,' as if he deemed 
 it impossible that any being who did this could 
 swerve one hair's breadth." 
 
 On the Holy Communion. 
 
 " Yes, I know how time and space vanish at the 
 altar, and that is why I dread the growth of non- 
 
 R
 
 258 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 communicating attendance, as it tends to separate 
 the Communion from the Sacrifice, and I think Christ 
 has inseparably joined them together." 
 
 On Work for Others. 
 
 " Did I tell you that I have been writing to Miss 
 K. about her ' Girls' Correspondence Guild ' ? She 
 has got 300 ladies to join, and they each have a 
 factory girl to whom they write. I am President, 
 and have to write an annual letter. ... I do think 
 it might be a helpful thing. The feeling that there 
 is a soul depending on you as a friend, even if it is 
 only by letter, is very helpful. 
 
 . 
 
 " The idea of ' hope ' is a very good one. I think 
 people don't say so much about it as they do about 
 other things because, first of all, everybody is more 
 or less inclined to hope, and secondly, because Christ 
 has given us so much hope that people are inclined 
 to take it unduly. But this is generally about 
 themselves, and it is in the case of other people that 
 hope fails. So take the lesson and hope when you 
 work for others." 
 
 On Enjoyment. 
 
 " I think that spontaneous delight at anything 
 that is lovely is a proof in itself that God means us 
 to rejoice in His gifts. All nature does, as we see
 
 LETTERS ON SPIRITUAL MATTERS 259 
 
 in the glory of the spring, and children do also. 
 Baby, if you ask her where the ' pretty ' is, looks 
 straight up at the swinging lamp, and jumps from 
 sheer pleasure. And so I think the spirit we ought 
 to cultivate is that happy and hopeful one which 
 rejoices in God's gifts. Not one that is not content 
 to put away a good deal of the enjoyment of them 
 if need be, but one that joys over them when they 
 are there, and treasures them up for remembrance at 
 other times." 
 
 On Death. 
 
 " It is a great thing to have seen such patience in 
 suffering, and it is a great thing also to have been 
 taught that death is not a dreadful thing. If we 
 think that it is only going to another room in our 
 Father's house, it is a lovely thought, for if we love 
 God we shall like to be nearer Him." 
 
 On receiving God's Blessing. A Birthday Letter. 
 
 " God will give you His blessing and all that you 
 need for the coming year, if only you open your 
 heart to receive it. God's blessing is like the Nile 
 here [written from Cairo], only more constant even 
 than that. For that sometimes fails, but He never 
 does, and, as it is always ready to bless, it is the 
 fault of the husbandman if he does not take advan- 
 tage of the blessing. For, if his banks are out of 
 order and his irrigation channels blocked up, then
 
 260 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 the bounteous stream does him no good. So with 
 us, if our channels are blocked up by sloth and want 
 of care, the blessing of God finds no way. What 
 we want is to strive, as far as we can, to be ready 
 and to keep the channels of our heart clear and 
 pure, and then God's blessing will flow down, and 
 all the fruits of the Spirit will blossom out into their 
 fullest growth." 
 
 To a Girl on coming out. 
 
 " This is a little line to greet the day in which you 
 are to blush into womanhood. And indeed it is a 
 very important day in your life, as it means that 
 from this day forward you will have to stand more 
 and more on your own feet, and that you will be 
 more exposed to all that there is around you which 
 may hurt you. Don't be afraid. We can't be kept 
 in bandboxes and wrapped in cotton wool all our 
 lives, and God does not mean us to be. When our 
 Lord prayed for His disciples He said, ' I pray not 
 that Thou wouldest take them out of the world, 
 but that Thou wouldest deliver them from the evil/ 
 We have got to go into and to remain in the world, 
 that we may do the duty which God has sent us to 
 do. And so, when you get into it, as you will do to- 
 morrow, make up your mind that God shall be with 
 you there. Then, strengthened by Him, and put- 
 ting Him first, you will use the world as not abusing 
 it. For here is the danger, lest, little by little,
 
 LETTERS ON SPIRITUAL MATTERS 261 
 
 society, amusements, all the cares and occupations 
 which surround you may make you forget Him. 
 But if you remember Him, and make Him the key- 
 note of your life, then you may use innocent amuse- 
 ments and pleasures as one of His gifts, and one of 
 the ways in which you may glorify Him. And 
 especially may this be the case in all your dealing 
 with men of about your own age. I know what I 
 am talking of when I tell you how much influence a 
 pure bright girl's life may wield on them. You can 
 raise them : never let them lower you. 
 
 " And so too with doubts and difficulties, which 
 you will hear of now when you go out into the 
 midst of them. Remember that, though you perhaps 
 can't answer all of them, yet they are not for that 
 reason unanswerable. Your own life, bright with 
 the light of Him whose light is the life of men, 
 will often be the best answer to others, and feeling 
 His love will be the best answer to yourself. God 
 bless you." 
 
 On Theatres, Dancing, &c. 
 
 " As for theatres and dancing, I think has 
 
 been taught that they are wrong, but I do not think 
 so. They can be, and often are, very wrong, but so 
 can everything else in this world. You can abuse 
 anything. But I do not think that if used with care 
 and moderation they are bad. I have thought a 
 great deal about it, and that is my deliberate
 
 262 BISHOP JOHN SELWYN 
 
 opinion. Old Bishop Hackett used to say, ' Praise 
 God and be cheerful,' and I think that is a very 
 good piece of advice." 
 
 To a Sick Person. 
 
 " I wish I could help you to bear the trial God has 
 sent you, and perhaps I can a little bit, as He has 
 sent me one also, and out of it all I can tell you this, 
 that, if you will trust Him and ask Him, our Father 
 will give you the strength and, more than that, the 
 grace to bear it patiently. He has given you this 
 grace, for you have been good and patient and 
 loving, and I have seen how the trial has deepened 
 and strengthened you ; and so you must believe 
 that, though it seems so hard, there is love behind 
 it, and He will make it accomplish what He wills. 
 So look upward and outward, and you will see His 
 love shining through the clouds, and He will tell 
 you that you are doing something for Him even 
 when you seem to be doing nothing."
 
 INDEX
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABRAHAM, Bishop, 5. 
 Alrewas, 19, 21, 161. 
 & Court-Repington, Mrs., 23. 
 Allbutt, Professor Clifford, 243. 
 America, trip to, 33. 
 
 B 
 
 "BALLARAT," ss., 203. 
 
 Balston, Dr., 11. 
 
 Baptism of second child, 65. 
 
 Bice, Rev. C., 50. 
 
 Bill, Charles, Esq., M.P., 11, 32, 
 
 86, 87. 
 Birth, 1. 
 Bishopric of Melanesia : 
 
 suggestions of, 58. 
 
 recommended for, 62. 
 
 confirmation of appointment 
 
 to, 109. 
 
 Board of Missions, 226. 
 Bongard, Capt., 85. 
 Bower, surrender of murderers of 
 
 Lieut., 188. 
 Bradbury, Dr., 243. 
 Brass in Eton College Chapel, 251. 
 Bruce, Capt., 190, 193. 
 Burial, the Bishop's, 246. 
 
 CABMAK, the Bishop and the, 
 
 216. 
 Cambridge, the Bishop's effect on, 
 
 214. 
 Cambridge House, 229. 
 
 visit to, 234. 
 Children, love of, 141. 
 Churchman, the Bishop's position 
 
 as a, 65. 
 
 Classical tripos, 15. 
 Codrington, Dr., 19, 42, 62, 187. 
 College servants, 225. 
 Comparison between the Bishop 
 
 and his father, 49. 
 Consecration, the Bishop's, 112. 
 letters, about, 96, 96, 101, 103, 
 
 104. 
 postponement of, 92. 
 
 D 
 
 DEATH, the Bishop's, 245. 
 
 letters about, 248. 
 Denman, the late Right Hon. 
 
 George, 213. 
 Doctoring a chief, 164. 
 Dresden, 14. 
 Dudley, Archdeacon, 58. 
 
 s
 
 266 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Dudley, Archdeacon, sermon of, 
 
 114. 
 Dunbar Castle, the ss., 44. 
 
 E 
 
 EASTEB Day at Sea, 126. 
 
 Ely, 6. 
 
 England, his first arrival in, 6. 
 
 Epigrams, 240. 
 
 Eton, 6, 9, &c. 
 
 Eton, Provost of, 8, 261. 
 
 Eton Mission, 228. 
 
 Evans' House, 10. 
 
 FATHEB'S Death, verses on his, 
 
 136. 
 
 Fireworks, 218. 
 Florida, a day in, 155. 
 Flowers, natives' love of, 127. 
 Foreign Service Order, the, 235. 
 Fremantle, Stephen, 11, 72. 
 
 G 
 
 GIKLS' Letter League, the, 235, 
 
 258. 
 Gore, Canon Charles, 223. 
 
 H 
 
 HOLY Orders, his decision to take, 
 
 17. 
 How, Bishop Walsham, 172. 
 
 ILLNESS, the Bishop's last, 242. 
 Infant daughter, death of his, 128. 
 Influences on his missionary life, 
 82. 
 
 Influence, his mother's, 8. 
 Innes, Miss Clara, 22. 
 Islands, first voyage to the, 29. 
 last voyage to the, 199. 
 
 K 
 
 KATE, Mr. and Mrs. Akin Lister, 
 
 188. 
 Kinglake, Mr. R. A., 9. 
 
 LAMBETH Chapel, dedicatory ser- 
 vice in, 43. 
 Langhurst, 205. 
 Lectures, the Bishop's, 220. 
 Letters: a birthday, 259. 
 
 on death, 124, 259. 
 
 on enjoyment, 258. 
 
 a farewell, 191. 
 
 on freewill, 256. 
 
 to a girl on coming out, 260. 
 
 on the Holy Communion, 257. 
 
 from home, 80. 
 
 a humorous, 239. 
 
 on illness, 253, 262. 
 
 on joining the Church of 
 Rome, 255. 
 
 on the love of God, 256. 
 
 from Melanesia, 151, &c.; 
 162,' &c. . 
 
 on Napoleon, 87. 
 
 on spiritual matters, 253. 
 
 on theatres and dancing, 261. 
 
 on work for others, 258. 
 Letter writing, 99. 
 Lichfield, Bishop G. A. Selwyn's 
 acceptance of, 19. 
 
 Bishop of (Dr. Legge), 225, 
 242. 
 
 Cathedral, 13, 99, 116.
 
 INDEX 
 
 267 
 
 Linguistic difficulties, 45, 78. 
 Lyttelton, Right Rev. the Hon. 
 Arthur, 217. 
 
 M 
 
 MARAU, Rev. Clement, 249. 
 
 Marriage, the Bishop's second, 
 162. 
 
 Martin, Sir William, 5, 49. 
 
 Measles, epidemic of, 76. 
 
 Melanesia, the Bishop's first de- 
 parture for, 43. 
 
 the Bishop's first return to, 
 192. 
 
 Melbourne, suggestion of Bishop- 
 ric of, 195. 
 
 Memorial to the Bishop, 251. 
 
 Metcalfe, Dr., 202. 
 
 Missionary adventures, 177. 
 
 Mota, the language, 44. 
 
 Mothers' meeting, visit to, 234. 
 
 Murray, Rev. J. O. F., 229. 
 
 N 
 
 NATIVE boys, 2, 77. 
 
 girls, 74, 98, 123, 143. 
 Newcastle, Bishop Jacob of, 226. 
 Newnham College, 220 
 New Zealand, visit to, 16. 
 Norfolk Island: first arrival at, 
 60. 
 
 a day's work at, 66. 
 
 first impressions of, 62. 
 
 first episcopal work in, 118. 
 
 school at, letters about, 169, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Norway, 241. 
 Nurse, the Bishop's, 4. 
 
 ORDINATION, his, 20. 
 Oxford House, 229. 
 
 PAGBT, Sir James, 204. 
 Palmer, Archdeacon John, 50. 
 Pastoral staff", 159. 
 Patteson, Bishop : 
 
 first influence of, 18. 
 
 death of, 36. 
 
 example of, 83. 
 
 setting up cross to memory 
 of, 169. 
 
 memories of, 166. 
 Pau, 244. 
 
 Penny, Rev. A., 180. 
 Peterborough, Bishop Creighton 
 
 of, 208. 
 Pick, Dr. Pickering, 203. 
 
 Q 
 
 QUBBNSTOWN, 109. 
 
 R 
 
 " RAPID," H.M.S., 203. 
 Richardson, Sir John, 13. 
 Richmond, Mr., 14. 
 Robin, Rev. L. P., 200. 
 Rochester, Bishop Talbot of, 213. 
 Rome, visit to, 197. 
 
 S 
 
 SAILORS, the Bishop's fondness 
 
 for, 35, 147. 
 
 Santa Cruz, Archipelago, footing 
 obtained in, 177. 
 
 Island, footing obtained in, 
 184.
 
 268 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Scott, Admiral Lord Charles, 202. 
 Selwyn, Bishop G. A^ 1. 
 death of, 132. 
 Sir Charles, 13. 
 Selwyn, Bishop John : 
 
 his appearance as a boy, 8. 
 his appearance as a young 
 
 man, 20. 
 early traits, 4. 
 visits to England (1878, 1885), 
 
 139, 161. 
 
 causes of his missionary suc- 
 cess, 174. 
 
 severe rheumatism, 46. 
 he becomes a cripple, 199. 
 Selwyn, Mrs. J. R, her return, 
 
 107. 
 
 her death, 121. 
 Selwyn, Rev. William, 6. 
 Selwyn College, Cambridge, 138. 
 offer of mastership, 207. 
 letters about, 210. 
 home life at, 236. 
 College Boat Club, 224. 
 College Chapel, 222. 
 College Chapel, first service 
 
 in, 223. 
 
 Shottermill, 204. 
 
 Stanton, Rev. Professor, 215, 225. 
 Stephen, birth of Bishop's son, 73. 
 Still, Rev. John, 12, 31, 127, 177, 
 
 182. 
 
 Stroke of the Cambridge eight, 
 the Bishop as, 12. 
 
 TASMANIA, suggestion of Bishop- 
 
 ric, 195. 
 
 Thompson, Mrs., 7. 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, 12. 
 
 U 
 
 UNDERGRADUATES, the Bishop's 
 relations with, 218. 
 
 
 VESSEL of his own, the Bishop's 
 
 wish for, 89. 
 Victoria Hospital for Children, 
 
 146. 
 Volunteering for missionary work, 
 
 the Bishop, 37. 
 
 W 
 
 WAIKATO, expedition to the, 17. 
 Waimate, the, 1. 
 Walsh, Rev. W. H., 20. 
 Waters, Rev. F. E., 27. 
 Ward Beecher, 34. 
 Welshman, Dr., 202. 
 Wilson, Right Rev. Cecil, 221. 
 Wolverhampton, St. GeorgeV, :?6, 
 
 &c. 
 
 Women's degrees, 219. 
 Women, influence of, 23.
 
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