had no trial of any other man; that I could give any other man who
may come, perhaps, the full benefit of my knowledge of languages, and
of my acquaintance with the islands and the people, while we may
reasonably expect some one to come out before long far better fitted
to organise and lead men than I am? Has he fairly looked at all the
per contra?

Mrs. S.--'I feel sure he has.'

J.C. P.--'I don't deny that my father tells me I must not shrink from
it; that some things seem to point to it as natural; that I must not
venture to think that I can be as complete a judge as the Bishop of
what is good for Melanesia--but what necessity for acting now?'

Here came an interruption, but the conversation was renewed later in
the day with the Bishop himself, when Patteson pleaded for delay on
the score that the isles were as yet in a state in which a missionary
chaplain could do all that was requisite, and that the real
management ought not to be withdrawn from the Bishop; to which the
reply was that at the present time the Bishop could do much to secure
such an appointment as he wished; but, in case of his death, even
wishes expressed in writing might be disregarded. After this, the
outpouring to the father continues:--

'I don't mean to shrink from this. You tell me that I ought not to
do so, and I quite believe it. I know that no one can judge better
than you can as to the general question, and the Bishop is as
competent to decide on the special requirements of the case.

'But, my dear father, you can hardly tell how difficult I find it to