My dear Mrs. Norsworthy, I must write a few lines to thank you for your account of my dear old friend, who, I feel, is lying in the land of Beulah, though broken by these times of distress. It was something the same with good old Judge Patteson, father of the Bishop. He had a throat complaint that he knew must bring final choking. And when it had very nearly come, as he revived, he said, ... continue reading

My dear Anne Thank you for your letter. I am very sorry you feel so deplorable and still more sorry that our last conversation should have been such as to leave an uncomfortable impression on your mind I am afraid it was all my fault and I am particularly sorry to have talked in such a manner as to make you think I meant to set myself up for an example which was far ... continue reading

My dear John I hope the untoward task you had to perform on Monday may turn out better than there seems reason to expect, for really one has no right to look for happiness from such a marriage. As the little man was going to Gibraltar, she had better have left him to take a wife from among the Monkeys of the Rock. He might have matched himself from among so many. Delia ... continue reading

My dear Cousin, I have received at length from my father a distinct statement of what you have given to the Melanesian Mission. I had heard rumours before, and the Bishop of Wellington had spoken to me of your intentions, but the fact had not been regularly notified to us.

I think I know you too well to say more than this. May God bless you for what you have lent to Him, and ... continue reading

My dear Sir John,

I must thank you for the great pleasure you have given me by the tidings of this morning. It is the point to which we have so long worked forward that it seems as if a goal were attained though that goal be only the starting point for a severer race

It will be very remarkable if your Son’s Consecration and that of Archdeacon Mackenzie both the foremost truly Missionary Bishops should take ... continue reading

My dear Fanny,

I thought it might be more comfortable to you not to hear from me till the great stress of letters was over at first, and so that I would wait to write till I could send the precious letters. We took our turn the last, and so read them upon Friday, the very day one would have chosen above all others for it, the girding to the battle in that calm and self-devoted ... continue reading

How can I grieve and sorrow about my dear dear Father’s blessed end? . . . I shall like the photograph of Hursley Vicarage and Church, the lawn and group upon it. But most shall I like to think that Mr. Keble, and I dare say Dr. Moberly too, pray for me and this Mission. I need the prayers of all good people indeed.

My dear Cousin, I write a line at once in reply to a letter of January 29, for I see that a great sorrow is hanging over you, is perhaps already fallen on you, and I would fain say my word of sympathy, possibly of comfort.

One, perhaps, of the great blessings that a person in my position enjoys is that he must perforce see through the present gloom occasioned by loss of present companionship on to ... continue reading

My dear Cousin, Our last New Zealand season, for it may be our last, draws near its close. On Monday, only two days hence, the ‘Southern Cross’ sails (weather permitting) with our first instalment. Mr. Palmer has got his house up, and they must stow themselves away in it, three whites and forty-five blacks, the best way they can. The vessel takes besides 14,000 feet of timber, 6,000 shingles for roofing, and boxes of books, &c., ... continue reading