JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17889, 17 September 1921, Page 1 (Supplement)

JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON.

FIRST BISHOP OF MELANESIA.

BT JOHN EASZLDWJ.

All round the Christian world the name of John . Coleridge Pattesoh will be remembered on Tuesday, September 20, 1921, because 50 years ago, that day, Bishop Patteson was killed at Nukapu, Santa Cruz. Bishop Patteson was born in England, and was the son of an English judge. As a boy, at Eton College, he listened to a sermon given by the great Bishop Selwyn on his first visit to England, after he became Bishop of New Zealand. This led in due time to Patteson's ordination, and then to his joining the New Zealand Mission. Among the many gifts possessed by Patteson was the gift to a most unusual extent of learning languages. What was hard work, taking long and patient study, to most men, was easy to him. Tie was also quite willing to live on the most simple food, and to go without what others thought necessary for life. Bishop Selwyn therefore saw that in him were all the gifts that were required for a missionary in that part of Selwyn's huge diocese, known as Melanesia. After six years as a missionary, Patteson was consecrated as Bishop of Melanesia, in St. Paul's first church, at the top of Shortland Street, Auckland, in 1861. The Consecration took place on Sunday, February ! 24, 1861. For nine years Bishop Patteson kept on at steady work. He must have longed to go Home and see his father, Sir John'Patteson, but he never did. He literally and truly gave himself and his all to the work- He had considerable private means, and this went to the work of the mission. He also gave money and land to the Diocese of Auckland. He contributed one piece of land in the City of Auckland, the entire proceeds from which belong to the income of tile Bishop of Auckland at the time being. He "visited Auckland in the Southern Cross occasionally, and preached in our churches. The school for the Melanesian scholars was at Kohimarama until 1867, when it was removed to Norfolk Island, as the climate of Auckland was found to he too cold for the islanders.

Bishop Patteson was not a great preacher' like Bishop Selwyn. The wonder, ful voice and the calm dignity of the great bishop, compelled attention and delighted His hearers; but the strange charm of manrie l- and the influence of Bishop Patteson was something which only those who have felt his power can understand.

Death of Bishop Fattesos. On September 20, 1871, Patteson went in the Southern Cross to Nukapu, a small island of the Santa Cruz Group. ' The vessel lay off the island, and the bishop and the Rev. Joseph Atkin -went in the ship's boat inside the reef. The water was not deep enough for the boat, and so the bishop got into one of the canoes without r-ny of his party, and was taken ashore by the natives. He went into one of the native huts, and sat down. A native came behind him and struck him on the head with a club, and he died almost at once. Then the natives wrapped the body in a mat and put a palm branch, with five knots tied in it, on his breast, and placed the body in a canoe alone, and pushed the canoe out, so that it drifted towards the ship's boat." But before it was recovered, some natives aimed poisoned arrows at Mr. Atkin and the others in the boat, and Mr. Atkin and Stephen Taroaniara were hit. Wounded badly, these good men persisted in their work and removed the body of' the bishop from the canoe, and took it on board the Southern Cross. The bishop's body was buried at sea, the Rev. Joseph Atkin reading the service. The bishop was only 44 when he died. After three days of dreadful suffering Mr. Atkin and Stephen both died from their wounds.

The mission schooner sailed for Auckland, and on October 31, 1871,. arrived, and anchored off Kohimarama. The flag was half-mast high. Old Mr. Atkin, the father of the Rev. Joseph Atkin, went down to the beach, and as the boat came ashore he was told " the worst has happened." When he was informed that his son, the bishop, and Stephen were dead, he said, " There is worse for you missionaries than to die." The feeling in Auckland was profound. The sorrow was great in the whole community Much sympathy was also expressed for the grand old father, and Miss Atkin, the sister of the young missionary. Bishop Selwyn's revenge on the Melaneeians for the murder of Bishop Patteson was, that he gave them his own beloved son, and the Bev. John Richardson Selwyn, and the Rev. John Hill, his friend and curate, joined the mission. It was all done so simply; but it was noble, and those of us who remember those- three men, have felt it as such during all the years that are past.

Patteson Memorials. A memorial cross is erected on the reef at Nukopu close to the spot where Bishop Patteson was- killed. The words on the cross are:—ln Memory of John Coleridge Patteson, D.D., Missionary Bishop. September 20 1871." There are other memorials in many parts of the Dominion. In the very 'beautiful little chapel at St. John s College, Tamaki, there are two stained glass windows of the best kind. Part of the college building is called the " Patteson Wing," and many churches have memorial windows. But the most beautiful memorial of all is probably the memorial chapel of the Melanesian Mission, at Norfolk Island. Outside it is not very attractive. The architect in England who drew the plans, thought that Norfolk Island was subject to hurricanes, and so he made the chapel hurricane proof. But the inside, which is the great matter, is lovely. Probably outside of England and Italy there is nothing of the kind bo perfect. It is a question now, what is to become of the chapel? Norfolk Island is likely to be given up as the headquarters of the mission, as the missionaries can now live in the islands of Melanesia. Something must be done to preserve' the chapel, and some use must be made of it. Can anyone suggest a spot more suitable for the chapel to be removed to than Auckland ? I should like to see it erected in one of our beauty spots, right in the heart cf Auckland, like Albert Park, or perhaps at the top of Victoria Street East, with the east end of the chapel right inside the park, and the west end facing down Victoria Street, towards Queen Street. How much it would mean for Auckland ? It would be open all day for private prayer, and mid-day services could be held in it. Every visitor to Auckland would wish to see it. Probably it would become a source of income to tho Melanesian Mission; and it might be a means of grace to countless people in Auckland. Bishop Patteson has left New Zealand an ideal of the highest Christian character. He was a Christian hero and a martyr. Well born, naturally strong in body and brain, highly cultured, charming in manner, rich in this world's goods, he lived and died as a humble follower of Jesus Christ. At the Auckland Diocesan Synod ,on October 15, 1872, Bishop Cowie said, " In the deliberate judgment of some among us, Bishop Patteson had attained to a greater measure of Christian perfection than any other man whom we have known." Bishop Cowie was right. The work for which Bishop Patteson gave his all, will never stop. The name of John Coleridge Patteson must, live for ever in the memory of the Christian people of New Zealand, and it will remind them of a man who was good, pure, noble, and set an example for all to follow.''