RECOLLECTIONS OF A COLONIAL PASTOR.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 15, 20 September 1842, Page 4

RECOLLECTIONS OF A COLONIAL PASTOR.

(From the Hobart Town Advertiser.)

It seems as if, of all who leave the home of their ancestors to take up their residence in this distant Isle, none receives a poorer welcome than the minister of the Gospel, whether it be, that the glowing pictures given at home of the missionary life having been viewed through a false medium, and have been by no means realised, he is disappointed ; or, that the people amongst whom he has been located, finding him generally a check upon their loose habits, either by his example, precept, or both, do not come forward to welcome him with that degree of warmth he might have expected; or still worse, endeavour to entrap him in his words or his dealings. It is still certain that few have been appointed to this colony who have been received with the cordiality they expected, and that the disappointment has been bitterly felt.

This want is, however, less apparent in the entertainment met with amongst the wealthier portion of the community, than in the lukewarmness exhibited toward his sacred functions. He is, indeed, called on to inter the corpse, but has never been called to the dying patient’s bedside—so that his hope of their joyful resurrection must be vague indeed. He may too be called on to join in the bond of holy wedlock the hands of those who never have been washed in the waters of baptism—or who are possibly living under the silent, though unremoved, ban of his church. He may, on the Lord’s day, see a congregation before him; but he must not enquire what is the proportion of spiritual worshippers, being well aware that too many of them have been assembled by the muster roll, and not the sound of the churchgoing bell, and that while the benches of his church are thus crowded, the rented pews and sittings are unoccupied. And all this while he is lauded for eloquence, praised for benevolence, and spoken of as a messenger of God indeed : nay, though he lash crime, spoken well of to such an extent that he must dread the application of a sentence from his master’s lips, ‘ Woe unto you when all men speak well of you,’ he finds all a desert round him, scarcely a spot to relieve the eye—to remind him that still there may be spiritual life and encouragement in his almost hopeless labours. He is too frequently compelled to hope against hope, and to cast himself wholly on the word of God, remembering that it is God only that giveth the increase.

It is a cheerless contrast for the Minister of the Gospel, accustomed to behold the smiling happy faces of the village church at home, crowding to hear his word or receive his blessing ; now, to see only the sullen downcast look of slavery ; and hear no answer to his fervent prayer but the dismal clanking of the felon’s chains. Yet even here, he is forced to remember, the Lord may possess a soul washed in the Redeemer’s blood ; and did he not remember that his message is to sinners, miserable must he be indeed. Men of other pursuits and professions will at all times find congenial spirits —the lawyer, the merchant, the farmer, all find their like—their professions are not sneered at —their objects are tangible, and all well calculated to feed the natural pride of man, nor is his conduct placed under a professional restraint, and though he may indulge the fond laugh, or some much less excusable delight, there is none to say lt how unseemly,” 11 how unlike a Christian.” But the object of the clergyman’s labours is the souls of men—they are unmanageable, and “ must be held in with bit and bridleand though he should rejoice with all his heart over one reclaimed from the error of his ways, he finds, alas! that the most promising is too frequently more in need of prayers for protection than a subject of j°y-

But I trust there are many amongst us who regret not our carnal liberty, and who find in the retirement of the study, or at the bedside of the dying penitent, whether an occupant of the woodman’s hut, or the residence of the opulent settler, a solace for their bitterest trials. Let it be but felt, that the people value the comforts and privileges of the Church of Christ, and the ministers of the Church will at all times enjoy a delight, second only in effect to the assurance they experience of being themselves accepted in the beloved. E. M. S.