The thought engrossed him most completely.  It is plain in all his letters that it was quite an effort to turn his mind to anything but the approaching change.  His Primate had truly been a ‘Father in God’ to him.  His affections had wound themselves about him and Mrs. Selwyn, and the society that they formed together with Sir William and Lady Martin had become the next thing to his home and family.  Above all, the loneliness of sole responsibility was not complete while the Primate was near to be consulted.  There had been an almost visible loss of youth and playfulness ever since the voyages had been made without the leader often literally at the helm; and though Bishop Patteson had followed his own judgment in two decided points—­ the removal to Norfolk Island, and the use of Mota language instead of English, and did not repent having done so, yet still the being left with none to whom to look up as an authority was a heavy trial and strain on mind and body, and brought on another stage in that premature age that the climate and constant toil were bringing upon him when most men are still in the fulness of their strength.

The next letter spoke the trouble that was to mark the early part of the year 1868 as one of sickness and sorrow.

’Our two Ambrym boys are coming out; and I am hopeful as to some more decided connection with the north face of the Island.  Mahaga lads very promising, but at present Banks Islanders much ahead of the rest.  Indeed, of some of them, I may say that while they have no knowledge of many things that an English lad ought to know, yet they have a very fair share of intelligence concentrated on the most important subject, and know a good deal about it.  They think.’

Then follows a working out of one of the difficult questions that always beset missionaries respecting the heathen notions—­or no notions—­about wedlock.  Speaking of the persons concerned, the journal continues:—­

’They were not able to understand—­and how can a man and woman, or rather a girl and boy, understand—­what we understand by marriage.  They always saw men and women exchanging husbands and wives when they pleased, and grew up in the midst of such ideas and practices, so that there never was a regular contract, nor a regularly well-conceived and clearly-understood notion of living together till “death us do part” in their minds.  You will say, “And yet they were baptized.”  Yes, but I did not know so much about heathen ways then, and, besides, read St. Paul to the Corinthians, and see how the idea of sanctity of marriage, and of chastity in general is about the last idea that the heathen mind comprehends.  Long after the heathen know that to break the sixth, eighth, even the ninth and tenth Commandments is wrong, and can understand and practically recognise it to be so, the seventh is a puzzle to them.  At the best they only believe it because we say that it is a Commandment of God.  Look at the Canons of the early Church on the question; look how Luther sanctioned the polygamy, the double marriage, of the Landgrave of Hesse!  So that although now, thank God, our scholars understand more of what is meant by living with a woman, and the relation of husband and wife is not altogether strange to them, yet it was not so at first, and is not likely to be so with any but our well-trained scholars for a long time.’