CHAPTER XII. THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
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CHAPTER XII.
THE GOOD SHEPHERD.
I HAD now a family consisting of three sons and three daughters; of these, four were born on the Chatham Islands. Upon the subject of baptism my wife and I were exceedingly anxious; fortunately a minister of the gospel was at hand, who duly performed the sacred ceremony, and the character of that holy man was so exemplary that I cannot pass him by in silence. A few years before, a minister arrived at the main island, delegated from the Evangelical Church of Berlin--the Rev. Francis Scheirmeister. He was by birth and education a gentleman, and by the grace of God, a zealous Christian in deportment, conversation, example, and precept. He was truly a model which his fellow-men would do well to copy. The unaffected humility of his disposition touched the most insensible and callous heart; the boldest and most daring sinner on the island would bend in reverence before him; oven the unenlightened savage could read the simple and holy character of this man of God, and invariably named him the minita tika (true minister.) Our good Primate of New Zealand, who knew him well, always spoke of him in the warmest and most feeling manner; indeed, he fully appreciated the worth of his less exalted fellow labourer. His unexceptionable qualities, however, could not secure him against adversity, and his constitutional weakness unfitted him for the constant struggle with so many turbulent and unquiet spirits; at length, after much patience and long-suffering, oppressed in mind, body, and estate, he came to this island with his wife and two little daughters, and took up his residence in a neat little cottage which I built purposely for him. From a very early age my children had received daily instruction from him; and, while he imparted to his pupils the knowledge of this world, he never failed to speak of that
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wisdom compared to which the science of the philosopher is a dream. The Sabbath day was a happy one, and ever hailed with delight. Upon that day every member of my family would punctually attend his cottage and join in devotion, or kneel silently while he poured forth his eloquent soul in prayer. For nearly two years we sat at the foot of this man of God, and listened to his holy admonitions. At length a letter arrived from Berlin summoning him home; he was about to comply, when a most serious illness fell upon him. At this time the good Bishop Selwyn arrived here in his yacht, and most kindly undertook to convey him to New Zealand; but he was so weak and exhausted that his Lordship assisted in making a litter, and in carrying him to the boat; in fact, he treated him almost with parental tenderness--
"By their fruits ye shall know there."
Upon his arrival in Wellington his illness assumed a more serious form, and for some time his life was despaired of; eventually, however, he rallied, and his medical advisers urged his proceeding immediately to a warmer climate, as the only means of preserving a valuable life; accordingly, with his family, he proceeded to Sydney, and eventually became the pastor of a German congregation in the vicinity of Moreton Bay. From that place we received most affectionate letters, replete with pious advice to my children; but latterly our correspondence has ceased; indeed, my last letters remain unanswered: he may have returned to his home in Germany; but our impressions are that he has entered into that eternal home not made with hands.
