Noble Workers; A Book of Examples for Young Men

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1876. Excerpt: ... NOBLE WORKERS. JOHN COLERIDGE PATTESON, THE MISSIONARY BISHOP. John Coleridge Patteson was the eldest son of Sir John Patteson, who, after a short but successful course at the bar, was raised to the bench in 1830, and of Frances Duke Coleridge, daughter of Colonel Coleridge, elder brother of the poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Patteson family thus stood in close relationship to another family which has given judges of high repute to the English bench; and the pathway to eminence in various walks of life was in this way thrown open to any scion of the house. Coleridge, or Coley Patteson, as he was named by his family and friends in boyhood, was born in Bedford Square, London, in 1827. In his childhood he showed great thoughtfulness as well as quickness, being able to read by his fifth year. On his birthday he received from his father the Bible which was used at his consecra m tion as bishop twenty-seven years afterwards. It 'is not without a noticeable forecast of his later character, alike in its simplicity, thoroughness, and devotion, that we are told, He read it eagerly, puzzled his brains as to what became of the fish during the Flood, and, when suddenly called to the nursery, begged to be allowed ' to finish the binding of Satan for a thousand years.' Even from this early period the desire to be a clergyman was cherished. And the purpose was fostered by his mother. That he should be a good servant at God's altar was to her above all price. The whole order and spirit of the home was calculated to promote devotion and reverence, --the mother making the religious instruction of the children her special care, reading the Psalms and the Scripture lessons with them every morning. His old nurse remembers the little sevenyear-old boy, after saying h...