ΤΟ THE WIDOW AND CHILDREN OF THE DECEASED, THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, WITH THE EARNEST PRAYERS OF THE AUTHOR, THAT THE GOD OF THE MISSIONARY MAY BE THEIR GUIDE, THEIR HELPER, AND THEIR PORTION FOR EVER. PREFACE. In the preparation of the following pages a twofold object has been had in view-first to raise a worthy tribute to the memory of a faithful and devoted missionary, and secondly to give a brief historical sketch of the missions in South Africa with which he was connected during a period of four and twenty years. The missions are the background of the picture in which he is here represented as one of the leading figures; and a very striking picture it is, as, I think, the reader will admit. The materials put into my hands for the compilation of the work consisted of a large number of letters and papers, together with a journal kept by Mr Pearse, with a few intermissions here and there, from the time of his leaving England to nearly the close of his life. This Journal, however, was not written with the remotest idea of its ever being pub lished, for it consists, for the most part, of records hastily penned, often under the most disadvantageous circumstances. But I have culled from it nearly all the principal facts of the writer's missionary career ; and have frequently given extracts from it, verbatim, thus allowing him to tell his own story and to convey his own impressions and thoughts. For the facts of his early history I am indebted to his brother Mr Charles Blight Pearse, and Mr C. Tonkin of Bodmin ; -for several valuable statements to the Rev. W. Shaw; for the loan of a number of letters, for important information respecting the missions in Natal, and for an account of Mr Pearse's last days and departure, to the Rev. Joseph Gaskin of Boulogne. Testimonies to the worth and excellence of his character from many other friends are interwoven in the several chapters of the work, and I doubt not that, had I waited to receive them, more such would have been furnished by friends and ministers whom he has left behind him in South Africa. This is the jubilee year of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and a blessed year it has already proved. Far and wide has the trumpet been blown, calling upon |
