Page:Distinguished Churchmen.djvu/90

64 Chinese clergyman of our own Church. It may be noted that the influence of these missions for good over the Chinese population extends far beyond the circle of actual conversion.

“Then, again, in Queensland there is at present a population consisting of those commonly, but improperly, called Kanakas, who have been brought from the islands of the Pacific for work in the semi-tropical or tropical plantations. A good deal has been done to Christianise them in Queensland, in connection with the Melanesian Mission in the Pacific Islands. Next comes the Melanesian Mission itself, founded by the great Bishop Selwyn, afterwards ennobled by the martyrdom of his successor, Bishop Patteson, and subsequently nobly served by Bishop John Selwyn, the son of the founder. Its principal object is to educate and convert native boys and youths, and then to send them out as missionaries to their own countrymen—as Bishop Selwyn said, ‘to float the black net by a few white corks.’ And this effort, which has its centre at Norfolk Island, is now one of the most successful of English missions, and is mainly supported by the Church in Australia and New Zealand, although it still receives help from at home.

“Lastly, there is the mission to New Guinea, founded and directed by the Board of Missions appointed by the General Synod of the Church in Australia. This mission was begun some fifteen