you invite them to your house on Sunday afternoons, you may depend
upon it that after two or three weeks you will not know how to keep
them in order."

Such, and many more, were the discouraging remarks made when I
consulted my neighbours about my plan for collecting the shepherds
from the surrounding runs, and holding a Church of England Service
every Sunday afternoon at our own little homestead. To my mind, the
distances seemed the greatest obstacle, as many of the men I wanted
to reach lived twenty-five or even thirty miles away, with very
rough country between. I had no fear of impertinence, for it is
unknown to me, and seldom comes, I fancy, unprovoked; whilst with
regard to the novelty wearing off and the men ceasing to attend,
that must be left in God's hands. We could only endeavour to plant
the good seed, and trust to Him to give the increase. It was a
great comfort to me in those early days that F---, who had been many
years in the colony, never joined in the disheartening prophecies I
have alluded to. Although as naturally averse to reading aloud
before strangers as a man who had lived a solitary life would be
sure to be, he promised at once, with a good grace, to read the
Evening Service and a sermon afterwards, and thus smoothed one
difficulty over directly. His advice to me was precisely what I
would fain repeat: "Try, by all means: if you fail you will at least
feel you have made the attempt." May all who try succeed, as we
did! I believe firmly they will, for it is an undertaking on which
God's blessing is sure to rest, and there are no such fertilizing
dews as those which fall from heaven. The mists arising from earth
are only miasmic vapours after all!

But I fear to linger too long on the end, instead of telling you