their clothing. Egbo, however, had a certain power for good, and was
often evoked in aid of law and order. Naturally it was the divorcing of
superfluous wives, and the freeing of slaves that formed the greatest
difficulty for the missionaries--it meant nothing less than breaking up
a social system developed and fortified by long centuries of custom.
Thus early Miss Slessor came to see that it was the duty of the
missionary to bring about a new set of conditions in which it would be
possible for the converts to live, and the thought influenced her whole
after-career.

The district of Calabar afforded a striking object-lesson of what could
be achieved. There was no central native government, and the British
consular jurisdiction was of the most shadowy character. So far there
had been but the quiet pressure of a moral and spiritual agency at
work, but under its influence the people had become habituated to the
orderly ways of civilisation, and were living in peace and amity. It
was admitted by the officials that the agreements which they concluded
with the chiefs had only been rendered possible by the teaching of the
missionaries: and later it was largely upon the same sure and solid
foundations that British authority was to build.

So, she realised, it was not a case where one could say, "Let there be
light," and light would shine. The work of the Mission was like
building a lighthouse stone by stone, layer by layer, with infinite
toil and infinite patience. Yet she often found it hard to restrain her
eagerness. "It is difficult to wait," she said. One text, however, kept
repeating itself--"Learn of Me." "Christ never was in a hurry," she
wrote. "There was no rushing forward, no anticipating, no fretting over
what might be, Every day's duties were done as every day brought them,
and the rest was left with God. 'He that believeth shall not make