Page 15 - KBHA BULLETIN 3

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Assessments

“I should conceive him with one exception (as we should think), that of exalting the Church,

peculiarly fitted for the work of establishing the English Church through the Colony, ardent,
persevering, clear-headed, cautious, of easy and winning deportment, unscrupulous in

pressing responsibility upon all who have ability to aid, and fertile in devising means ... . He

threw off all reserve and was most easy and engaging, so evidently enjoying anything of
domestic society, often playfully cheerful, till his whole countenance changed to an aspect of

severe gravity, if anything arose in conversation to question the authority of the Church or
any departure from the regular order.” (Mrs Ann Elizabeth Gray, quoted in Hattersley.)

“[He] had, throughout his long and troubled course, one single object mainly in view - to

advance what he deemed to be the cause most dear to God and most beneficial to man; and

... in labours for this end, most unselfish and unwearied, in season and out of season, with
energy which beat down all obstructions, with courage which faced all opposition, with faith

which laid firmly hold of the Unseen Hand, he spent and was spent, body and soul, in His
Service. To him we owe that the foundations of the Church of England were laid in this

Diocese - that the first Clergy were appointed, the first Churches begun, the first Mission

work of our Church started, and the Bishopric established and endowed. And what has been
done here [Natal], is only an example of what has been done elsewhere, by his untiring self-

sacrificing zeal, throughout the vast district originally placed under his charge.” (Bishop
Colenso, quoted in Wood.)

Insights

As a father:

“I see the one grand figure of the Bishop as he always appeared – a perfect gentleman. … I

can never forget the affectionate way in which he took me aside after a public meeting [in
Knysna?], and put his arm around my shoulder and walked away with me to have a quiet and

fatherly talk. He was most anxious that I should keep out of debt, and, when he found that I
could not pay my way, he gave me a cheque for £10, with the request that I would not use it