THE BISHOP OF CALEDONIA 199
ever found delight in placing upon a sound and logical basis the languages of the various tribes he has met with, and the fact that some of these tribes possess the Bible and Prayer-book in their own vernacular is testimony of his practical concern for them. At the time his wooden city was doomed to be burnt, Dr Ridley possessed, carefully stowed away in his library, unfinished native grammars, the outcome of immense thought and patience, in addi tion to a unique collection of notes for the production, at a more convenient season, of books dealing with his Indian people. " I mourn for my library," he wrote home to the C.M.S. Gleaners. "All my manuscripts the work of many years, on subjects that are peculiarly my own translations of Scripture, folk-lore, poems, two grammars one very com plete, my best work and material for a book on the origin, habits, traditions and religions of Indians. Tis, I think, a real loss to literature, seeing that I cannot live long enough and have not the energy to try to reproduce even some of it." Thus, it will be seen, there was nothing beyond the mark in the Bishop s observation anent his being a homeless wanderer. Indeed, the paramount object of his visit to this country during last autumn was to elicit the help of his fellow-countrymen, and of his fellow- churchmen in particular, in providing the necessary means for the re-establishment of his work on lines akin to those pursued before fire proved to be his worst enemy.
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