Letter Robert Tomlinson to Church Missionary Society 04 February 1878
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1. Kincolith
2. February 4th 1878
3. Reverend and Dear Sirs
4. About a month after the date of my last
5. letter we were glad to welcome B[isho]p Bonipas.
6. You will be pleased to learn that he has restored
7. my license. B[isho]p Hills having left the settlement
8. of that matter to his hands. As B[isho]p Bonipas will
9. be writing to you himself I need say no more on
10. this point. With regard to my being priested the
11. case is different and it is on account of this and
12. other circumstances connected with it but I f
13. eel bound to again address you without awaiting
14. your reply of my last.
15. So long as your anxiety about what is termed
16. the anomalous position of these missions, was
17. expressed in mere wishes however strong, we felt
18. that from us who did not sympathize with you
19. in your anxiety a simple statement of the steady
20. progress of the spiritual and temporal growth of
21. these two stations together was a suggestion that
22. nothing should be forced, was all that was required.
23. But as soon as you were prepared to incur a considerable
24. money expenditure, to push forward Mr. Hall’s ordination
25. and to urge me to take priest’s orders it beho[o]ved us
26. to look at our position. Hitherto we had acted among
27. these heathen not as the ministers of any one Church
28. but simply as the ambassadors of Christ and
29. only when we saw that we were fully prepared
30. for it had we introduced any special forms
31. or rites, for fear of clouding the simple Gospel.
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1. Now however we have to consider how far we could
2. concur in the proposed changes, or, if that could not be,
3. make room for those who could carry them out in
4. their integrity. How far brother Duncan feels his position
5. affected by these changes I will not say, as you will
6. probably receive a letter from him on the subject
7. nor will I refer to the sad events which occurred last
8. autumn while Mr. Hall was in charge of Metlakatla
9. and which have complicated matters considerably.
10. I wish simply to confine myself to the proposed
11. changes as they affect me. B[isho]p Bonipas entirely
12. concurs with you in the advisability of having things
13. carried out at these missions strictly in accordance
14. with the ritual of the Church of England. He moreover
15. agrees with you in thinking that the natives are
16. sufficiently far advanced to receive and profit
17. by this ritual and he considers it an anomaly
18. in missions established as long as these are for a
19. layman or deacon to be at the head of the
20. spiritual department. I may add that he has
21. pressed upon me very kindly yet very strongly
22. my taking priest orders not only as a matter of
23. expediency but of duty. On all these points
24. we are directly at variance. While I am not
25. conscious of having practiced or taught anything
26. contrary to the doctrine and practice of the Church
27. of England. I do not think that these peoples
28. minds are sufficiently emancipated from the
29. thraldom of superstition for them to receive many
30. forms or ceremonies without damage to the growth
31. of spiritual life in their hearts, nor do I think
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1. that it will be advisable to introduce these forms as
2. a whole among them at any one time but that as
3. they grow in knowledge a gradual introduction of
4. these would be only the only safe plan. Again as regards
5. to my duty to be priested not one of the arguments used
6. has shaken my firm conviction that I am neither
7. physically nor mentally suited for that office, on
8. the contrary, the more thoroughly I have considered the
9. matter than or fully convinced I am that as a deacon
10. I can use those talents committed to me ,for the glory of God.
11. But while I speak thus plainly I have no wish
12. to oppose or hamper users in making any change
13. you may think best. I can never forget that it
14. was as your missionary I came here and as your
15. missionary I have been in charge of the station
16. and that so long as I can continue in connection with
17. the Society I am bound by your decisions. The
18. greatest harmony and mutual confidence has
19. hitherto existed between us and I have no wish
20. that anything should arise to interfere with the
21. continuance of them, but I cannot hide from
22. myself that if with my present views I were to
23. attempt to carry out the wishes of the Society a
24. clash must soon occur. Therefore it is that I
25. wish to obtain from you permission to leave Kincolith
26. station and take up a post among the Kitikshean.
27. It is no mere wish for change that I dictates this.
28. From many points of view the change would be a
29. painful one. Limited has been our communication
30. with the civilized world it would be more limited there
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1. Many dear ties must rudely burst asunder. Many
2. plans proposed for the improvement of the station
3. must be abandoned and then the feeling that the
4. change may prove a hinderance to the progress of this
5. place. These and many other reasons urge me to stay
6. where I am. But all are more than counterbalanced
7. by the certainty that did I obtain your sanction to
8. continue in charge of the station without being
9. priested my connection with the old regime is
10. so close and the union of these two stations so
11. intimate that once the change is effected at
12. Metlakatla nothing but bickerings and
13. disagreement would ensue.
14. The proposal to go to the Kitiksheans is not a hap[-]
15. hazard idea. Their circumstances and needs have
16. long exercised my mind and the call I receive
17. while among them last summer still brings still rings
18. in my ears. I will now put the proposal in
19. a definite shape that you may see what it is and
20. what is not proposed to be done so that there
21. may be no cause hereafter for regret on either
22. side. Moreover it is absolutely necessary if you
23. look favourably on it that I should know your
24. mind as soon as possible Else a whole year may
25. be lost. What I submit for your approval is this:
26. 1st with the help of the Kitiksheans to find a central
27. and suitable spot for a Mission Station.
28. 2nd on the spot to settle down and thither to draw
29. any of the natives from the different tribes who
30. may wish to forsake their present homes in live
31. as Christians. Many have already expressed a wish
to do so.
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1. 3rd That stockraising and Agriculture be began at once
2. on lands to be taken up around the Mission House
3. and carried on as the Climate and means will permit.
4. 4th That all Indians who settle at the Mission be urged
5. and encouraged to take up the land adjoining the
6. mission farm and work on it on their own account.
7. 5th That I should itinerate among the various tribes
8. at such those seasons of the year when they are congregated
9. at their villages.
10. 6th That to enable me to do so the more effectually I be
11. empowered to employ engage the services of a whiteman
12. competent to take charge of the farming operations
13. at a salary not to exceed one hundred pounds per annum.
14. 7th That is understood that while the Society do not
15. see the necessity for, nor urge, me to undertake
16. anything beyond my duties as a missionary they
17. will not oppose my taking up trade, sawmill or
18. other secular work so long as the same be for the
19. benefit and in the interest of the mission and
20. provided the Society not be involved in any money
21. risk or loss except so far as they may make
22. special grants for the same.
23. Such is a brief outline of what is proposed in addition
24. to the ordinary duties of every true missionary who feels
25. that he is working for the Great Lord of the Harvest.
26. Of the seven points named. I consider only the first,
27. and fifth and seventh as absolutely necessary.
28. To attach oneself to any one tribe, while much
29. less arduous for the Missionary, would, I feel sure, prove
30. a stumbling block to the others. To be so bound to one
31. place is that it would be impossible to frequently {???}
32. all would be leaving the work half undone.
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1. To attempt to establish a mission among them without
2. developing the natural resources of their country is to
3. leave them at the mercy of any traders who may come
4. along however immoral they may be and expose
5. them to the temptation to go to the rivers and elsewhere
6. among the lowest and most demoralized to seek the
7. means to purchase that subsistence ^with^ with which their own
8. land would provide them did they but know how
9. to work it. With such half hearted work I have no {???}
10. If we are to do Gods work among these people let us fearlessly
11. lay our hand to any and everything that will prove
12. a permanent blessing to them asking God to guide
13. and bless us. This and this alone is the work I wish
14. to engage in. If such a plan meets with your approval
15. you have only to say so and I am prepared to throw
16. myself into it heart and hand. If on the other hand
17. you think such a mode of dealing with them outside
18. of your province, then, I beseech you, hide it not from
19. me. I will anxiously await your reply to this
20. as once the spring opens every day is of importance.
21. May God direct you in this in an all your
22. deliberations.
23. Sincerely and obediently
24. Yours
25. Robt Tomlinson
