The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-03

the University of Cambridge, like many
another man, intending to take holy Or
ders in the Established church, and.
like only the favored few, succeeded in
making a high academicaI reputation for
himself as a mathematical tutor. 1t was
in this earlier part of his career that he
produced the textbooks already MENTION
ed. Having been appointed to a country
living in England in 1886, he was sewn
years later elected to the missionary
bishopric of Natal. What distinguished
him as a missionary from the very outset
was his unusual sympathy with the hu-
man interest in the Zulu Kaffirs, whose
conversion, and not the care of the white
mans soul, he very logically considered
his chief business
Bishop Colenso held that 1t was not
enough for the white man to go to Natal
and insist upon the kaffir's learning to
speak English and wear suspenders
This, or something very like it, had been
the conventional notion Of missionary OBJ
legations until mis- time. He insisted that
the preacher of the white mans God
ought to be able to talk to the Kaffir
in his own tongue or tongues. The prop
osition was a hard one for the avera re
missionary in those parts, because the
Zulu tongue is one Of the most extrava-
gantly arduous of attainment for any
one but a pure bred Zulu, distinguished.
like Chinese and the ancient spoken Ian
guage of Greece, by the Importance of
Its tonic accents, and, further, abound
ing in strange palatal clicks and
"clucks," the like of which are hardly
to be found in any other language un 5e-
heaven. But in spite of these Difficult
ties the new bishop, by dint of associating
with natives to an extent almost un-
heard of among white men before his
time, did succeed in so far mastering
their language that Colenso's Zulu
Grammar" al d "ZuIu-English Dict'on-
ary'' are to this day reckoned quite as IA
vorable as his mathematical works by
those competent to Judge of both, though
the number be comparatively small
But the book which was to make B shop
Colenso's name share, in the decade of
the Civil war, the columns of English
newspapers almost on equal terms with
the names of Mcclellan, Lee, Grant and
Lincoln, did not appear until 1852 This
was the first volume of THE Penta-
teuch."
1t was of this book that a learned and
reverend English schooImaster holding a
copy of 1t in one hand and a Co-enso's
Arithmetic" in the other, said Gu 1ting
from Addison's Cato" This my bane
and this my antidote." And when asked
if he meant that the logic of the mathe-
NAUTICAL work counteracted the heterod X
reasoning of the theological, he explai in
ed, cautiously, That may be so, too. But
the rising generation that has en-
soundly dOsed with his Arithmetic will
never thirst for his 'Pentateuch' y
The heresy of DR.. Briggs, to take
contemporary example, aroused no more
violent storm than did Colensos denial of
the inspira ton of the Old Testament Like
for
ever contended this denial was backed
by what he at least regarded as co-ent
reasoning and his opponents could not
afford to regard as trivial His ar2u-
ments, often suggested by some ingenu-
Gus but Intelligent Kaffir whom he had
tried to convince of the truth of Chris
tianIty, were often new TO the rel ious
world and mostly original. They have,
in the seven and thirty years since they
first begar TO be published not only
proved the faith of many an earnest sc k
er after truth, but furnished the profess