Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary

Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer
Missionary

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Title: Mary Slessor of Calabar: Pioneer Missionary
Author: W. P. Livingstone
Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8906] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on August 23,

2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
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SLESSOR OF CALABAR ***

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MARY SLESSOR
OF CALABAR
PIONEER MISSIONARY
BY
W. P. LIVINGSTONE

PREFATORY NOTE
_Life for most people is governed by authority and convention, but
behind these there lies always the mystery of human nature, uncertain
and elusive, and apt now and again to go off at a tangent and disturb the
smooth working of organised routine. Some man or woman will appear
who departs from the normal order of procedure, who follows ideals
rather than rules, and whose methods are irregular, and often, in the
eyes of onlookers, unwise. They may be poor or frail, and in their own
estimation of no account, yet it is often they who are used for the
accomplishment--of important ends. Such a one was Mary Slessor._
_Towards the end of her days she was urged to write her autobiography,
but was surprised at the proposal, and asked what she had done to merit
the distinction of being put in a book. She was so humble-minded that
she could not discern any special virtue in her life of self-sacrifice and
heroism; and she disliked publicity and was shamed by praise. When
the matter was pressed upon her in view of the inspiration which a
narrative of her experiences and adventures would be for others, she

began to consider whether it might not be a duty, she never shrank from
any duty however unpleasant. Her belief was that argument and theory
had no effect in arousing interest in missionary enterprise; that the only
means of setting the heart on fire the magnetism of personal touch and
example; and she indicated that if account of her service would help to
stimulate and strengthen the faith of the supporters of the work, she
would be prepared to supply the material. She died before the intention
could be carried further, but from many sources, and chiefly from her
own letters, it has been possible to piece together the main facts of her
wonderful career._
_One, however, has no hope of giving an adequate picture of her
complex nature, so full of contrasts and opposites. She was a woman of
affairs, with a wide and catholic outlook upon humanity, and yet she
was a shy solitary walking alone in puritan simplicity and childlike
faith. Few ham possessed such moral and physical courage, or
exercised such imperious power over savage peoples, yet on trivial
occasions she was abjectly timid and afraid, A sufferer from chronic
malarial affection, and a martyr to pains her days were filled in with
unremitting toil. Overflowing with love and tender feeling, she could
be stern and exacting. Shrewd, practical, and matter of fact, she
believed that sentiment was a gift of God, and frankly indulged in it.
Living always in the midst of dense spiritual darkness, and often
depressed and worried, she maintained unimpaired a sense of humour
and laughter. Strong and tenacious of will, she admitted the right of
others to oppose her. These are but illustrations of the perpetual play of
light and shade in her character which made her difficult to understand.
Many could not see her greatness for what they called her eccentricities,
forgetting, or perhaps being unaware of, what she had passed through,
experiences such as no other woman had undergone, which explained
much that seemed unusual in her conduct. But when her life is viewed
as a whole, and in the light of what she achieved, all these angles and
oddities fall away, and she