CONSOLIDATION 119 



and instruction. Then once more comes my own 

 study and devotion, and bed at 10 p.m." 



All this represents a full life, but monotonous when 

 lived day by day, week by week, year by year the 

 same. But the monotony is relieved by the truest 

 pleasure, viz., seeing the dawning faith, the growing 

 trust, the brighter lives of those for whom the life 

 is lived. Soul after soul is saved ; one after another 

 is set as a jewel in the crown of Christ that crown 

 which He will wear as soon as it shines with the 

 varied hues of all the lustre of the world ; not of 

 Jerusalem or of Samaria alone, but of the uttermost 

 parts of the world the ice-bound shores of the 

 Eskimos. 



It is probable, also, that the law of compensation 

 operates in the life of every one who is willing to 

 come under its influence. Monotony and isolation 

 tend to their own relief for the cheery disposition 

 and the willing servant of God. The missionary 

 who has constant opportunities of associating with 

 his fellow-countrymen, or whose life may be relieved 

 by ordinary pleasures, as in the case of one resident 

 in an Indian station, has a certain amount of tempta- 

 tion which may lead him to look upon association 

 with natives of the country as irksome. But in 

 such a position as Little Whale River, the English- 

 man, cut off from his natural environment altogether, 

 will discover all the attractive qualities and char- 

 acteristics he can in those by whom he is surrounded 



