you to reside at Pitcairn. I hope you will accede to this request, either verbally or in writing, before we separate." Next morning he received the following letter:

"MY HONOURABLE FRIEND,

August, 1852.

"In compliance with your kind suggestion I have written down a few items respecting myself, and my position on Pitcairn Island. I am, unfortunately, the unacknowledged son of the Marquis of, and my mother was the daughter of an Irish baronet, who, becoming implicated in the Irish Rebellion, left his country, it was supposed for France, and in all probability the boat in which he embarked foundered, as neither himself nor the three or four who ventured with him were ever heard of again. My beloved mother died in the year 1822, and on her death-bed exacted from me a solemn promise that I would never accept of any favour at the hands of my father's family, nor appropriate to my use a sum of money invested in

6

1 "His mother, and grandmother, Lady were much reduced in circumstances. Through their friend Admiral Murray, commanding at North Yarmouth, the young boy (then under the care of a family called Nobbs, whose name his mother made him assume) was placed on board the 'Snipe' to wait the arrival of the Hero,' commanded by an acquaintance of his mother, Captain Newman. The Hero' was wrecked in the meantime. Admiral Murray having informed his mother that inquiries had been made respecting her son, and that he would be removed, she immediately withdrew him from the service. Every action of her life bore with it the feeling that her son should never be benefited by the person who had blighted her name. Her son returned to school, and subsequently went to India in the merchant service in 1819.”—Letter from Admiral Moresby, addressed to His Grace the Duke of Northumberland.

the public funds, placed there it seems for my support as early as 1803 or 1804. I cheerfully complied with her request at the time she made it, and I am determined to observe the same line of conduct to the end of my life. Moreover, my mother was anxious that I should quit England, and take up my abode in some distant part of the world, where her wrongs and mine might be buried in oblivion. I mentioned Pitcairn's Island to her, and as much of its history as had come to my knowledge. She was delighted with the idea of my going there, and almost her last words were, 'Go to Pitcairn's Island, my son, dwell there, and may the blessing of God rest upon you.' Suffice it to say I left England for this place at the commencement of 1826, and after nearly two years of difficulties, dangers, and a considerable expenditure of money, I arrived on the 28th of October, 1828. I was cordially received by John Adams and the natives generally, and from that time to the present, with the exception of a short interval over which I had no control, have been successfully engaged in the moral and religious instruction of the community.

"As to remuneration received by me for my services, it simply amounts to this. For my clerical duties my house is kept in repair; as surgeon, I have received something like three acres of land; and for schooling, one shilling per month for twenty-five out of fifty scholars is the utmost of what I receive. To the rest I give instruction gratis, as those who have large families cannot afford to pay for the whole of their children. Yet this trifling amount I do not receive in

cash, but in potatoes or yams, which are sold to ships at a considerable discount. If I could obtain a salary from some benevolent source I should be thankful, for I am often driven to great straits.

"And now, honourable and much respected friend, permit me to assure you that I gratefully appreciate your benevolent designs in favour of myself and family, and subscribe myself

"Your much obliged and humble servant, "G. H. NOBBS.

“Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby."

On the 11th August, 1852, Mr. Nobbs and his daughter Jane embarked, with Admiral Fairfax Moresby, on board H.M.S. 'Portland,' amid the tears and blessings of the islanders, to proceed to Valparaiso. The voyagers reached Valparaiso on the 30th August, and Mr. Nobbs, having travelled across the Isthmus of Panama, embarked in the steamer Arinoes,' and landed at Portsmouth October 16th, 1852. To his generous friend, Admiral Moresby, he owed the means of obtaining a passage to England, and also of meeting his expenses while residing in this country.

After being duly qualified Mr. Nobbs was ordained a deacon, on October 24th, 1852, by Dr. Blomfield, Bishop of London. In a letter from his Lordship, dated December 1st, is found the following testimony, "We have all been very much pleased with Mr. Nobbs's good sense and right feeling, and genuine simplicity. I earnestly pray that it may please God to continue to him the blessing which has hitherto

been vouchsafed to his disinterested and self-denying labours."

On the 20th November, St. Andrew's Day, the Rev. G. H. Nobbs was ordained priest in Fulham Church, by the Bishop of London, and was described in the Letters of Orders as Chaplain of Pitcairn

Island."

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This letter was the first addressed to Admiral Moresby after Mr. Nobbs arrived in England, and gives an account of his prospects, and of the kindness he met with:

"51, Gloucester Place, Queen's Square, London. "November 12th, 1852.

"HONOURABLE SIR AND FRIEND,

"I did not write by the first mail after my arrival in England, because nothing conclusive had been agreed on respecting the Island in general, and myself in particular, although the Bishop gave me ordination as deacon a few days after my arrival. I have been most cordially received by Mr. Stafford, Sir Robert Inglis, Lord Harrowby, Admiral Beaufort, and a vast number of gentlemen of rank and influence. Of the reception I received from your dear good lady, and Sir T. Acland, I shall forbear saying anything till I have the pleasure of relating it personally.

"The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel have granted me 507. per annum, and through and by the means of the letters which you have sent, and the untiring activity of Sir T. Acland, I have no doubt that everything which can be of benefit to the com

munity, whose welfare you are so generously anxious to promote, will be accorded them. The Bishop of London will ordain me priest in the commencement of December, and I shall leave England on the 17th, and I hope to behold the face of my best earthly friend by the middle of February. I am happy to hear Jane is doing well; please give my love to her and Reuben, to Fortescue, and good Captain Prevost. I have no doubt, my honoured friend, you will think this a very trifling letter, but I want to narrate my adventures personally, which I hope to do on our passage to Pitcairn, if it pleases God. I am fearful the Government will not provide me a passage by the way of Panama, but Sir Thomas thinks funds can be raised for that purpose.

“November 13th.—I have just returned from breakfasting with the Duke of Northumberland and his good little Duchess, who gave me a ticket for a seat at Northumberland House, to witness the procession at the obsequies of the Duke of Wellington. His Grace requested me to inform Sir T. Acland that he would co-operate with him most cordially in any private measures that might be set on foot for the benefit of Pitcairn Island, and that Sir Thomas might call or write whenever he chose. I have not yet seen Sir John Packington, but expect to do so next week. I trust, honoured sir, you will excuse my concluding so abruptly, but my cough keeps me in a continual shake. I could not possibly exist much longer in England.

"With a grateful sense of the many kindnesses