Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 62 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0062	Among the Celestials : vol.1

38 AMONG THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. II.

on our part, had not met a European for

several months now, so the delight of this

meeting may be well imagined. But, apart

from that, we were very deeply impressed by

the men themselves. Few men, indeed, have

ever made a deeper impression on me than did

these simple missionaries. They were standing,

transparent types of all that is best in man.

They seemed to diffuse an atmosphere of pure

genuine goodness which made itself felt at

once. And we recognised immediately that

we were not only with good but with real men.

What they possessed was no weak sentimen-

tality or flashy enthusiasm, but solid human

worth. Far away from their friends, from all

civilisation, they lived, and worked, and died ;

two, indeed, out of the three we met in those

parts, have died since we left. When they left

France, they left it for good ; they had no

hope of return ; they went out for their whole

lives.

These missionaries may not make many

converts, but they do good. No man, China-

man or European, who came in contact for

five minutes with M. Raguit, M. Card, or

M. Riffard, whom we afterwards met, could

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