Morning Calm v.10 no.82(1899 Nov.)

THE MORNING CALM. No. 82, VOL. X.] NOVEMBER 1899.[PRICE 3d.

The Bishop's Letters.

SYEOUL: June, 1899. DEAR FRIENDS, –

My announcement last month of the baptism in Kang Hoa at Whitsuntide must be followed this month with a brief account of a similar event which took place in Syeoul on the Feast of St. John Baptist. There were, curiously enough, the same number of adults to be baptized, viz., eighteen, of whom eleven were men and seven women. The church at Nak Tong being too small, the baptisms and subsequent confirmations took place at the Advent. In all respects the precedents of Kang Hoa were followed. The day opened with a celebration of the Holy Communion in English, Mr. Turner, who was to baptize the candidates, being the celebrant. There followed a service of preparation for the catechumens who were to be baptized, after which the men were brought into the catechumens' part of the church by the deacon, Mr. Badcock, the women having been marshalled and put behind their screen by one of the sisters. There being no font suitable, baptism by immersion was impossible, and, as at Kang Hoa, the portable font was held by our one Corean adult Christian in Syeoul, Barnabas, the adopted son of our dear Doctor Landis, whose wife was now to be baptized and, with him, to be afterwards confirmed. We all felt that the good little doctor would have liked to see Barnabas thus employed. Two or three of our teachers-elderly men- and a few of the Mission servants, with their wives, came in succession up to the font and became "lively stones” in the spiritual building which, please God, is to be reared in Syeoul. Then all were brought up to me to be confirmed. Mr. Griffith, one of the clergy of North China, was on a visit to us at the time, and in order to associate him with us. I asked him to act as my chaplain-the only way in which he could be of use in a service conducted in a tongue : unknown to him.

On the following day (Sunday), the rain held up sufficiently to enable us to have our first Corean Eucharist in the church at Nak Tong without interruption. The compound is smaller than that at Kang Hoa, and does not lend itself well to outdoor processions ; yet we managed to sing the Litany in procession, the newly-made Christians meeting me and then following me in a circuit of the compound until the first part of the Litany was concluded, by which time we were all in chapel and the second part was commenced. Our singing in Syeoul is, as yet, feeble ; for one thing, we have no boys; nevertheless, we managed to “raise" a couple of hymns which were accompanied, at short notice, by Brother Laws, who, with Brother Firkins, were as helpful to us on this day as they had previously been at Kang Hoa. Mr. Turner and Mr. Badcock were respectively gospeller and epistoler in the Holy Eucharist, which immediately followed the Litany. Only the members of the Mission com municated, the Coreans not having as yet been prepared, or. indeed, having any familiarity with the service. In the after noon the parents who had children brought them to be baptized, thus bringing our nuinber of native Christians in Sveoul up to about twenty-four.

And now the great work of shepherding these two little flocks will begin, a work full of difficulties, a work which, in Syeoul, falls on Mr. Turner-who, you know, is much later in the field than Mr. Trollope at Kang Hoa, and who therefore has much less acquaintance with the language. Moreover, he has here, what Mr. Trollope has not, an English congregation for which he is also responsible. Please, then, remember him very earnestly and very constantly in your prayers-him and Mr. Badcock, his only assistant.

During the early part of this month I went to Wei-Hai-Wei to pay a visit to the Fleet. I was very grateful to the Com mander-in-Chief for his kind invitation, for now that English men-of-war so seldom come to Chemulpo I have but sinall opportunity of bringing before our naval friends the claims which H.N.F, has upon them. Formerly we generally had one ship at Chemulpo, which was relieved by others in succession. Consequently, inost of the ships on the station saw something of the medical work of the Mission, which they could talk about to their friends, thus keeping up a continuity of interest. I was received. I need not say, with great kindness by all. I saw many old friends and made many new ones. The chaplains of the squadron were good enough to ask me to meet them and give them an account of the work of the Mission in Corea. I was away about ten days, and returned in time for the baptisms in Syeoul. I am, ever your affectionate C. J. CORFE.

Ⅱ.

CHEFOO: July, 1899. DEAR FRIENDS,-

This month has been one of preparation for my visit to Niu Chwang. I have seen again all our stations-Mapó, Kang Hoa, and Chemulpó—and after having, I hope, settled Mr. Turner and Mr. Trollope in the work of their respective parishes, I am on my way to Niu Chwang for a stay of some months. This month in Corea has been very hot and very wet. A drenching rain, however, did not prevent our Syeoul Christians from coming to church on the Sunday following that described in my letter of June. Some of them came a distance of three miles, and this in a country where there are no greatcoats, no opportunities of exchanging their thin saturated garments for dry ones before church. On the following Sunday I celebrated at Kang Hoa, when I had the pleasure of communicating some of our new Christians for the first time. All seemed going on well here, though the wet weather was affecting the health of the schoolboys, who now number 24. At Chemulpó I found that not only had the rains retarded building operations at the hospital, but that the zinc roofing which should have arrived from Shanghai a month ago has not even started, the letter ordering it having miscarried in China. This entails another delay, and much extra labor on Mr. Trollope. In the part of the hospital already available Dr. Carden is hard at work, and for some time past has settled into his own quarters. I am glad to say, too, that he has consented to read prayers morning and evening for the few Corean catechumens who are at Chemulpó. Mr. Smart has returned from England looking very well, but sadly disappointed to find that so many his old Japanese friends have left Chemulpó for other ports. He is now visiting them, and will frequently be absent from Chemulpó, going to Chinampó, Mokpó and Fusan, places on the coast which contain an ever-increasing Japanese population, on which we may hope our few Christians will exert a good missionary influence. This is at present all I can do for these good people. It has been a great disappointment to us not to receive a visit from Imai San, one of Bishop Awdry's native clergy. He was coming to see us this month, and got more than half-way on his journey when he found that, by an order just promulgated, no Japanese were allowed to land in Corea. This order can only be temporary, and we hope that his visit is only a pleasure deferred. I have written to ask him to come in September or October. You see, therefore, that the problem how to minister to the Japanese Christians in Corea, and still more how to do any missionary work amongst the thousands who are not Christian-is still as difficult to solve as ever. I am very glad to have Mr. Smart back, for the commencement of parish work in Syeoul and Kang Hoa makes it now impossible for Mr. Turner or Mr. Trollope to pay those occasional visits to Chemulpó. And indeed, as I have said, the very few Japanese communicants left there make it less necessary. I am still a very long way from being able to begin definite, organised missionary work amongst them.

In my next letter I hope to tell you something about Niu Chwang and the new church which Mr. Sprent is building. His connection with this diocese is soon to cease. As you know, he has only been loaned to us from North China. I do not know what I should have done without him. Now, however, he has to return to Bishop Scott's jurisdiction, and I am on my way to Niu Chwang to take over things from him and to release him from his arduous labors into which he has so characteristically thrown himself for the last two years and more. I fully expect to hear that the rains have greatly retarded his building operations, and fear that the opening of St. Nicholas' Church will have to be deferred for some time. I have to-day inspected a good deal of the internal fittings of the future church made by a Chinese carpenter in Chefoo: a beautiful altar, the gift of the Rev. Miles Greenwood : a carved replica in oak of the stone font which is in St. Andrew's Church in Chefoo, the gift, I believe, of the children in Niu Chwang; an altar cross, the gift of Bishop Scott ; together with many other fittings for the Sanctuary. A generous friend in America recently sent me a large sum of money, a part of which will be devoted to a chancel screen of beautiful design, and, I hope, a pulpit and lamps for the church. But by-and-bye, when these things are in position. I hope to tell you more about them. At present I am longing to hear of a priest to come and minister to our English congregation in Niu Chwang. Until some one is forthcoming I must leave Corea to my faithful clergy, whose labors in that country are greater than ever—though I suppose there never was a time when, humanly speaking, the Bishop could be less Spared from Corea than the present. But I know that I have good friends praying and working for us in England, and I am trying to learn that God's time is the best time for the supply of this, as well as of all other needs.

Just before I left Chemulpó I received the invoice of a consignment of twelve beds and bedding to be used in the new hospital at Chemulpó, a valuable and costly gift, presented by a dear friend of the Mission who wishes to be-and therefore must be-nameless. To your prayers for us, add therefore your hearty thanksgivings for all the mercies which God is, in so many ways, giving us. Yours affectionately, C. J. CORFE.

III.

NIU CHWANG: August, 1899. DEAR FRIENDS, On arriving here I found many additions both to the houses and to the population of Niu Chwang. Four miles above the Bund the temporary terminus of the Russo-Chinese railway has already assumed the appearance of a small town, whilst on the western bank of the river-opposite the busiest quarter of Niu Chwang Mr. Kinder has made large preparations for the terminus of the Chinese railway which he is building from Peking. These two railways, ending in a mud plain on the edge of the Gulf of Pechili, which England made a centre of trade nearly fifty years ago, suggest many reflections. They would, however, be out of place in a letter to the members of the Association. Nor would they be very intelligible - for the longer I live the more convinced I am that people at home cannot understand things Chinese or Japanese until they have lived in the East, when they understand them quickly enough.

I found Mr. Sprent and Mr. Charlesworth well and busy. It happened to be the last day of term, and the boys were separating for the holidays, which began on August 1. For the hours of labor which they give daily they decline to receive any remuneration, because they say they are not proper schoolmasters. And yet the parents are willing to pay for the education of their children. My earnest appeals-the first of which was sent from here nearly a year ago -and the offer of the S.P.G. to provide a handsome salary of £200 per annum and a most comfortable house have failed hitherto to produce either a chaplain, a schoolmaster, or a schoolmistress. As to the girls' school, which, you remember, I launched here last November, on an experimental cruise of six months—not unreasonably expecting that before then some one in England would have jumped at such a tempting offer- the girls' school lasted just six months. Mothers sent their children and were delighted with the education which they received. The failing eyesight of the mistress prevented her from continuing the school, which accordingly collapsed. If last May, however, a schoolmistress had arrived in Niu Chwang, she would have found a hopeful nucleus of pupils and parents to welcome her. As I am taking every means known to me of publishing my wants here, let me depart from my usual practice for once, and use this letter as an advertising medium. The S.P.G. offers the use of a large, European-built, brick house and garden, together with £200 a year, to a priest who will minister to a small European community, and serve a church now being erected in the garden, and who, with his wife or sister, will keep a day school for about twenty children, all told, the sons and daughters of European residents. My Commissary, Mr. Brooke, will be glad to hear of such a couple. But now that Mr. Sprent is returning to the North China Mission, which has lent him to me for three years, I am face to face with a difficulty, compared with which that of providing a school in Niu Chwang is a trifle. Soon I shall have to give up thinking of the school and ask for a priest, married or single, who will serve the community and the new church. As I said in my last, I am here now to set Mr. Sprent free to carry out the instructions given him by Bishop Scott. There is no one but myself who can do this. I cannot move either Mr. 'Trollope, Mr. Turner, or Fr. Drake. Nor can I with decency ask for the loan of any more clergy from North China to come and minister to the English in this diocese. Whilst he has been here Mr. Sprent has done no Chinese work. Whenever I come here I forget the little Corean I know, and on my return to Corea have to begin all over again—a very serious matter for a bishop who is now responsible for Corean Christians. You see, then, my great dilemma: I cannot stay in Niu Chwang; I cannot leave Niu Chwang. God will provide a way for us in His own good time. I beg you to pray earnestly that His work, in the meanwhile, may not suffer through our inefficiency. The church looks very handsome, and will be a solid, well built structure-if it goes on as it has been begun, that is to say. Mr. Sprent, who is thoroughly at home in bricks and mortar, has taken endless pains with it, and has had I know not how many battles royal with the Chinese contractor, who, I am sorry to say, bears a very indifferent character. When I am left alone I shall fall back on some of my Chinese-speaking friends in the community, and induce them to fight these battles for me.

Mr. Sprent will be very much missed. He has enthusiastically identified himself with every portion of the community, seamen and landsmen, merchants and officials, the patients in the hospital, and perhaps, more than all, the children will be sorry to lose him. I hope you realise, my dear friends, that we of this diocese owe him a great deal for the hearty way in which he has thrown himself into the English work of the diocese; often at a very great sacrifice, I fear, to that Chinese work which he is far better fitted to do. We must not forget him in our daily prayers. Helped by the kind offices and generosity of Admiral Swinton Holland, I have obtained from Hong Kong the bell of H.M.S. Victor Emanuel for the new church. How well I remember its tone! Some one is ringing it now, and I recall the days when the Victor was hospital ship at Cape Coast Castle during the Ashanti Expedition of 1875. In that fatal winter and spring this bell used to summon me, not only to the daily prayers and Sunday services for the ship's company, but to perform the last office of the Church for many a brave Soldier of the Rifle Brigade, the Black Watch, and the Welsh Fusiliers. And now the bell, as good as ever has found a permanent home in the church of St. Nicholas on the mudflats of Manchuria, where it will perform the same offices and summon to church the same chaplain who, I am sorry to say, after a quarter of a century, looks nothing like so young and ready for work as this bell looks in its “green old age;" for the Admiral has, most considerately, had it covered with a good coating of green paint. One more story and I have done. A little boy, aged nine, has just sent me a dollar, being the amount of money allowed him by his father for the sugar he refrained from putting in his tea during last Lent. He wished it to be given to the "Indians." It is difficult to know what to do with so small a sum; but I gave it to the Sisters for the orphanage in Syeoul. The Sister-in-charge writes to say that “the money can be used with great advantage on a strong cupboard, so that the orphans shall learn to keep their belongings in order, and perhaps a box of strong bricks, which they can play with and build as they like." This dear boy (whose name I am not going to give, lest he should see it and it should do him harm) I have seen only twice : once when I baptized him as a baby, and again last year. I hope that your children may see this, and remember us in their prayers as constantly as he has done.

Yours affectionately, C. J. CORFE.

Association of Prayer and Work for Corea.

I HAVE ventured to ask the General Secretary to let me occupy part of the space which is usually allotted to her in Morning Calm, in order that I may bring one or two matters of importance to the notice of the members. First of all I want to call everybody's special attention to the meeting which it has been arranged to hold in the Church House, Westminster, on Thursday, November 16, at 3 P.M. It is the second day of the Annual Missionary Sale in the Church House, and the date has been fixed with the special object of killing two birds with one stone. Sir Walter Hillier has very kindly consented to speak. (We have promised not to "placard " him, so no other notice of his appearance will be given.) Also Mr. Peake and some others of our friends will help us. We want to insure a good roomfull, so we hope all Associates will make a point of bringing their friends. Further notices will appear in the Church papers. Then, I am anxious that we should all make a good use of the coming winter season to extend our borders. Statistics are only one degree less baneful to the missionary at home than they are to the missionary abroad, so I will not say how many (or how few) new members we have got this year. Suffice it to say that progress has been slow, and it is time we moved on. The baptism of eighteen adult men and women at Whitsuntide brings with it increased responsibilities for one and all of the Associates. We must never lose sight of the fact that we are a spiritual society existing primarily and chiefly for the purposes of prayer; and these newly-made Christians need our prayers sorely, no less than those who have the charge over them. It is a most anxious time, and how much depends upon our faithful fulfilment of our obligations God Himself only knows. If this side of our work is carefully maintained, I have no anxiety for the rest, but I think it would be well if each branch should, as far as possible, have one meeting or service each year, to keep up the interest of members and to draw others in to share in our work and privileges. It would be a great gain if Local Secretaries would bear this in mind. The General Secretary will always be glad to co-operate in getting up meetings, and, as far possible, will provide speakers or preachers. There are excellent sets of slides for Lantern Lectures to be obtained for the asking. If other Secretaries would imitate the zeal of the Bath Secretary as recorded in another column in this respect it would be well. Then, if each member would try to get one other person to join the Association and pray daily for Foreign Missions (which, remember, is the sole obligation of the Associates) the gain would be incalculable, not only to our particular Mission, but to Mission work generally, to say nothing of the Divine blessing which such work invariably calls down upon the members themselves. Very earnestly commending the work of the Association to your prayers, allow me to remain your humble servant, ARTHUR G. DEEDES, Vice-President. General Secretary's Notices.

Mrs. C. G. N. Trollope has given up the Secretaryship of Kensington, but has kindly consented to be Secretary for East Putney, to which place she has moved. Rev. F. W. Folliott has left S. Paul's, Bunhill Row, and therefore resigns the Secretaryship of that Branch, but he hopes to start a branch at St. Thomas', Stamford Hill, where he is now working. Mrs Dixon has left Swindon, but Miss Kimber has kindly taken her place as Secretary. The Secretary understands that there is not at present any further demand for garments for the Coreans, but she hopes that some of the members will employ their spare time in making useful things for sales, which are held periodically.

The yearly forms will be sent out before December, and they should be returned carefully filled in with the January reports. The various Secretaries should also let the General Secretary know what supply of papers and books they will require in the new year. A meeting of the Bath Branch of the Association, under the auspices of Miss Drake, the local Secretary, was held on Monday, October 9, in the Parish Room of St. Mary's, Bathwick, when the Vice-President of the Association gave a Magic Lantern Lecture on Corea; the room was very fairly filled, and the lantern, slides and lecture were good. It was in every sense a successful meeting, and should result in a considerable increase in the number of Associates. The best thanks are due to all those who contributed to the success of the evening.

The excellent box of Corean curios has been lent to two Missionary Exhibitions held at Rochester and Manchester, and the contents have aroused considerable interest. They can be obtained for a similar purpose by application to the General Secretary. There is also a very good set of lantern slides on Corea, with a lecture arranged by Sir Walter Hillier, which is available for use during the winter, and a second lecture is in preparation. These are kept up to date, and are invaluable in giving a good idea of the manners and customs of the Coreans, as well as an outline of the Missionary work. They should be in great demand this winter. Gosport Working Guild.

THE “Gosport Working Guild for the Mission in Corea" has now been dissolved. Contributions of work and useful articles must therefore no longer be sent to Mrs. Barnes, Langton House, Gosport, as there will be no sale for them in future. Hon. Mrs. Nelson, 13 Anglesey Crescent, Gosport (Local Secretary), will gladly receive subscriptions or the smallest donations in money for the Corean Mission. Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Nelson gratefully acknowledge the receipt of a sack of clothing, to be sold for the Corean Mission, September 1899, from Mrs. Mitchell, Yiewsley, near Uxbridge. St. Peter's Community Foreign Mission Association.

The Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving for Foreign Missions will be held on Tuesday, December 5, at St. Peter's Home. Notices of the times of services, meeting, &c., will be sent to members of S.P.F.M.A., and to any others on receipt of a stamped envelope. Much additional interest will be given this year by the presence of two of the Sisters now on their way home for rest, who are working one in the Hospital, and one in the rapidly developing work amongst the Corean women. The Orphans and their projected Orphanage are an everincreasing anxiety, as funds subscribed for the Hospital cannot be diverted from their original object. We have the promise of the maintenance of one child out of the seven. ₤5 will keep an orphan for a year, and that has been promised by the members of a Sunday school; could not others follow their example ?

This and the loss of several donations which helped us materially last year, makes us rely more than ever on the kindness of our friends, both in paying their subscriptions regularly (many are still owing for 1899), and in supporting the Corean Stall at the Associates' Bazaar, which will be held at the Kensington Town Hall on November 29 and 30.

A large case of curios is coming over from Corea, and we hope for a good sale if everyone will co-operate to do their best, both by coming themselves and telling others. Tickets at a reduced rate can be purchased beforehand on application to the Secretary, S.P.F.M.A. We would ask that all who kindly intend to contribute work towards the Stall would send it in by November 23, clearly marked For Corean Stall, addressed to the Secretary, by whom contributions will be gratefully received and acknowledged. Secretary, S.P.F.M.A.

The Editor just on going to press has received the following letter from the Secretary of the St. Peter's F.M.A., which he thinks best to insert as it stands :- "We have the most grievous news from Corea. A telegram has reached the Mother containing only one word, ‘Lois’, by which we fear Lay Sister Lois has passed away... Her loss is irreparable, though we are thankful for the eight years of beautiful work given to the Mission."

Correspondence.

DEAR MR. EDITOR, Mr. Turner warns me that I must write at once if I am to get anything into the next (November) issue of Morning Calm. Other pens than mine will have told you of the real start which we actually seem to have made at last, after all these years of waiting and toilsome preparation. Whitsuntide will always be a real "Mothers' birthday" to our Corean Christians, as it witnessed the first baptisms, on any large scale, in our Mission. We had, of course, baptized a few children, orphans and others, before and during the Bishop's absence in England in 1897 ; I baptized and Bishop Scott confirmed (as you will remember) our two first adult Christians. Of these, one, John Kim, who had been ailing with consumption for a long time, died on Ash Wednesday this year (R.I.P.): the other, Mark Kim (no relation to the first), has now brought his whole family-father, mother, wife, brothers and sisters - to the font. They were among the eighteen adults baptized and confirmed in Kang Hoa on Whitsun Eve. On Whitsun Day some seventeen children of the newly-baptized were also christened, so that with the schoolboys, &c., who have been baptized already, our "parish" there now numbers over forty souls. The Bishop has set me free from Chemulpó and stationed me in Kang Hoa to "pastor” those sheep, and I have Messrs. Hillary and Bridle as deacons to assist me. The work is sufficiently full of happy interest, as well as intense anxiety, and what with our plans for stablishing our neophytes, extending our borders, and developing our little boardingschool of twenty boys, we find ourselves pretty well occupied. The lack of Christian books is still a great difficulty ; the Communion Service is now completed (we have to make the best shift we can for the variable collects, epistles, and gospels), as well as the Litany, and the Baptism and Confirmation Services for adults, and we have temporarily an abbreviated form of Prime and Compline in Corean for morning and evening prayer. But we are very badly off for Bibles. There is no Old Testament in print, except a private tentative version of part of the Psalter; the American Presbyterian and Methodist missionaries (with whom I used to try to work at Bible translation when I was in Seoul) have gradually produced nearly the whole New Testament. But they would be the first to admit that a good deal of the translation suffers from the inevitable weakness of first versions; and it must not be forgotten that St. Paul's Epistles take some translating! You see therefore that, apart from the Sacraments, we have very little to give our sheep to feed on, once they are in the fold. And though personally I have no sort of belief in giving the Bible to heathen, with a view to their conversion (for assuredly the

NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, JANUARY, 1899-1900. Intercessions for Missions. PHIL. iv. 6. — “In everything by prayer od supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto GOD." Pray especially: For the peace of the Empire. For the protection of our brethren in body and soul. That the Gospel message be not hindered by our sins. Sunday. Thanksgivings: For God's blessing on our feeble efforts, and answers to our imperfect prayers. For the zeal and devotion shown in lives of those laboring in the Colonies and Mission-field. For His blessing on the Mission in Corea, and for the first-fruit of the work.

Monday. Pray: For God's blessing on the bicentenary celebration of the Gospel Society. For an increase of zeal and activity in the great cause thereby. For blessing on all Junior Clergy Organisations and on the Foreign Service scheme.

Tuesday. Pray earnestly still for : The creation of new Bishoprics for North China, Cashmere, North Queensland, Central Provinces of India, the Soudan. Pray for: Faithful and holy Bishops for all vacant sees, especially for Barbados.

Wednesday. Pray for the Church in New Zealand and Tasmania. For the Dioceses of Auckland, Waiapu, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch, Dune-din, Tasmania, Melanesia. For the Bishops-special guidance and holiness of life. For the clergy-zeal and devotion. For the faithful laity-steadfastness and perseverance. For the careless and ungodly-conversion.

Thursday. Pray for the Church's Mission in Corea. The Bishop, Priests, Deacons, Sisters, Doctors, and all other workers. For those admitted into the Church -their steadfastness, perseverance, growth in grace. For the two Sisters joining the Mission. For the work at Kang Hoa and Niu-chwang. For a spirit of earnest enquiry to the Corean people.

Friday Pray for the Church of South Africa at this time of affiction and need. For the Dioceses of Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Natal especially. For the Bishops and clergy in their anxious ministry. For the spiritual and temporal care of the Church. For the restoration of peace.

Saturday. Pray: For all missionary workers in suffering anxiety, need, persecution, discouragement. For those in their last sickness and in the hour of death. That the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ. FOR AN INCREASE OF MISSIONARY WORKERS O LORD of the harvest, we beseech Thee mercifully to stir by Thy Holy Spirit the hearts of many, both men and women, and to send them as laborers into Thy harvest : make them ready to spend and be spent in Thy service, and so willingly to lose their life in this world that they may gather fruit unto life eternal ; to the honour and glory of Thy name, who livest and reignest with the Father and the same Spirit one GOD world without end. Amen. Bible, as such, was never meant for any such purpose), one does want it, or large portions of it, badly for the edification of the faithful, once they have been baptized. And like other blessings, one doesn't realise its value until one has to do without it! Another great need is a book of private devotions (for the people have very little natural capacity for prayer), and hymns, which are a great difficulty. Mgr. Mutel tells me that they (the French Roman Catholic missionaries) have practically given up the attempt to produce metrical hymns in Corean, the cumbrousness of the language is so great. Certainly the specimens that I have seen issued from the American Presbyterian and Methodist Missions are not encouraging. Yet the people seem to like hymns, though they find our Western musical scale a puzzle. We have taught our boys a little bit to sing from note, as well as by ear ; but they find a difficulty in our semitones and certain other intervals. I have just constructed a ‘modulator,' with Chinese characters to stand for "do, re, mi," &c., and am trying to teach the schoolboys "tonic sol-fa" -a difficult task, as I know next to nothing about it myself. But I think the schoolboys appreciate it, as they appreciate the "drill,” in which Mr. Bridle is instructing them, or the arithmetic which Mr. Hillary is trying to teach them, as a welcome change from the interminable recitation of Chinese characters, punctuated with whippings which forms the ordinary "curriculum" of the Corean school boy.

A very real difficulty awaits us with regard to those same schoolboys, who range from nine or ten to fifteen years of age. What are we to make of them? We hope of course that they are picking up under our roof some of the “manners" which "makyth man," as well as Chinese characters, arithmetic, military drill, tonic sol-fa, and the Catechism ! But unless we can put them into the way of making an honest livelihood, they cannot but slip into the shiftless hand-to-mouth way of living, which they see all round them at home, and which is the bane of Corea. Nobody seems to have any definite means of subsistence, everybody seems to be within very measurable distance of starvation, yet nobody seems actually to come to starvation and rags ; and "how the Coreans live” remains the great cnigma to all us foreigners. The truth of the matter seems to be that they hang together very closely (a Corean is as well acquainted with his tenth and twelfth cousins as we are with our second and third cousins) ; they lend and borrow among themselves quite recklessly (every Corean is in debt to every other Corean, and every other Corean is in debt to him), and in the vast circle of friends and relations there is generally someone who can be "sponged" on until "something turns up." Your friend then lives in peace and plenty until he has wasted or been “sponged” out of everything, and then he falls back again on some other friend or relative, to whom the turn of fortune's wheel has given a lift. If Christian schools are to do anything for this country, they ought to do something to remedy this. But what we can do-what industries (e.g.), we can profitably teach Our boy's remains to be seen. When we know, be sure we shall let you know too. Meanwhile, what I have said will show you something of the difficulty we have in dealing, not only with Corean children, but with our adult Christians too ; it will also show you how greatly we still need, in these and all other matters, the prayers of your readers for God's grace and guidance. I am, Sir, &c., M. N. TROLLOPE. P.S. - Dr. Landis's tombstone in Chemulpó cemetery has just been photographed. A copy is to be sent to you, which I hope you will manage to reproduce in Morning Calm. The full text of the inscription is : - H. S. E. QUOD MORTALE FUIT MEDICI CARISSIMI ELI BARR LANDIS, CUJUS ANIMÆ PROPITIETUR DEUS. Natus prope Lancastriam apud Americanos A.S. MDCCCLXV. viii. fere annos apud Corennos commoratus : obiit Chelumpó die xvi° mensis Aprilis A.S. MDCCCVCVIII.

II.

DEAR SIR, At the request of the Corean editor I am writing to Morning Calm, about learning the Corean language and keeping Corean accounts. As I have only been a few months here, and have had the least experience of any in the Mission, I am, of course, the most competent correspondent who could be chosen. But it was specially on the joys incidental to study and finance in Corea that I was asked to write. Can it be that much experience in these things has made the editor aforesaid “a sadder and a wiser man,", especially “sadder?” He must find there is no one else among us with heart to talk of such matters. Moreover, he knows that next month I am to begin studying Chinese characters, and so, like the young bear, have all my troubles to come. The fact is, that learning Corean is a very humdrum business. If that were all I should not be writing about it. It is also very exasperating. So at the outset were Latin and Greek, I remember. But these latter have their words spelt in one way, and if you tried to talk in them, you would not have to learn a still further language to do so. Looking up a Corean word in a dictionary is sometimes only less trying than searching for a needle in a bundle of hay, thanks to variations in spelling, besides the extraordinary number of meanings of many words. Then the book style is almost another language from the colloquial. The verbs in the former take endings which would last a lifetime of study. They are long straggling things, both on paper, written out one syllable at a time, and also to read, as we have found in church. The spoken word “hao" lengthens in a book or prayer to "ha sa om na i ta." Of course the joy in learning a language lies in its use, and the anticipation of ever increasing power in its use. I have begun to taste a little of the first. I am not, I fear, sufficiently sanguine to enter very deeply into the other- as yet-for I gather from books and friends that not until five years, or ten years some say, shall I begin to speak fairly well.

A great deal depends on the teacher. For the first five or six months, while at Kang-Hoa, a Mr. Nam Goon walked three miles each way to give me daily instruction-well, almost daily, for now and then, usually a day following market day, he stayed away, because of headaches, he would usually explain on his return. Members of the Mission hinted the propriety of temperance lectures, but I never inquired further. I had no tongue for such work, and I never found him other than exceedingly polite.

He taught me a little about the intricate salutations. There are six or seven ways of saying “How d'ye do?” used respectively to the King, to old men and superiors, to acquaintances, to familiar friends, to immediate dependants, to coolies, and to the lowest class of all, comprising boys in general, butchers, and Buddhist monks. Conversation is the most important, and the hardest, thing to learn. An English conversation between parties who cannot break the ice, or whose ideas do not flow freely. may be "how stale, flat, and unprofitable.” But how appalling is the situation, day after day, when not only are ideas wanted, for ideas cannot always be easily forthcoming when two foreigners are concerned, but the language itself is missing, or all but missing. Even our climate is against us, for it does not afford us the chance of discussion which frequent changes allow to the English. Two minutes will often suffice to "pump me dry." Then I have to tell my teacher to talk. I have heard from Mr. Nam Goon, and also from Mr. Kwon, his successor, how the centipede delights to bite the bridge of your nose, and how death invariably follows; also of the islands full of snakes round the coast ; both of which items are, I fear, apocryphal. There is no compulsion put on the student as to such things as method. He has to make up his own. There is no scientific grammar. In these respects schoolboys would no doubt envy our lot.

As to Chinese characters, they must be learnt, at least a thousand or two, for literary purposes. The Chinese classes are the Latin of the Far East. We usually write the characters on slips of paper, with pronunciation and meaning in Corean on the other side. Then one has to learn them off by heart. I spent a few weeks at Mapó recently, where I had to look after the accounts. I was glad to have something to talk to my teacher about, and so a week or two was spent in talking over the currency and reckoning in use. The latter is based on an obsolete coinage, so that each business transaction is thought of in two ways, according to book reckoning. The currency is in three values, with variable rates of exchange, Japanese notes and small silver being at premium on Corean silver dollars, and the Corean nickel, copper, and cash are at a heavy discount. The cook brings his daybook weekly to be reckoned up. My teacher interprets his handwriting and terms, both of which are almost entirely unintelligible to me. About an hour is spent in finding out how the ten or fifteen shillings has been spent. Some of the terms are rather curious. Tea, though coming from China and Japan, does not seem to be in general use here. It is known as "cha," but coffee is put down also as "cha," and they are distinguished as "tea cha" and "caphy cha." Butter, unknown here, becomes "patah,” baking powder something like “pei kee pah tah." So that with three currencies, daily variations in the rate of exchange, a fourth mode of reckoning accounts, illegible handwriting, unfamiliar terms, and mangled English, the keeper of accounts in Corea finds that, like the policeman, his lot is not a happy one. H. H. FIRKINS, S.S.M. CHEMULPÓ: August 12, 1899.

Besides, we were glad of the extra few weeks that we might give the candidates a little more definite instruction on the basis of the completed catechism, and, above all, Whitsuntide was the time fixed for the Kang Hoa baptisms.

"The service was held in the Church of the Advent, and commenced at nine o'clock, so that the candidates might receive the sacrament fasting. The Baptismal Service, which was entirely in Corean, was taken by the Rev. A. B. Turner, Mr. Badcock acting as ceremoniarius for the Coreans. A large Corean brass basin was used as a font and placed in the middle of the nave, on one side of a temporary screen, which according to Corean custom divided the men on the north side from the women on the south side of the church. Both men and women were placed just inside the door until they had been baptized, when they were admitted into the body of the church. Each candidate had been asked to choose his or her own name, and John was naturally a favorite, while one man and his wife were called Zacharias and Elizabeth, and their little boy, baptized next day, John. Their ages varied from sixteen to sixty, and each was presented for baptism in the order in which he or she had been admitted to the catechumenate, so that the first to be baptized was Hong, who had been the Bishop's teacher for many years, as he was the first to be made a catechumen. All seemed to have an intelligent grasp of the service, and answers were made very distinctly, each man and woman answering the questions separately. Mr. Hodge acted as sponsor for the men and Sister Alma for the women.

“This service over, the newly-baptized were immediately presented to the Bishop for confirmation. The episcopal chair was placed at the gate of the sanctuary, and the Bishop, vested in cope and mitre, was attended by Brothers Laws and Firkins of the S.S.M. The Rev. F. J. Griffith of North China, who has been spending a few weeks with us, acted as chaplain, and the men were presented to the Bishop by Mr. Turner and the women by Sister Alma. In addition to those just baptized, the late Dr. Landis's adopted son, Barnabas, who was baptized two years ago as an infant, was a candidate for confirmation.

" The next day (Sunday) morning, the little band of Christians attended the celebration of the Holy Communion at the Nak Tong Chapel, where, at any rate for the present, the Corean services will be held; but it is thought best that a few weeks should elapse before they make their first Communion. In the afternoon Mr. Turner baptized five children whose parents had been received into the Church the day before, and one other child has been baptized since. " We are sure that the readers of Morning Calm will specially remember in their prayers those in Corea who out of the darkness of heathenism have been brought to the knowledge of Christ and ‘have obtained like precious faith.’ They and we need the prayers of those at home more than ever in view of the greater responsibility resting on our shoulders, and the greater danger for them of backsliding now that they have made their confession of faith before men." From a Mission point of view the next most important news is the complete change of personnel in the various stations, caused by the new condition of things consequent on the baptisms referred to above. Those who have been baptized will want special supervision for some time, a supervision which can only be given them by a priest. There being two stations, Seoul and Kang Hoa, where Coreans have been baptized, there being only two priests who can speak Corean, it was necessary that the two priests should live in those two stations. In Seoul no change was needed, for Mr. Turner was already there, but it has been thought well to give him help by bringing in Mr. Badcock, from Mapó, to act as his curate, so that the Seoul staff now consists of Messrs. Turner, Badcock, and Hodge, outside the medical and hospital staff. In Kang Hoa, Mr. Trollope's presence was felt to be absolutely necessary, and he accordingly moved up from Chemulpó, while he has with him as his curates Messrs. Hillary and Bridle. The latter is still only in statu pupillari, as also is Mr. Turner, though the latter, through force of circumstances, is in charge in Seoul. Messrs. Hillary and Badcock have passed their second examination, and, being freed from further troubles in that line, are now putting their learning to practical use by translating certain portions of the Old Testament. So, then, at Seoul there are three men, and at Kang Hoa there are three. There remain the members of the S.S.M. who are all still in the earlier stages of struggling with the language. Mr. Trollope having left Chemulpó, it was almost necessary for Mr. Drake to go there for the sake of Sunday services for foreigners and Japanese, though the foreign congregation is very small, and many of the Japanese Christians have moved to other places as their various occupations called them. So Mr. Drake and Bro. Pearson went to Chemulpó while Bros. Firkins and Laws went to Mapó to keep the house warm-the latter giving up his medical work in Lang Hoa, to the great regret of the native residents, who are frequently asking when the Yak Tai-in (great medicine man) is coming back. He has, in fact, given up medical work temporarily, that he may devote himself more completely to the study of the language, especially the Chinese character, which he finds, as we all do, extremely interesting, but also extremely depressing. It is so easy to forget the idiograms which one has learnt, and so hard to find out and fix in one's memory the various meanings they are intended to convey. However, while I am writing this, a further change is in contemplation, namely, the concentration of the members of S.S.M. in Chemulpó; and though Chemulpó is not the ideal place for community life, it is certainly better for the whole community to be together when possible, and also certainly Chemulpó is a more healthy place in summer than any of our other stations, the sea breezes nearly always mitigating the extreme heat, which is felt in full in such enclosed spots as Seoul and Kang Hoa, especially the former.

So, then, the members of the S.S.M. will for the present, at any rate, reside and study in Chemulpó; but there is one member of our staff there of whom as yet nothing has been said, I mean Mr. Smart, and he requires a paragraph to himself, for though he has promised to write something about his journey out and his arrival in Corea, it is doubtful whether it will be ready in time for this copy of Morning Calm. He arrived safely after a good journey out, and a short stay in Japan to see his friends there, and very glad we were to see him, for the superintendence, in however modified a form, of the Japanese work has been an extra burden on Mr. Trollope's shoulders, which he has borne willingly, but has been glad to give back, at any rate, in a great degree, to Mr. Smart, to whom belongs the honor of any success there has been among the Japanese here. Mr. Smart finds, however, a great difference on his return in the diminished number of Japanese Christians resident in Chemulpó. Several of them are in the Customs employ, and some of them have been moved to one or other of the new ports lately opened up and down the coast of Corea. Work among the Japanese must always, one fears, be more or less unsatisfactory in Corea. The Japanese population will for a long time be unsettled, moving easily from place to place, and the Christians will naturally be as liable to move as others. As a consequence of this, Mr. Smart's work will now be more or less modified, and he has received a roving commission to visit, as he sees fit, the open ports of Corea, and try so far as he can to keep those who are baptized steadfast in the faith, and to attract and teach those whom he finds drawn to Christianity, while, if possible, from time to time a priest will go round to administer the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. His headquarters will, of course, be Chemulpó.

In connection with the Japanese work we have been very much disappointed by the postponement of the visit of the Rev. J. T. Imai, a priest of the Nippon Seikokwai, or Japanese Church, who had started for Corea for the purpose of visiting the Japanese Christians in the country, but was turned back at Tsushima, the island between Japan and Corea, and forbidden to go any further. The cause was a disturbance in Seoul, of which more anon. It was most disappointing, as we were all looking forward very much to his visit: but we hear now it is only postponed, and he will probably be here in September or October.

We were hoping for some news of Dr. Carden this quarter from Chemulpó, but that, too, must wait for three months. Only he has asked me to thank all those who made inquiries for him, and thought of him in his late illness. He is completely recovered, and is busy in Chemulpó, doctoring in the morning, studying in the afternoon, and teaching in the evening. The new hospital is progressing, but not very rapidly, owing to some mistake about the roofing. However, it looks outwardly nearly complete, and makes quite an imposing building on the top of the hill, certainly the best hospital yet built in Corea. Dr. Carden is already living in one wing, and the furniture for the wards having arrived, generously presented to the Mission by a friend in England, he is looking forward soon to hospital work in addition to his out-patients' department. As regards the Mission generally, there is little else to record. Two short journeys by Messrs. Badcock and Hillary; but the former, who travelled across to Wonsan or Gensan, on the north-east coast of Corea, with two agents of the Bible Society, said the trip had so often been described that he could not undertake to do it again, and even the beauty of the Diamond mountains, through which he came on the return journey, failed to draw an article from his pen. The only item of news he gave us was the crafty shooting of some ducks on the way up by his two companions, who, one evening as they were approaching their night's resting place, saw some ducks on the river, and, carefully stalking them, brought down or knocked over two with great joy; but their joy was rather marred by the outcry of the villagers and the demand for damages. "Why," said they should you strangers come Shooting our tame ducks?"

Mr. Hillary's journey was through the south of the island of Kang Hoa, and resulted in a very pleasant trip with Mark Kim to inspect a part of the island we know nothing of, and where at present no work is being carried on. He was only away a few days, and I said, " What can I say? We went to such-and-such a place one day, and slept there ; next day to such a place, where it rained, and we slept two nights and most of one day ; next day we climbed a hill, &c., &c." Well, his journey was cut short by neuralgia, and we may hope for more interesting results from the continuation of it, for he intends soon to visit the surrounding islands, some of which were visited a few years ago by Mr. Warner, but where as yet no work has been begun by ourselves or any other missionary body.

Our great work has been carried out during Brother Firkins’ stay in Seoul and Mapó, namely, the placing and cataloguing of the library in Seoul. We have located there the books brought out by the Bishop and Mr. Turner, and also the books left to the Mission by the Rev. J. E. Denison. Together, these books form a fairly good theological library, though very much lacking in some departments. We intend to get the catalogue copied and sent to England, where we hope we may find some friend kind enough to take charge of it for the following purpose. We know there are people in England ready to send us books, but they do not know what we want, and fear to send us duplicates ; for instance, we have had four copies of Wake man's History of the Church sent us, but if a copy of the catalogue is in some friend's hands in England, then it will only require a post-card to that gentleman to say, “Is such-and such a book in the library in Corea?" If he says "yes,” then of course he will send it to Codrington College, Barbados, or Chefoo, North China, or elsewhere, but if he says "no," then, still more of course, it will come out by the next post to the English Mission, Nak Tong, Seoul, Corea.

They say that in addressing an Arab an Englishman is always at a loss to begin the conversation, for if he asks after his wife, it is considered an insult ; and if he remarks on the weather, well, it is a country where the sun always shines, and there is a lack of originality in saying, " It is very hot to-day.” In Corea the first part also applies, for you are not supposed to know whether a Corean has a wife, much less must you ask after her health. The weather, however, is a fairly fruitful topic of conversation, at least at several periods of the year. In the last copy of Morning Calm remarks were made on the long drought of nearly eight months, with only an occasional and insufficient storm, on the lack of water for the gardens and the crops, the lowness of the wells, &c. Since then we have done fairly well. The Changma, as the long rainy season is called, began very early, about June 20, just in time to enable the farmers to get their rice planted out; and though the barley and wheat were more or less spoilt, that mattered the less as they were poor crops this year, and, besides, the crop is rice: other cereals are of no importance comparatively. It was wonderful to see the difference in a fortnight; the baked, brown hills and the bare, cracked rice fields in those few days are all green and flourishing, the hills covered with grass, the paddys planted out, and looking as if the rice had been growing for weeks instead of days; the heat of the ground stored up from the long hot days before, the steamy heat of the wet weather, and the quantities of rain, all combine to make things grow as in a hot-house. From April to the second week in June the rainfall, registered at the Chemulpó rain gauge, was sixteen inches, of which twelve or thirteen inches must have fallen in some three weeks at the end of June and beginning of July. Since the middle of July the weather has been hot, but beautifully fine, very different from the last two years, when it rained more or less every day from the beginning of July to the end of August; but we are hoping for more rain soon, We have only had sixteen inches as yet, and we ought to have thirty before the end of the summer; however, the rice is all right for another fortnight or so. In Seoul it is still very hot, but in Chemulpó the air morning and evening is more like autumn with a delightful freshness, though in England the weather would be probably considered terribly hot. The absence of rain is a great boon to the residents in Corea, apart from those who are dependent upon the crops of Corea. For instance, when it rains the Coreans will not come out, and hospital work languishes considerably; this year, however, there has been no such falling-off in patients, the only partial cessation of work has been for the necessary rest and holidays of the medical and hospital staff, which so far have been very slight.

Another advantage affects Coreans even more than Europeans who own macintoshes, umbrellas, and other appliances for keeping oneself dry. The poor Coreans, who go to church or anywhere else through the rain, have generally no such advantages, and especially the women, whose only protection, and that by no means universally used, is a hat with a frame of bamboo covered with oil paper and ornamented with Chinese characters, the brim of which is about three feet six inches in diameter. Not many English ladies would care to come to church, walking three miles through pouring rain, along muddy roads, and sit through a service some two hours long in clothes that were so wet that one woman had first to wring out her outer garment herself over the edge of the verandah, and then retire into the waiting-room while her friend did the same for her under garments. Luckily their clothes are generally only made of white cotton, i.e. the poorer women's clothes, so they do not spoil, and are easily washed out at home.

Questions are continually being asked from home as to the political condition of things in Corea and surrounding countries. It is difficult to write about them, for people in England are kept much better in touch with events through the newspapers than we are in the Far East itself. All our news is second-hand, but people in England would probably be considerably astonished at the opinion held by people in the Far East as to the importance of different events, and as to the proper course to be pursued. For example, the high opinion of the Japanese nation is by no means universally shared by residents in Japan or China or Corea, and very serious doubts are expressed as to the working of the new treaties. England's action is almost universally condemned. The last rumor is an alliance between China and Japan, which is here considered to be practically China's only chance. It will be a bitter blow to her amour propre, but it may save her, and no other course seems likely to attain the same end. It is very doubtful whether it will be beneficial to English trade in the long run. Japan, like all Eastern nations, is willing to utilise England and other nations so long as they may be useful, but only so long. She is just as exclusive really as China or Corea have ever been, and the Far East for the Far Easterns, especially for the Japanese, is what she really is working for, so far as we outsiders can judge, whose opinion may be worth very little. In Corea itself politics are quiescent, but one always feels one is living more or less on the top of a by no means extinct volcano. Since the trouble with the Independent Club, noticed some months ago, things have gone along outwardly much as before, only the whole tone of the Government is deteriorating. The chief power is in the hands of unscrupulous statesmen, who know very little of the government of a country, and whose sole interest almost seems to be how much money they can make, or how much influence and power they can obtain by bribery or other similar means. The Independence Club movement was somewhat premature before the force of public opinion was really stirred, and we shall have to wait some time before that force really comes into play. The English constitution was not made in a day, and when it was made it was not altogether free from incompetent and corrupt officials; so one does not give up hope of Corea, even though the characteristics of the people are very different from those of our own nation. One sign of the trouble going on under the surface was clearly seen a few weeks ago when the city was stirred every night by the bursting of bombs in different quarters of the city. No one could find out who threw them or who made them, and there was great trouble among the Coreans for some days, and it might have continued for a long time, for the heads of the business showed considerable shrewdness in the way of going to work. The leaders engaged men in different quarters of the city to throw the bombs, and these men, said to be some hundreds in number, knew the leaders but did not know each other anything about the manufactory. The discovery of the whole thing was made by the chief conspirators blowing themselves up as they were mixing the ingredients; they were brought to our hospital, but so terribly disfigured that no one knew who they were, and so injured that one was already dead and the other dying. They found the manufactory had been carried on by Coreans, men and women, chiefly women, in the house of a Corean who has been exiled to Japan for rebellion in past years. The house was under the care of a Japanese, and it was in connection with this trouble that the Rev. J. T. Imai was prevented from coming to Corea for fear he might be mixed up in the matter. Some of the leaders were arrested, and one Im Pyengkil has been tortued, and has, it is said, confessed, and given up the names of the chief conspirators, but we have heard little of the matter lately, and the city has quieted down again. The bombs were simple detonating bombs, and were thrown at night into the houses of obnoxious ministers and others, but practically no damage was done beyond a few broken tiles and a scratched face or two. They were, as such men usually are, hoist with their own petard.

Another local disturbance arose in Seoul over the opening of the electric railway. At first the Coreans thought the drought arose from the building of the railway ; seeing no visible means of propulsion, they thought there was a devil under the car sending it along, and that the rain dragon was shut up under the power house by the East gate. There were various threats of wrecking the railway and releasing the dragon, but rain came in sufficient quantities to prove that the dragon was really free. However, real trouble arose, as we feared it might arise, from the death of a youngster who, running as youngsters will in front of the car, was killed before the car could be stopped. His father and his friends were so enraged that they set upon and overturned the two cars, and entirely destroyed one of them by fire. The other was only slightly damaged. The Americans in charge of the line soon cleared it, and cars were running again in a very short time, guarded by Japanese and Corean police. All went well for a day or two until the Japanese drivers struck, being afraid to run the cars, and no cars have been running now for some weeks; but by the last steamer from Japan seven American drivers put in an appearance, one of them weighing 250 lbs, who will not be frightened to run the cars, and we may again consider the electric railway a going concern. We can only hope there will be no more fatal accidents; but the crowds in the streets, and the ignorance of the Coreans, and the stupidity of the animals make one afraid to hear of accidents any day. Whether the railway will pay is a great question. It is at present running from East to West gate, and outside the East gate to the late Queen's tomb, where nobody goes. It is, however, to be extended to the South gate, and down to the steamer-landing at Ryongsan, close to our house at Mapo, and the highest point in the river that sea junks can reach. That part, when completed, will be very useful, and probably will pay very well. It will have soon a rival in the Chemulpó-Seoul railway, which is now in the hands of the Japanese. They say they will be running as far as the river, some four miles from Seoul, to a ferry called Nodol, or the King's ferry, a mile or more above Ryongsan, in two or three months. The bridge over the river is a serious matter and will not be completed this year, perhaps not next; but if they get as near as the river to Seoul it will only be about a three hours Journey from Chemulpó to Seoul, instead of six or seven as it is now. At Chemulpó it sounds quite natural to hear the puffpuff of the construction train morning and evening. We shall soon be running down to Chemulpó for a day at the sea-side (the sea is something like Weston-super-Mud), and having our sea baths and sea air as well as the best of you in England,

Two small paragraphs to close our month's notes with : (1) Will people communicating with members of the Mission kindly remember that letters to residents at Kang Hoa and Chemulpó should be addressed "English Church Mission, Chemulpó, Corea ;” and letters to residents in Seoul or Mapó, * English Church Mission, Seoul, Corea"? (2) The “Directory to the Anglican Church in the far East" has been delayed considerably in publication, but it has at last been printed, and fifty copies are being sent to Miss Day, Lorne House, Rochester. It contains a great deal of information on the work out here, and would be very useful to anyone lecturing on the Church's work in China, Japan, or Corea. Vide advertisement.

Spirit of Missions.

NEW MISSION STEAMER FOR LAKE NYASA. The building or launch of a boat-whether it be some gigantic Oceania, or battleship, or some racing Shamrock- is always a matter of interest, even to poor uninstructed individuals who know nothing about boats. In the missionary world, an interest of this kind has for the last ten months been attached to the Universities' Mission to Central Africa. As some of our readers may know, the Mission has for many years been doing extensive work on Lake Nyasa by means of their steamer, the Charles Janson. The work in the many villages on the Lake has so increased that for some time past a second and larger steamer has been becoming an absolute necessity. So plans were prepared, an appeal for help was made, and in January of this year Messrs. Alley & Maclellan, of Glasgow, started the building. The steamer is now complete, and has been dismantled for transit to the scene of its future work. The vessel is twice the size of the Charles Janson, and the following are a few details of it, which we extract in an abbreviated form from Central Africa for October, 1899. The name given to the steamer is Chauncy Maples, so named in memory of Bishop Maples of Likoma, who was drowned in Lake Nyasa, in September 1895, while on his way to begin his work as Bishop after his consecration less than three months previously.

“To begin aft, we have first of all the accommodation provided for the captain and engineer, amply commodious. Then comes the space for the engines. The boiler is very large, and will be heated by wood fuel, therefore a large bunker space is needed, and this is found here on either side of the ship. Next to that is the deckhouse, which contains the two galleys (native and European), the pantry, the saloon, the schoolroom, and the chapel. Between the saloon and the schoolroom, on either side, are places for cloth, beads, and the stores necessary for barter. The schoolroom is fitted up with desks and seats for thirty natives, and at the end stands the altar, which is enclosed by doors which are so made that they can fold back to form a vestry on the right hand of the altar. By opening the communication between the saloon and the schoolroom quite a large church is formed. Forward of the deck cabin is the hatch for cargo, and forward of this the quarters for the native passengers and the crew. The quarters for the crew (eight) are below on the lower deck. The sides of the deck-house are fitted with storm and sun shutters. The saloon is fitted perfectly simply, but substantially. There is no sign of luxury, but the comfort of it is in its roominess and airiness. “A water-tight bulkhead, fitted with an emergency door, separates the students' quarters from the four cabins for Europeans. Each cabin contains two berths, and there is a bathroom which can be heated by steam. The space, in two of these cabins at least, is as good as on many a Liner. Each cabin has two 8-inch ports. Forward of the students' quarters is a room which Archdeacon Johnson can use as a room for private interviews; and here he can also have the printing Press, in which it is proposed to take the type of matter set up at the Lake-side villages to the head printing -office at Likoma. "On the forecastle, above the native passengers’ quarters, are two of the largest boats, specially to be used for loading wood, the anchor, the windlass, and other fittings. The height from this deck to the water-line is about 9 feet. The bow is straight, and gives the idea of great strength and solidity. There is no bowsprit. The roof of the deck-house is splendid, forming quite a large promenade deck, and spreading out on either side the whole width of the ship. We have, therefore, an upper deck 30 feet long by 20 feet broad. On this is the wheel-house and the sick bay, also the skylights of the saloon and school room ; but these last can be used as seats. In fine weather this will be, of course, the living room, as an awning will cover the whole width of the deck. The funnel is well aft, and there will be plenty of room even for walking up and down.”

COUNCIL FOR SERVICE ABROAD.

A little more than a year ago we drew attention to the subject of the English clergy being sent to serve for short periods (five years or so) in the colonies, and in such other Parts as short service would be useful in. It is obvious that in countries requiring the learning of complicated languages such short service would hardly be of much value. It is therefore principally with English-speaking parts of the world that the “council for service abroad," appointed by the United Board of Missions of the Provinces of Canterbury and York, is concerned. The Council consists of Lord Stanmore (Chairman), the Bishop of Stepney, Bishop Ingham (Secretary of the Canterbury Board of Missions), Archdeacon Long (Secretary of York Board of Missions), Canon Pennefather, Sir Charles Elliott, Chancellor P. V. Smith, Rev. A. G. Lawley Hackney, Rev. A. E. Barnes Lawrence of Blackheath, Rev. J. F. Ellison of Windsor, and Rev. E. A. Stuart of Bayswater. Hiltherto work at home and work abroad have been treated as two separate spheres, and men who have changed from the one to the other have been unthinkingly regarded as having broken with their past. But inasmuch as the Church's work is all one, we rejoice at the healthier tone of thought that the working of the Council will probably bring about. We quote three of its objects :- (a) To provide for those clergymen who desire to devote some years of their ministerial life to the service of the Church in the Colonies or in the Mission Field, a newly authorised method by which they may place themselves within reach of being called to some definite work abroad. (b) To provide for Colonial and Missionary Bishops, and their Commissaries, a convenient and recognised method of obtaining clergymen who have been ordained in England to fill vacant posts in their Dioceses for which suitable men are not already forthcoming ; and further, to give to such Bishops satisfactory evidence of the moral and spiritual fitness of those who may be recommended to them for such posts. (c) To keep in touch with clergymen who have gone abroad, during their absence from home, in order that suitable work may be sought for them on their return to England.

SPECIAL APPEALS.

The "Council for service abroad," above mentioned, are appealing for help in many Dioceses abroad. Special spheres of work are vacant in the Dioceses of : - Antigua, Bathurst, Bermuda, Bloemfontein, Brisbane, Calcutta, Capetown, Christchurch (N.Z.), Colombo, Fredericton, Grahamstown, Jamaica, Lahore, Newfoundland, Perth (Australia), Rockhampton, Waiapu (N.Z.), and Zululand. Full particulars of every one of these appeals can be obtained from Archdeacon Baines, Church House, Westminster, who is the Secretary of the Council. S.P.G. We venture to draw special attention to three things in connection with the S.P.G. : - (1) The great meeting at Exeter Hall is fixed for Thursday evening, November 23; the Bishop of Winchester will be in the chair, and the speakers include the Bishop of Stepney, Missionaries from British Guiana, and Chota Nagpur; and also, we believe, a distinguished Member of Parliament. Admission is free, and open to all, but tickets are necessary, and may be obtained (gratis) on application to the S.P.G., 19 Delahay Street, S.W. (2) "The Spiritual Expansion of the Empire"-a sketch of two centuries of work done for the Church and Nation by the SP.G.- is a new book just out. It is of special interest in view of the coming Bi-centenary of the Society which will commence to be kept in June next. It may be obtained from the S.P.G. Price is. nett, or post free for 1s. 3d. (3) The S.P.G.'s Syllabus of Instruction for Children is out. It is entitled, " The King's First Messengers." It is compiled by the Rev. Hugh Benson, and seems to us a splendid piece of work. Whether or not it is intended to enter for the Voluntary Examination on March 31, we should advise all who ever speak to children on Foreign Missions to get a copy. Copies can be obtained from the S.P.G. children's Secretary. Miss M. S. Benham, 32 Finsbury Square, E.C. Price 2½d. post free, or in quantities, at very much reduced rates. New BISHOPS OF GRAHAMSTOWN AND ST. HELENA. "A very large congregation, which included His Excellency the Governor and other officials, assembled in St. George's Cathedral, Capetown, on St. James's Day, to take part in the solemn service in connection with the consecration of two Bishops, namely, the Very Rev. Dean Holmes, who had been selected for the Bishopric of St. Helena, and the Rev. Canon Cornish, appointed Bishop of Grahamstown, in which diocese Dean Holmes has labored for some years. "The consecrating Bishops were His Grace the Archbishop of Capetown and the Bishops of Pretoria, Natal, Bloemfontein, Lebombo, and the Coadjutor-Bishop of Capetown." Mission Field, October.

Notes.

WE regret that Mrs. Nicolls, who has for many years been responsible for the Education Fund in connection with the Corean Mission, finds it necessary to resign her position as she is going abroad. The Mission owes her a deep debt of gratitude for the unceasing pains she has bestowed upon this department of the work, and universal regret will be felt that she has found it necessary to hand over the Secretaryship to other hands. We are sure, however, that in Miss Corbin, Sausmarez Street, Guernsey, the Education Fund will have secured the services of a very able successor, who will carry on with much zeal and vigor the work which Mrs. Nicolls so unwillingly lays down. We wish to call the attention of our readers to a very excellent little “Manual of Intercession and Thanksgiving for the work of the Church in the colonies and Mission Field," which has recently been published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. As it is a work so comprehensive in plan and so well adapted either for public or private use, we are sure that it will be welcomed by all who wish that the needs of Missions should be intelligently and systematically remembered in their prayers. It may be added that it contains several Offices and Litanies admirably adapted for use at Guild and Missionary Meetings, and that it may be obtained for the small sum of 6d.

Rhymes of Corean Children.

(Continued.) (By the late Dr. Landis.) XI. Tal to, tal to palkta Myeng chyeng to palkta Chokko syoulla chokeri Eun ēung namou kil somai Sang tani ket ot koreum Pou chyeni an ot koreum Tongmo chipeul kanikkan Yaksan chyekeul Omok Chomok mekeumye Nal han chyemeul anchyeko Ouri chipei oatta poara Syou syou patek chyouna poara Keka chike chyoukena malkena sikou taira. The moon, the moon is very bright, Very bright and glorious ; Put on your pearl embroidered jacket With sleeves like apricot leaves, With outer strings of purple silk And inner strings of crimson ; And let us go to a playmate's home, Where many cakes have been baked to-day, And there we'll sit and eat our fill. If they do not give us any, Wait until they come to our house And see if they get raisin cake. What do we care whether they give us cakes or not? The above is repeated by little boys on a bright moonlight night.

XII. Keun sol pat Chakeun sol pat Kamchăki Holchăki Yemyemi Nanok sin teui tekari. The great fir grove (pointing to the right eyebrow), The small fir grove (pointing to the left eyebrow), Winkers (pointing to the eyes. Winking is called in Corean Kamchăk, kamchăk), Holchăki (pointing to the nose). Yemyemi (pointing to the mouth). Namok sin teuil tekari (pointing to the chin. Namok sin means wooden shoes, and teui tekari means heel. This refers to the chin, which resembles the heel of a wooden shoe). Compare this with “ Eye winker, Tom tinker, nose smeller," etc., to which it bears a close resemblance, COUNTING-OUT RHYMES. These are repeated when choosing a leader in sports and games, or in playing “blind man's buff," "hide and seek,” etc. : - I. Ou choung chang. Superior middle elder. The boys are arranged in a line and every third one is counted out. The last one remaining is chosen leader. II. Ok Chok Sei Pal. (The) jade tripod (has) three legs. This is used in choosing sides : III. Mirera, Mirera, seul, seul, mi-re-ra. Push, Push, Gently, Gently, Pu-u-sh. IV. Hanal tai, towal tai, sama chyou, naltai, Ing nang, ke chi pal tai, Chang Koun, Koturai, Ppiöng. The last word is pronounced with the hard sound of p. It is impossible to translate the above, it being simply a play on the words one, two, etc. This and the following ones are used in playing blind man's buff, the tenth one having his eyes blindfolded : - V. Syeoul nomi toumyel ka Cho pap mekko meki mye Kil Kai. A Syeoul fellow to the country went. Eating millet it stuck fast; He said Kil kai The words in italics are a translation of the Corean text. The above is said to amuse small children, and after the whole is finished the child is tickled on the chest to make him laugh. Syeoul is Corean for "capital," and as the people of the capital eat nothing but rice, whilst the countryman is often compelled to be satisfied with millet, it is a rhyme deriding the inhabitants of the city with their pride and airs in general. "Kil kai” is an imitation of the sound made in clearing the throat. VI. Han nom, Tou nom, sam sa, neit nom Tong Kai mang Kai pitulki satki Chain namou ko ya tel nom Na tel ke ra. One fellow, two fellows, three four, four fellows. At Tong Ferry and Mang Ferry there are young doves in an Oak Tree. You low born Kitten I dare you to come out. CHEMULPÓ, COREA. E. B. LANDIS, M.D. Printed and publisbed at the ENGLISH CHURCH MISSION PRESS, SEOUL. HANDBOOK & DIRECTORY of THE ANGLICAN CHURCH IN THE FAR EAST, 1899. CHINA. JAPAN. COREA. SIAM. BORNEO. HAWAII. STRAITS SETTLEMENTS.

☞ The above work, written, printed, and published by members of Bishop Corfe's Mission, gives full, reliable, interesting, and up-to-date information about all the English and American Church Missions (15 dioceses in all) in the above countries, together with 2 succinct account of the peoples, languages, governments, and religions met with there, and a brief conspectus of non-Anglican Missionary work-Greek, Roman, and Protestant-in those parts. A limited number of copies, price 25., are to be had of Miss DAY, Lorne House, Rochester, to whom early application should be made.