Morning Calm v.1 no.5(1890 Nov.)
THE MORNING CALM. No. 5, VOL. I.] NOVEMBER 1890. [PRICE 1d. The Bishop's Letter. No. XVI. Victoria, B. C., August 26, 1890.
DEAR FRIENDS,
My last letter was written in Halifax, after my visit to the United States. From Halifax to Vancouver is a long stretch – an entire continent; and though it is difficult to compress all I have to say about this journey within the limits of a single letter, I must make the attempt. Twenty-two years have elapsed since I was at Halifax in H.M.S. Doris, my first ship, and I remember well with what kindness I was received by Dr. Bullock, the Dean of Halifax. Surely it was in accordance with the fitness of things that on my second visit I should be welcomed (and I cannot tell you how heartily I was welcomed) by another Dr. Bullock, his son, who is well known to many of the readers of the magazine, and especially to those who were serving in the Mediterranean with me three years ago, when he was the active and honoured Senior Chaplain of the Forces in Malta.
He and his good sisters made me feel as if I were at home again. As an old campaigner he was quite ready to enlist under the Korean ensign, and you will be as glad as I am to see his name amongst the Secretaries of the Association for Korea. May he soon be joined by many another of our Canadian fellow churchmen in the work of daily prayer for Foreign Missions! The only representative of the squadron was H.M.S. Thrush, and you will not be surprised to hear that during my three days in Halifax I managed to pay three visits to my old messmates – dear messmates they are too! – on board that ship. On Friday, August 8, I started by the Canadian Pacific Railroad on my long journey of 3,644 miles across the North American continent; and here let me say how much I owe to the kindness of the authorities of the C.P.R., and notably to Mr. Heward, of Montreal, who contributed so greatly to my comfort by his unremitting attention. My first halting place was Montreal, where I was received by the Rev, E. Wood, the Rector of S. John the Evangelist. Unknown to me before, he quickly made me feel as if I had known him all my life. He and the head-master of S. John's School (Rev. A. French, of Keble) vied with each other in their efforts to help me on my way. We had many friends in common, and when the hour of departing arrived, it was once more like leaving home. My four days' sojourn in Montreal enabled me to see a good deal of the hard, self-denying work which these excellent men are doing with all classes. The interest felt in the Mission was so widespread and so real that I feel sure it will be permanent, and that petitions will go up for us there as regularly and as earnestly as in other places where the Mission is better known. As to my journey across Canada, I hope you are not expecting to hear much of that. If I attempted a description of scenery, or any account of the English energy and English industry, to be seen all along the route, the Editor would only say 'Question?' and cut it out. But all that I have seen is very wonderful, and makes me think how necessary it is for us to pray more and more that the Lord of the harvest will send labourers to reap the harvest of the souls of all these toiling multitudes of English, Canadians, Indians, and half-breeds. Dear friends, you must help the Church in Canada with your prayers. Look at your compass and don't think too much about Korea. My next halt was at Winnipeg, where I arrived most opportunely to find a conference assembled, of representatives from every diocese in Canada, to consider the question of uniting all the dioceses and the provinces in one ecclesiastical body. They were very harmonious and unanimous, and most kindly interrupted their proceedings to give me a hearty welcome. I had the privilege of meeting here the Bishops of Rupertsland, Toronto, Qu'Appelle, Nova Scotia, Huron, Alhabasca, and Saskatchewan. On Sunday I preached at All Saints, and met at the Rector's house several of Bishop Anson's clergy. Fine fellows they are, leading devoted lives and suffering many hardships. How easy-going and luxurious I seemed to be by the side of them! My visit to Winnipeg was most enjoyable, and I hope profitable. Certainly I learnt many good lessons there. Mr. and Mrs. Tudor were very kind to me, and must be added to the list of benefactors to the Mission.
On Monday, the 18th, I left, and at once found myself in the vast prairie, passing through mile after mile of cornfields. What a wonderful sight this cultivated prairie of Manitoba is! But I see the Editor's eye on me, and I must pass on quicker than even the train carried me. I had the advantage of glorious weather in crossing the Rockies, the Selkirks, and the Golden ranges. At Kamloops (the meeting of the waters) I ‘stopped off' – saw a dear old school friend, and, by the kindness of Rev. A. Sheldrick, obtained something more than a superficial view of the difficulties which attend the mission priests of Saskatchewan and New Westminster, in their efforts to provide with regular ministrations the ranche districts, so widely separated and sometimes so difficult of access. The affection which these clergy have for the 'Cowboys' was contagious, and I felt as if I had found a new set of friends to be loved and cared for. Ah! you have only to pass quickly through their midst to learn how much the Church at home and in the more settled parts of Canada owes to her children who are toiling amidst so many difficulties, physical and spiritual, in this country.
My next halt was at New Westminster, where in Bishop and Mrs. Sillitoe I received the same hearty welcome, the same unselfish kindness. I preached in the Cathedral on Sunday evening (S. Bartholomew's day), and afterwards addressed a missionary meeting in S. Leonard's Hall. A brief visit to Victoria, in Vancouver Island, followed. I am finishing this letter under the hospitable roof of Bishop Hills, of British Columbia, the ninth Bishop I have seen since leaving Halifax three weeks ago. This afternoon I go to Esquimalt, where six ships of the Pacific squadron are at anchor. You will know that amongst them I shall again find myself amongst old friends. Dr. Landis has arrived at Vancouver from New York, and to-morrow night we both embark on board the S.S. Abyssinia, due to sail early on Thursday, the 28th, for Japan. I found a letter awaiting me in Vancouver from Dr. Wiles, who passed through at the beginning of the month to San Francisco, en route for Yokohama, in the S.S. Belgic. We shall probably overtake him in Japan. I am very well and very happy in the thought of all the prayers with which you are following me, and by means of which I have made so many new friends in Canada. Soon we shall have a chain of prayer for Korea encircling the whole world. God bless you all. 다음은 뉴웨스트민스터에서 멈추었습니다. 이곳에서 주교 실리토가 저를 진심으로 환대해주었습니다. 저는 주일 저녁에 대성당에서 설교했습니다. 그리고 S. Leonard's Hall의 선교 미팅에서 연설했습니다. 그리고는 밴쿠버섬에 있는 빅토리아에 잠깐 다녀왔습니다. 브리티쉬 컬럼비아의 Hills 주교 집에서 이 편지쓰기를 끝내고 있습니다. 3주 전 핼리팩스를 떠나고 나서 만나는 아홉번째 주교입니다. 오후에는 Esquimalt에 갔습니다. 그곳에는 여섯 척이 정박해있었습니다. ------------------------
I am always your affectionate Friend, C. J. CORFE.
Our readers will observe that in the present issue there is a calendar containing the names of the places at which the Bishop preached last November in behalf of Korea, together with the dates. A similar list will appear each month. As the anniversary comes round, each place will be remembered by the Mission at the Holy Eucharist, while the Bishop hopes that all these places will avail themselves of the opportunity of doing the same for them. It is hoped that this may tend towards binding together in the bond of a common intercession all who are interested in the Mission, and teach all to pray for one another at the highest act of Christian worship. The Rev. R. Small, M.A., Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, has offered his services in the missionary work about to be undertaken in Korea. He has for six years had charge of the Indian Mission in the Diocese of New Westminster, British Columbia, and goes with the full consent of his present Bishop to give any assistance available from his past experience in this new field of work. Miss Goodenough writes : “It is pleasant to think that some children's contributions have come to us from the Antipodes, so that we may now feel that the children's interest in and help to the Mission, and we feel sure their prayers too, form a circle round our whole world ; and still more may we be encouraged by the thoughts of the prayers of the child in Paradise who, if he was collecting his pence on earth which have been sent to us, is certainly carrying on his intercessions for the Mission in the rest to which he has been called."
St. Peter's, Kilburn, Association. DEAR SIR, Bishop Corfe has asked me to send you an account of the S. Peter's Foreign Mission Association, which was started last March in support of the Mission to Korea. The following simple rules were drawn up, and copies sent to the Associates of the Community :– S. Peter's COMMUNITY, MORTIMER ROAD, N.W., FOREIGN MISSION ASSOCIATION. OBJECTS. – To bind together our Associates and Friends in special Foreign Mission Work, by Prayer, Work, Almsgiving. MEMBERS. – Associates, Friends, Patients (past and present). Every Member to say a special Collect weekly for the Mission, and to contribute not less than 1s. a year, or two articles of needlework (clothing, fancy goods, &c. &c.). MEETINGS. – Monthly, for Work at different Centres. The Annual Meeting to be held at S. Peter's Home, Mortimer Road, Kilburn, N.W., on the Monday after Advent Sunday, which day shall also be observed as the Day of Intercession for Foreign Missions :– 8 A.M., Holy Eucharist. 9 A.M. to 9 P.M., Perpetual Intercession in the Chapel. 12 NOON, Litany. 3 to 6 P.M., Meeting of the Associates and Friends, with display of Work for the Mission. 5 P.M., Evensong and Address. MANAGEMENT. – The affairs of the Association shall be managed by a Committee, consisting of the Sub-Warden, the Mother Superior, the Assistant Superior, the Secretary and Treasurer. Eighty Associates and about twenty others, mostly Patients, have joined the Association, and Branches have been formed at Woking, Cheddar, Nuneaton, and Bath. Every Saturday the Bishop and the needs of the Mission are specially remembered at the 8 o'clock Celebrations in the Home Chapel, and at S. Peter's Home, Woking, and S. Michael's House, Cheddar. As the Bishop stated in one of his letters, S. Peter's Community has undertaken the nursing in connection with the Korean Mission, and anyone wishing to offer themselves for this branch of the work is requested to apply to me. I remain, dear Sir, Yours truly, ANNA GRAHAM.
The Spirit of Missions
WE much regret that, by an oversight, the name of the priest who accompanies the British Expedition into Mashonaland was wrongly given in the August number. It should have been Canon Balfour. Friends of Missions have heard with a thrill of interest of the recovery of the bones of the martyred Bishop Hannington. The following is the account given by the Rev. R. H. Walker, of the C.M.S. :– “When Bishop Hannington was murdered, the same day his body was carried to another place, because the people feared that the dead body of a white man might bring evil upon them. But the people of the next place refused to have it; and so it was carried from place to place, each refusing to allow it to remain in their country. A coastman, who, we understand, was one of Bishop Hannington's porters, accompanied the corpse. At last it reached a place on the boundary of Busoga, or in the country of the Bakeddi. Here they agreed to build a house for it, and on a framework, or bedstead, such as they make for smoking meat and fish on, the body was laid and left to decay. An agreement was made with the coastman to live at this house and to take care of it, and in return the people would give him food. "To this place Marko, the messenger from Mwanga to Mr. Jackson, of the Imperial British East Africa Company, came on his way with letters. He seems to have heard that the people there had experienced bad harvests and drought of late years, and that they attributed this to the fact of their having the white man's bones; and he suggested that he would get rid of the bones by taking them to the white man. He passed the place twice, and I fancy it was on the second journey that he took the bones to Mr. Jackson.” The Bishop of Moosonee has recently published an account of his last summer's journeys, which gives a good idea of the hardships of Mission work in the North of Canada. Starting from England in May 1889, the Bishop landed at Quebec, and passing through the Diocese of Rupert's Land to Winnipeg, he proceeded by steamer to Norway House, at the northern end of the lake, where he preached to a large wandering body of Indians. Then on through lake and river he went a five days' journey to Oxford House, where he spent ten days in preaching to and instructing the residents and Indians, and confirmed a young Indian, whom he also admitted to Holy Communion. After a week's journeying by boat, the Bishop reached York Factory, the principal station in North Moosonee. Boats had just come in from Severn and Trout Lake, the crews of which were all converts of the Mission, and with them was their faithful Catechist, Mr. William Dick. Every moment of their stay was made the most of, and then they departed to their distant homes, leaving behind them, however, their teacher, whom the Bishop was about to admit to the Diaconate, Leaving York, the Bishop went two hundred miles north through an ice-bound sea to Churchill, the outpost of civilization in his diocese. Arriving during the busiest season of the fur trade, he had good opportunities of preaching the Gospel to its many-tongued population – English, Cree, Chipwyan, and Eskimo – among whom the Rev. J. Lofthouse and his wife have laboured indefatigably for many years. All speaking the first three languages are now Christians, and almost everyone of them can read the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue. The Bishop baptized and married many persons in Churchill, and confirmed forty-five. Returning to York, he remained there some time with Archdeacon Winter, who had a large number of candidates for Confirmation, and, what was even better, a pure Indian for ordination, the Mr. Dick already alluded to. This was the event of the Bishop's visit, and deeply interested everyone at the place, both European and native. There are now in the diocese eight clergy: two at work among the Eskimo, both Europeans, and six among the Indians, of whom four are natives of the Diocese. After about a fortnight a vessel arrived from Moose Factory, and the Bishop was enabled to go by it direct to Moose. If this had not happened, he would have been obliged to return to England by the North Moosonee annual ship, and thence get to Moose in the summer. Finding all in order at Moose, the Bishop went on to Rupert's House, and there spent the winter, aiding the Rev. E. Richards, the young Indian clergyman there, and proceeding with his translation of the Bible into Moosonee. His plan for the summer of 1890 was to go along the eastern side of Hudson's Bay and visit East Main, Fort George, and Whale River, where he hoped to inspect the remarkable work now being carried on among the Eskimo of that district. He appeals earnestly for increased support, in order that he may open up two new Missions among the Eskimo – one at Ungava Bay, the other at Marble Island – new work which it is impossible that he should undertake without considerably larger funds than those at present at his disposal. The smallness of the expenditure of the diocese for 1889 should plead very eloquently for him; it was only £769. 19s. 4d. How many men could afford to maintain such a work without ever missing the amount! People sometimes speak as if the time which missionaries spend otherwise than in actually preaching were wasted. A truer view of things is given by the Rev. R. R. Winter, of the Cambridge Mission to Delhi. After speaking of the numbers of young Hindus who study at their College of S. Stephen, he continues: “But now it will be asked, What is the good of all this in a religious point of view? I would answer that it keeps Hindu and Mohammedan lads and young men, between the ages of eight and twenty-three, if they stay to the end, under order and discipline, based on the Christian religion; it gives religious and moral teaching to boys who, in their own homes, as in non-religious schools, would be left unrestrained to untruthfulness, slackness, and the lowest passions; the system brings non-Christian boys of fifteen and upwards, during a singularly impressionable and dangerous part of their life, into close contact with Christian gentlemen who devote their whole spirit and intellect, heart and soul, to their education. Is this nothing? . . . . Is it nothing that these boys and young men take away with them higher ideas of God's personality, of His love for them, and of their duty towards God and their fellow man?” Mr. Winter goes on to show how the college makes religious teaching a regular part of the school course, as well as the foundation of all its work. Such work must bear fruit – we have everything to gain by the higher moral tone, the deeper intelligence, and the fuller information which it produces. The pulpit which has recently been erected in Christ Church Cathedral, New Zealand, in memory of Bishop Selwyn, bears the record of a striking missionary work. There are four sculptured panels in beautiful white alabaster. The first shows Bishop Selwyn preaching to the Maoris; the second, the landing of Bishop Harper in 1857. Bishop Selwyn is represented greeting the new-comer, while the crew of his yacht Southern Cross are seen dragging the luggage on rudely extemporised wooden sledges in the background. The third panel represents the close of the first Provincial Synod, when the constitution of the Church of New Zealand was finally settled. Bishop Abraham is represented on the left, with Bishop Hadfield (the present metropolitan) and Sir W. Martin on his right. On the fourth panel is represented the consecration of Bishop Patteson. The martyr is kneeling, and the three consecrators, Bishops Selwyn, Abraham, and Hobhouse are engaged in the apostolic laying-on of hands. A native acolyte is holding the book. Thus the pulpit contains a record of the most interesting facts in the history of the Church in New Zealand. Few Missions can show such a record. It is scarcely fifty years since Bishop Selwyn left England, and now New Zealand is a flourishing Church province with a Metropolitan and five Suffragans. The daughter missionary Diocese of Melanesia presents an equally splendid sight. The cross which marks the grave of the martyr Bishop Patteson is now the object of most reverent care at the hands of the islanders, most of whom are Christians; and his beloved successor is a son of George Augustus Selwyn, the pioneer Bishop of New Zealand.
Missionary Intercessions and Thanksgivings
Genesis xviii. 18. – "And all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him." PREPARATION FOR MISSIONARY WORK. Pray that God will prepare those whom he is calling (1) by His own training of them, (2) by developing their faith, (3) by strengthening their courage, (4) by grounding them in humility, (5) by steeling them to endurance, (6) by kindling their zeal, (7) by the gift of bodily health, (8) by sanctifying their natural talent, (9) by blessing their studies, (10) by exercising them in spiritual combat, (11) by teaching them to pray. MISSIONARY ZEAL AT HOME. THANKSGIVING (1) for blessing on the S.P.G., the Church Missionary Society, the Central African Mission, (2) many liberal gifts towards Missionary work, (3) for many who are labouring zealously for Foreign Missions. PRAY for (1) increased Missionary zeal amongst Bishops and priests at home, (2) increase of parochial Missionary Associations, (3) increased observance of the Day of Intercession, (4) increased liberality on the part of the wealthy, (5) the establishment of Missionary Brotherhoods. MISSIONARY PRIESTS, DEACONS, LAYMEN, WOMEN. PRAY for God's special blessing on Missionaries leaving England this autumn – (a) courage, (b) health, (c) wisdom, (d) prosperous journey, (e) spiritual grace for their special sphere of work. Pray for those labouring (1) amid persecution, (2) in isolation, (3) in sickness, (4) amid discouragements. PRAY for those invalided home – patience, restoration of health, a happy return to labour. SPECIAL MISSIONS. Central Africa. – Safe return of Bishop Smythies. Blessing on the Native Theological College. Advancing civilisation may bring with it Christianity. Equatorial Africa. – Safety of the Missionaries. Peace to Uganda. Steadfastness of the Christians. Establishment of the Church. Korea. – Special blessing on the foundation of the Mission. Wisdom, guidance, health to Bishop Corfe. Blessing on the Medical work. Grace to the Koreans to hear. Blessing on the Home labours. Thanksgiving for the Bishop's reception in America Chinese Dioceses (of Mid-China, North China, Victoria). – On the Bishops and all Missionary labourers, so that this great and advancing nation may be brought to know the truth.
