Morning Calm v.2 no.10(1891 Apr.)

MISSION HOUSE OF THE RESURRECTION

Seoul, Corea, April 13, 1891

Dear

Printed circulars are generally received with suspicion – rarely hailed with delight. I think, however, it will give you unqualified pleasure to receive this letter from me when I tell you that it is the first work turned out by the printing press, which you and the remainder of my former colleagues were so good as to give me last year for the use of the Mission to Corea. The press, which was purchased from Messrs. Harrild & Sons, was sent from London early last January, and reached Seoul to-day. Messrs에서 구입한 인쇄기가 런던에서 지난 1월에 보내져서 내일 서울에 도착합니다.

In Mr. Peake we are fortunate in having on the staff of the Mission one who has a practical knowledge of printing. 피크가 있어서 다행입니다. 이 사람이 인쇄 작업을 하는 데 실질적인 지식을 갖고 있는 선교단의 일원입니다.

He is energetically assisted by John H. Wyers, Leading Seaman who, having left England last December in H. M. S. Himalaya, purchased his discharge in Hong Kong, and joined the Mission here about a month ago. Thus, you see, no time has been lost in getting the press under way. The task of printing an English-Corean Vocabulary, by J. Scott, Esq., our Vice-Consul in Chemulpo, has been entrusted to us – a task which is to be proceeded with immediately. But before this work is taken in hand I wish to send you a letter of renewed thanks for the valuable gift with which you have presented us, and to tell you, in the first impression, that your gift has begun to prove useful within a year of its presentation and in less than four months of its departure from England. And, although he is not able to set up the type, I hope that Wyers will strike off this impression.

I do not propose to give you any news of the Mission in this letter, because I feel sure that your interest in our work being so keen, you read the letter which I write every month in the penny magazine, which, since July, 1890, has been the magazine of the Mission. In a recent number you will have read a letter from Dr. Landis, showing what success has attended his medical work in the port of Chemulpo. Besides the dispensary there, which is being used by increasing numbers, Dr. Wiles has built two dispensaries in different quarters of the Capital. I am thus able to include in this letter to you a brief mention of the successful establishment if the work which my many friends in the Royal Navy and Royal Marines are enabling me to accomplish by means of the Fund for Hospitals in Corea – a work which I trust will be maintained and developed by your continued efforts on our behalf – efforts which will surely bind you all closer together, as they bind us closer to you. Believe me with all good wishes for yourself and those committed to your care,

Yours very gratefully and sincerely, C. J. CORFE,

Missionary Bishop in Corea and the Province of Shing king in China.

THE MORNING CALM. No. 10, VOL. II.] APRIL 1891. [PRICE Id. The Bishop's Letter. No. XXI. Chemulpho, Korea, January 16, 1891.

DEAR FRIENDS,

After the unpacking described in my last letter, Dr. Landis, Mr. Warner, and I were glad to settle into some sort of daily routine. 짐을 풀고 나서 랜디스 박사와 와너 그리고 저는 매일매일 일정한 삶의 모습을 만들어 가고 있어서 기뻤습니다.

Regular hours for study and devotion we had been strangers to for a long time. As I led you to expect in that letter, the month of November was, accordingly, uneventful. Mattins at 7.30; breakfast at 8; study from 9 to 12; tiffin at 1; study again from 3 to 5; Evensong at 6; dinner at 7. Such was the moderate "rule" which we tried to establish at first; and though there were occasional interruptions, we managed to keep it pretty well. The Korean teacher was due for five hours, and we each of us got an hour or so with him every day. When Dr. Landis was having his lesson, Mr. Warner would read theology with me.

We were thus employed on the morning of December 8, when a crowd of coolies with luggage appeared in the compound, followed by two Europeans, in whom we recognised Mr. Small and Mr. Peake. The Japanese steamer had come in during the night unknown to us; and though we had heard of their departure from Vancouver, we were not certain what steamer would bring them from Japan. Thus the surprise was as delightful as it was complete. No more work for that day; at least, no more study, for there was plenty of work. In fact, the work of unpacking and settling down began once more. But we were ready for them, and before night they were quite at home. It was delightful to feel our family growing so large, and the Te Deum which we sang that night after Evensong came, I know, from hearts full of thankfulness.

And now, having at last got clergy as well as doctors, I began to think how soon we could open a second church – I mean one for the Europeans in the capital. The repairs to one of our houses in Söul were all but completed, and I determined, if possible, to begin regular services on Christmas Day. I ought to add that our Sunday services in Chemulpho were by this time fully established and appreciated by the three or four English who form the congregation. The building in which I proposed to begin the like work at Söul is a small Korean house, close to the British Consulate-General. Dr. Wiles, who has been all the time superintending the work for me, and making himself useful in numberless ways, wrote to say that we could come up as soon as we liked. Accordingly, leaving Mr. Small to continue the work here, Mr. Peake and I started on the morning of December 19 for Söul. Though very cold the day was delightfully fine, and we determined to walk. You have so recently had my account of the road between this and Söul, that you will not require a second edition. The road was good, the sun bright, and the air so bracing, that we accomplished the 25 miles, without much fatigue, in between seven and eight hours. At Mapu, having crossed the river Han, we were met by Dr. Wiles and Mr. Hillier, the Consul-General (who, by the way, is so kind to us), and the last four miles to Söul seemed quite short. Our house had no furniture in it, but on Sunday (Advent IV.) we managed to have a celebration of the Holy Communion in the room which we intended to make the future church, and on the Monday we got into the house, somehow, for good. And now the unpacking began again. No more Korean! We felt that the Christmas holidays had really begun. It was my great desire that when the congregation arrived on Christmas morning they should find the church as complete as possible. All our efforts, therefore, were directed to this room. I fear the Editor will not allow me a plan, and so I must attempt a description of the house, which shall be as short and as clear as I can make it. The house stands in a compound, or garden, and consists of three sides of a square, with the fourth side occupied by the kitchen and servants' quarters. Standing, therefore, in the garden and facing the house you have on the right (forming one side of the square) a room some 32 ft. by 8 ft. This is the church. On the left, forming another side, a second room of about the same size (it is divided into two, and forms two sleeping rooms); whilst the side in front of you, and connecting these two long rooms, forms the sitting-room, a room about 20 ft. by 14 ft. The front door, which serves as a window as well, is in the centre of this room, in which also are two more doors, one leading into the church, the other into the bedroom.

But now let me fix your attention on the church – the right-hand room. It will seat nineteen besides our two selves, and as the number of English churchfolk in Söul is at the outside eight or nine, the supply already exceeds the demand. But the shape of the room makes it admirably suited for the purpose. In a Chinese store I was fortunate enough to get a good carpet for the mud floor, and a Chinese tinsmith converted our lamp into a hanging lamp for what we will call the chancel, and made for us seven sconces, which, fitted with candles, were placed at intervals on the walls. Our dear friend, Bishop Scott, of North China, showed his love for us in a very practical way, by first designing and then getting a Chefoo carpenter to make a lectern, a reading desk, a chair, a faldstool, and one or two prie-dieu – all of oak. These he sent us just in time, and, together with a table which I had had made like the one we use in Chemulpho, gave us at once a readymade sanctuary. Mrs. Hillier lent us curtains, which made a good dossal, and a covering for the table, so that on Christmas morning our room looked most churchlike. Let me not forget to say that an American lady most kindly lent us a small harmonium, which added greatly to our enjoyment of the Adeste Fideles which we sang as an introit. Litany was said at 8, followed by Holy Communion. Mattins was said at 11, and Evensong at 5. I must resist the temptation to describe the rest of our efforts to get the house habitable for our two selves. We had no cook or servant. A willing Korean coolie, however, helped us in our housekeeping difficulties (that is to say, he helped us when he understood us), and Mr. Peake having just come from British Columbia, being, moreover, a man of great resources, those difficulties were never insuperable, and they certainly afforded us a great deal of fun. Every now and then Mr. Peake would burst out with, "I've got a scheme!" and I am bound to say that his schemes when put into practice generally left us more comfortable than we were before. Sailors are handy people, you know, but that is when they are not "idlers.” Having been an "idler" all my life, I am anything but handy, as many old shipmates who read this will know. It was a good thing for me then that Mr. Peake had nothing of the "idler” in him. The work of settling down in this house being now fairly complete, I determined to get back to Chemulpho with all speed, to enable Mr. Small and Mr. Warner to come and begin permanent work in Söul with the new year. Before leaving this part of my subject, however, I must not forget to tell you that, adjoining the house (which, by the way, we call the Mission House of the Advent, partly to distinguish it from the larger Mission House in a different quarter of the city, and partly because on the fourth Sunday in Advent we held our first service in it) – adjoining this house, I say, is another small Korean house, standing in the same compound, which Dr. Wiles has had fitted up as a dispensary. It has a door opening on to the street, and we hope here to begin medical work among the Koreans. Dr. Wiles is now living in a tiny native house close by, and will, I hope, come and occupy the Mission House of the Advent in the spring, when the rest of us move into Nak Tong. On New Year's Day, therefore, I walked back to Chemulpho – another bright day, although snow had fallen the day before. I found Mr. Small and Mr. Warner ready to start, and on January 2 they had their walk, arriving in Soul safely before sunset.

There is one move more to tell you of, and I have done. The large house which we have used as a sort of collecting house for ourselves and our baggage in Chemulpho was now no longer necessary. The numbers of the Mission in this port will not for a long time exceed two – Dr. Landis and the priest in charge of the European work. Accordingly I have taken for a twelvemonth a small four-roomed house next door. Into this Dr. Landis and I moved on the Feast of the Epiphany, beginning our tenancy with a celebration of Holy Communion in the room which we have set apart as the English church. And now, with Jacob, I may say "I have become two bands." You will thank God with me that before we have been in the country three months He has enabled us to occupy for Him – perinanently, I hope – two out of the four treaty ports of Korea, and has given us, besides clergy, a doctor and a congregation in each. Though the news of all this will not reach you before Easter, you will know that at the beginning of this New Year I am wishing you all possible happiness, and thanking Him for those constant prayers of yours by means of which He has blessed us hitherto.

Your affectionate friend, C. J. CORFE.

Note. Miss DAY writes to us that she will be pleased to send (post free) to anyone who will send her 6d. a copy of the reprint of the Bishop's Letters. Her address is 2 Lorne Villas, Rochester. Association of Prayer and Work for Korea. The following is an extract from a letter which has been received by the General Secretary which may interest our readers:—   Söul: Christmas Day, 1890.

DEAR GENERAL SECRETARY,

Without one single sign of Christmas in sight, but with many solid tokens to assure us that, for all that, Christmas is here, I sit down to snatch a few minutes wherein to tell you of the very unique and remarkable way in which the first Christmas Day is being observed by two of us in Söul. On the 19th, accompanied by Mr. Peake, I started for Söul, leaving the three other members of the Mission in Chemulpho. We sent our baggage by boat and walked. The distance is about twenty-four miles, and we accomplished it without fatigue in seven hours. And now we are in a little Korean house which we have bought close to the Consulate, in order to begin there, on Christmas Day, services for the few English and Americans who belong to the Church of England. We have servants' quarters, but no servant, only a Korean coolie to light the fire and fetch water. When we came into the house it was quite empty. We brought a table, two cots, and three croquet chairs (which we had from the A & N. stores). There is only one stove in the house, in the sitting-room. The other rooms, church included, are warmed Korean fashion by means of “kongs." The floors are of mud; under the floor runs a flue from one side of the house to another. The fire is lit at one side, and the fire escapes at the same level on the other. When the "kong" works well the result is really a warm room. From a Chinese store I bought some carpet, which covers the whole chapel; chairs have been lent us by the Consul and others. The room will hold just nineteen, not counting ourselves. We have been lent a little American organ. From the Consulate came a silk curtain, which we have turned into a dossal at what would be the east end, and a couple of white curtains of the towel stuff material. These we placed over the table and have converted into a frontal. The fair linen cloth from Exeter, having started our work in Chemulpho, was brought up to perform the same duty in Söul. And really the east end looks very well and the whole room most church-like, a great triumph, considering that yesterday afternoon it was absolutely bare. Our two primitive sanctuary lamps we brought up from Chemulpho, and they add very much to the beauty of the place. I cut up an old white linen stole and turned it into a cross, which was pinned on to the dossal. Between 6 and 7 this morning we got the coolie to understand that he was to "poul thairra" (light the fire under the kong), and at 8 we had Litany (it is not a Litany day, but no one needs mercy more than ourselves and the Church in beginning such a work as this), and immediately afterwards we sang   "O come, all ye faithful," and proceeded to the celebration. At 9 we came back to the sitting-room to find our fire nearly out. But before 10 we had got some water (the water here is very bad) boiling, laid the cloth ourselves, which we always do, and sat down very hungry to the remains of a tin of Chicago beef. A pot of strawberry jam sent from Chefoo completed our bliss. At 11 we had Morning Prayer. It is a lovely day, but we have not been out, Mr. Peake and I preferring to make sure of our Christmas inside, where we are indeed very happy. The situation and various prospective situations have been discussed, for Missionaries will build castles in the air like other people. The coolie is a little perplexed, not quite knowing what we are about, but he obeys our instructions when he can understand them, which is about three times in ten. At 5 we are going to have Evensong, and at 7.30 we both dine with the Consul.

Chemulpho: January 3.

On New Year's Day I walked back to Chemulpho, getting in just at sunset. It was very cold, but the warm sun made the walk very enjoyable, though at the same time it made the roads greasy. Snow fell on the eve and I thought it might prevent me from going; but the wind changed to the north-west, and I am glad I came. I met no tigers, though rumour says the cold weather has driven one or two of them down to our latitudes. And now I hope my wanderings are over until the arrival of Mr. Trollope and his party in the spring. Yesterday Mr. Small and Mr. Warner started for Söul (also walking), and are to live with Mr. Peake in our little house near the Consulate until Mah Tong is ready, Dr. Landis and I remaining here. Next week we leave this large house for a tiny one next door, which is even easier to describe than the last. It is a square and has four rooms,

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thus: it has no front door, a and b have French windows which serve as doors, and a and b represent the front of the house—a bit of garden joining it to the road, while behind is a garden of some size. The rooms are about 12 feet by 12 feet. Small though the house is, it is to be dispensary, church, and dwelling-house. Dr. Landis has b and d, b for the dispensary and, I expect, sitting-room, d for bedroom; a is to be my room, and c the church. A door connecting a and c will, however, be open and enable a as well as c to be church if necessary. For our two selves c will be large enough. This house will be ours for a year, or until we have bought ground to build a house for ourselves. At the rear of the house is a ones for whom no one cares will be our first care when we can speak to their mothers. One day, whilst walking about a village, I saw some children playing in the street, and one boy came to me holding out his hands with string twined about his fingers. I never thought to see cat's-cradle out here, but there it was, sure enough, just as I used to play it as a boy, and I don't think I have seen it since. But I remembered it, and made them laugh to see I knew the game. Whilst I have been writing, such curious sounds have been passing through the air, like wheels going round rapidly. What do you think they are? The Chinese tie whistles on to the tails of their pigeons; when the pigeons fly the air makes the whistles sound. But I must not tell you more now. I pray God to give you all a Happy Christmas, to keep you always His little children, little in heart and spirit, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven. My paper has come to an end, but not my affection. That grows bigger as I get further from you. God bless you all! I am always your affectionate friend,

C. J. CORFE.

P.S.—I have just seen that you have been sending some more money to Mrs. Goodenough for the children. Thank you—thank you. God bless you for it!” During the first week in April the General Secretary hopes to receive a great many Quarterly Reports from Local Secretaries. If they are in need of more papers for distribution, will they kindly write at the bottom of the donation column of the Report Form the number of the copies of—1st Rules, 2nd Application Form, 3rd “Korea,” 4th Abridged Report to Members, that they wish sent them? Hospital Naval Fund.

TO THE EDITOR OF The Morning Calm, " Chemulpho, Korea: "Feast of St. Stephen. ‘DEAR SIR, "The Bishop is desirous that I should send you some account of the commencement that has been made by the Medical Department of the Mission for the benefit of the readers of Morning Calm. “I reached this port with the Bishop on October 1, and it was decided that I should remain here to take advantage of any opening for the work that might present itself in this place, while Dr. Wiles represented the Mission in Seoul, the capital, and the future headquarters of the Mission. The opening soon presented itself in the appearance of a first Korean patient on October 11, the day after my coming to this house. Having no supply of medicines, I was placed somewhat in difficulty, but fortunately it was only a case of surgery, and for the few cases that came before the arrival of the medicines from Seoul I was able to secure the necessary drugs from the store. Out of the cases on my books from that time to the present, about thirty in number, most have been from the poorer classes, unable to pay for their medicines; but several have, after treatment, brought presents of eggs and fruit. The visits to the dispensary have increased each month, thus presenting a prospect of future usefulness. One of these was made by a Korean, who had walked in ten miles to get medicine for his daughter. The most important, in one respect, was that of a Korean lady, who was brought by her father in a native covered chair, borne by coolies. We regarded this as an unusual circumstance, as amongst the better sort the women are kept very much in seclusion. The patient seemed fully sensible of the delicacy of her position, as the tears were rolling down her face.

“Being anxious to become known to the people, I accepted the invitation of an Italian who has been resident here for some years, and rode out with him, some weeks ago, to visit a Korean præfect town, a much more important place than Chemulpho, about six miles away. But a better opportunity than this was afforded me on Christmas Eve, when taking a walk for the purpose of adding to my knowledge of the language with our Korean instructor. He invited me to enter a friend's house with him. Six more Korean visitors dropped in, and we spent an hour or more in conversation, all sitting cross-legged on the matted floor. Refreshments were brought in in earthenware dishes, with carved chopsticks, and handed round, and afterwards the social pipe was brought round. Many questions were asked about my relatives, and about the area, population, and customs of England and America, the only foreign countries for which they have distinguishing names. The apartment was small in dimensions, and warmed, as all Korean houses are, by a 'kong,' or subterranean oven beneath the floor. The heat and the unwonted cross-legged position served to test the reality of one's desire to make friendly acquaintance with the people. They all seem very anxious to pick up the English language, and in the course of our daily instructions it is frequently necessary to recall our teacher to the stipulated terms of his engagement—to teach us rather than learn from us. "I hope from time to time to anticipate my official report due at the end of the year by sending you a few notes of the progress that is being made. "As no doctor can possibly gain admittance to treat Korean women in their own houses, the Bishop is eagerly looking forward to the time when trained Nursing Sisters will come out from England to take up this branch of the Mission work. Oct. Nov. Dec Totals. New Patients 9 5 20 34 Dispensary visits 15 16 45 76 Visits made to house 4 11 10 25 “The statistics for December only include the number to December 26. "E. B. LANDIS, M.D.”

The Spirit of Missions

SOME further extracts from the report of the Upper Niger Mission will be acceptable, we hope. Mr. Robinson goes on to speak of the methods of work:— "Our adoption of native dress has been, we can honestly say, wholly a help to us in our work. It has given us ready access to all classes of natives who would otherwise have held aloof. As far as personal comfort is concerned, the loose-flowing garments of the Hausas are vastly preferable to our tight-fitting European clothes. To talk of living in native dress, or on native food, in the light of a hardship is a gross absurdity. Our brethren of the Lower Niger Mission only wish that they could get the same supplies of fresh meat and vegetables which we have, and that the heathen of Onitsha and Obotsi wore anything that could be called a dress for them to adopt!” Still, conformity to native life does not entirely break down the barrier between them and their people: their white faces still irresistibly suggest wealth, and the fact of possessing books and receiving them from England marks them out as capitalists in a land where books are hand-written, and "to possess four books is to be a rich man."

"There is another point," he continues, "upon which we are anxious that our friends should make no mistake. In Lokoja, our headquarters, beyond which we have not gone as yet, we have perfect political security: there is no fanaticism, and in any case the strong hand of the Royal Niger Company would keep the peace. Thus we have been living, so far as bodily comfort and security are concerned, under much more favourable conditions than a large proportion of our brother-workers at home or abroad. When we receive letters of condolence for what are not hardships, and of praise for what is nothing  but our common-sense duty, we feel bitterly that we are injuring Christ's cause by accepting it for a moment, and are casting a slight upon our brother Missionaries who are working quietly, steadily, and almost unknown in positions of much greater difficulty and often of real danger. That there may be hardships and even danger when we are able to itinerate in the interior we are well aware; but that time has not yet come. It is not yet clear when that advance will take place. Messengers were sent some time ago to the Amir of Nupe (who lives at Bida, a hundred miles inland from Lokoja) asking permission to itinerate in his territories and visit him in his capital; but unfortunately the customary tribute was not sent, and the messenger only escaped with his life from the incensed monarch by a speedy flight. Since then another message has been sent, with the rightful tribute, and an earnest request to go to Bida is the result. Advantage will be taken of this on the return of Dr. Harford-Battersby, who had accompanied Mr. Wilmot Brooke to Madeira on his way back to England, necessitated by an attack of typhoid fever. And it is hoped that work in the Hausa States also may be begun before long.

The life of a "parish " priest in New South Wales is no light one, as the following extract will show: — "Here I have only two families of good Church people, and the parish is large and unwieldy, embracing 171/2 counties. I am home one month and away one month in the bush, while a lay reader officiates in the church. In my last trip I travelled a little over 500 miles in my own buggy. On the way I had to sleep two nights under my buggy, the rain making the roads heavy and causing delay. Our Church committee includes two Baptists, three Presbyterians, one Congregationalist, two Lutherans, and five Churchmen; by this you can see that this parish is no bed of roses. In the past year the church has been improved; the communicants have increased from eight to forty; the choir has been surpliced, and the surroundings of the altar have been greatly improved. The seats are free, and the church is kept open for private prayer." The March number of the Cowley Evangelist contains a letter from Father Benson, giving an account of the baptism at Calcutta of a very interesting convert to the Faith: — "The Oxford Mission asked me to baptize a Babu, Monindra Lal. He is the third graduate of the University who has been baptized. ... He was baptized by immersion. I was surprised to find practically how easy this process was. He lay down in the bath so that I might dip his head three times under water. Poor fellow!—or, rather, I hope it will turn out happy fellow!—he has had a hard time of it since. Walker asked him to come and stay at Bishop's College, but he said he would brave it out with his people. They have kept him in strict imprisonment ever since, and have now carried him away to the home in the country. His father has made him great promises if he will keep his conversion secret for a twelvemonth. I believe he would then not oppose his coming to England and making the change while there; but his baptism is in the newspaper, so that I hope the young man will be firm, whatever the consequences may be. He ought to be remembered for some time in the Intercessions. "One wishes there was a little more prayer in India! Everything of that kind seems to be cut down to a minimum. One hears the Hindu going on with his prayers for ever so long, but even in the cathedrals one does not seem to get the complete tale of Church prayer!"

We may trust that by this time Bishop Tucker has reached Uganda. A letter received at the C.M.S. house from Mr. Gordon shows that he will have found the Native Church in a flourishing state. The Christians had finished their new church, 80 feet long, and the services were crowded and heartily joined in. Several leading members had received important chieftainships, and Mr. Gordon asks for special prayers in their behalf, that they may not lose the simplicity of their faith. ... Three of the leaders have not accepted chieftainships, but desire to give themselves wholly to the Lord's work. These are Sembera Mackay, Mika Sematimba, and Henry Wright Duta. Many were asking for baptism, but Mr. Gordon was exercising increased care in admitting candidates. "In some cases," he says, “I have been gladdened at their understanding and answers, at their sense of sin, and their penitent and humble spirit, their trust in the Saviour for true repentance and newness of life." Translations of Holy Scripture were going on; Mackay's unfinished translation of St. John had been continued by Duta and Sembrera, who used Bishop Steere's Swahili version as a basis, and rendered that into Luganda. Mr. Ashe's St. Mark and St. Luke had been received, and Mr. Gordon was at work upon these, and upon the Acts. The translation of the Baptismal Service for adults had proved of great value as a basis of teaching; "for a long time past,” he says, “I have made the candidates learn by heart the greater part of it." In addition to these, the Baptismal Service for infants, the Marriage and Burial Services, and a number of the prayers have been translated.   Please circulate this on board ship, in barracks, and among friends. Bishop Corfe's Mission to Corea.

NAVAL FUND FOR HOSPITALS

Second Report of Executive Committee, April 1, 1891. THE Executive Committee issued an Initial Report on May 1, 1890, to accompany a letter from Bishop Corfe, conveying his thankful acknowledgments for the establishment of the Fund. In communicating a second letter of the Bishop's, written from Corea to the contributors, the Executive Committee take the opportunity of again reporting progress. The interest at first shown in the Mission and Fund by the Service has been well sustained. We have to mourn the loss by death of two of our supporters, the Rev. R. M. Inskip, C.B., R.N., a Vice-President, and Lieutenant H. H. Douglas, R.N. Fresh friends, however, have continued to join and help on the good work. The list of Vice-Presidents has received several accessions, and the General Committee has been very largely increased. In this Committee we have now representatives on nearly every naval station and officers from every branch of the Service. The Executive Committee remain nearly unaltered, but as they have, by the constitution, power to add to their number, a resolution has been passed constituting any member of the General Committee, when able to attend a meeting of the Executive Committee in London, a member of that body for the occasion, and eligible to take part in the proceedings. It is hoped that much useful information and experience may thus be rendered available at home, and a more active interest created afloat. Members of the General Committee are requested to bear this in mind, and to remember that the meetings of the Executive Committee are always held on the second Saturday of each quarter, at 3 P.M., in the rooms of the Hon. Secretary, C. E. Baxter, Esq., 24 Ryder Street, S.W. The total amount of contributions received up to the end of the year 1890 was £475. The expenses amounted to about £17, foreign postages accounting for a considerable proportion; but, as the interest on deposit at Bank gave nearly £7, a net sum of £465 was left available for the purposes of the Fund. The Balance Sheets are found appended, duly audited, by our Hon. Auditors, to whom the Executive Committee have conveyed the grateful thanks of the Mission. The necessity of publishing a list of the contributors at the end of each year is obviated by their being printed, month by month, in The Morning Calm. During the first quarter of the present year the amount of contributions received has been £141, making the total from the commencement £616. On March 9, 1891, £100 was remitted through the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation to Bishop Corfe, according to his request, to commence operations in the port of Fusan. During the summer, he will require further remittances to build his hospitals or dispensaries in Seoul and Chemulpho. The Executive Committee wish to remind all friends that for permanent support the Fund depends chiefly upon annual subscriptions, offertories, and collections. Our annual subscribers in the year 1890 numbered 65, contributing £75; and during the same year 17 offertories were received, yielding £53, and 15 collections giving £50. Thus, under these heads combined, £178 was received during the year. It is very desirable that efforts should be directed to increase our income derived through these channels. The operations in Corea itself can best be learnt from the enclosed letter from the Bishop. We cannot but gratefully feel that the earnest prayers which have been offered up, by sea and by land, from every quarter of the world, have prevailed much, and that the self-denying efforts of our Missionaries have been blessed by a most encouraging commencement of the work. It may be added that besides the Bishop's letters which have appeared every month in The Morning Calm, an interesting account of his arrival in Corea is given in the January (1891) number of The Mission Field, the organ of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The Executive Committee have also the pleasure of announcing that the Royal Naval Exhibition has allotted a space, free of charge, for “Exhibit illustrating work of Mission." A great opportunity is thus offered for spreading the knowledge of the Fund and creating a wide interest in the Mission. It is hoped that our supporters will themselves visit, and induce all their friends to visit, allotment No. 168c in Howe Gallery. Copies of this report and other documents will be given away at the Naval Exhibition to anyone interested in Christian Missions. Signed on behalf of Executive Committee, J. B. HARBORD, Chairman. C. E. BAXTER, Hon. Secretary.

[표]   To my Friends of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. CHEMULPHO, COREA, January 15, 1891.

DEAR FRIENDS,

I have been in Corea now about three months, and hope you will not consider that too long a time to have kept you without a letter; nor, on the other hand, will you expect me, in so short a time, to be able to report much progress. I will remind you that Dr. Wiles, the head of the Naval Fund for Providing Hospitals in this country, left England early last July, and reached Corea at the beginning of September. On September 29 I landed in Chemulpho and proceeded at once to join him in Seoul.

The time has now come when I ought to tell you how the medical work has progressed, what we have been able to accomplish, and in what directions we have reason to believe the work may be developed. First, however, let me say that I determined not to draw on your fund until I could see that the money could be laid out to advantage. In a word, I want to spend as little as possible in experiments, and only to use it when we may reasonably believe that the experimental stage has been passed. I am thankful to be able to tell you that that stage is nearly reached, and the medical work of the Mission having proceeded so successfully, the time is coming for me to draw on the fund with which you are so generously supplying me.

Having two medical men attached to the Mission, I was able to begin work simultaneously in two of the ports. Leaving Seoul for the present, I will speak of Chemulpho, the principal seaport of the country, and only 25 miles from Seoul. Dr. Landis travelled with me from America, and began operations in a small rented house, two rooms of which were fitted up as a dispensary and consulting room. With the exception of a Japanese doctor there was no other medical man in this port; you can imagine, therefore, that the arrival of a properly qualified physician and surgeon was a boon to the various Europeans living here as well as to the Coreans, Japanese, and Chinese. Very few days elapsed before the doctor had his hands full. I do not propose, however, to trouble you with any details of his work amongst Europeans, because, though we are glad to be of assistance to them, our immediate work is with Coreans and Chinese. During the first month of his residence he was occupied chiefly with his teacher, and made such good and rapid progress with the language, that the Corean patients found little difficulty in making him understand what they required. A letter from Dr. Landis will, I hope, appear soon in Morning Calm, giving several interesting statistics of his work, and the number of Coreans treated by him up to December 26, 1890. I will not repeat these statistics, but will only add that the number of daily visits has increased considerably since then, and the condition of life of the Corean patients now varies from the very poorest to the well-to-do merchants and native officials. This may not mean much, but it clearly means this—that the doctor is gaining the confidence of the people, a great matter in Corea, where foreigners and foreign ways are habitually looked upon with suspicion. Another mark of their confidence in him is to be seen in the fact that a few of his patients have been women. True, he has never been allowed to visit any female patients in their own homes (so great a departure from Corean customs cannot be expected for a long time), but to any one who knows the extreme privacy of women's life here, this fact may mean a good deal. In the presence of such encouragement, you will not be surprised to hear me say that I consider it to be most essential to continue and develop the medical work which has been so happily begun in this port. The house in which the doctor lives is shared at present by me and is rented by the Mission. As soon, however, as the winter is over I hope to buy some land in Chemulpho and on it to build a house of our own. If I see that a dispensary and perhaps the beginning of a hospital ought to be added, I shall not scruple to pay for them out of the Naval Fund. You will thus be asked to continue a work which, supported hitherto from other sources, has already met with abundant success.

I now return to Seoul. Seoul must be considered the head-quarters of the Mission, our houses there being our own, and sufficiently large to accommodate all the ten members which at present constitute the Mission staff. One of the houses is already occupied by three members of the Mission, and, under the kind and wise supervision of Dr. Wiles, a small building attached to it has been fitted up as a dispensary. This building, which is near to the Consulate-General, opens on to the native street, and seems admirably adapted for the purpose for which the doctor intends to use it. The large Mission house which, ere this reaches you, will I hope have become the head-quarters of the Mission, is in a different part of the city, some mile and a half from the house of which I have just been speaking. It stands in a compound, and from its position, in the midst of native surroundings, ought to meet the wants of many in that densely-populated city. In the compound, Dr. Wiles has built another dispensary, and will begin work in it next month or early in March. The medical work amongst Coreans in Seoul not having as yet passed the experimental stage, I have refrained from spending upon it any of your fund. If I do not touch upon Dr. Wiles' medical work in Seoul, it is partly because, having lain chiefly amongst Europeans, it does not properly come within the scope of the N. F. H., and partly because the doctor would be vexed if I spoke of it as I should wish. At the risk of angering him, however, I will say that I simply don't know what I should do without him. Your fund is perfectly safe whilst he is here to administer it.

During the last few weeks an application has reached me from a Japanese doctor in Nagasaki to be allowed to connect himself with the Mission. He is a qualified medical man, and if I am able to accept his services, I think of putting him in Fusan, a treaty port in the S.E. of Corea, where there is a large Japanese colony. He would, of course, learn Corean, and work amongst the people who live in the native town outside Fusan. I consider that his stipend, which will be small, will be fitly provided for out of the Naval Fund. I shall, however, guarantee it to him for one year only. Thus three out of the four treaty ports in Corea will, I hope, be occupied by the medical men of the Mission ere this letter reaches you. Whilst in this letter I have attempted to describe the medical doings of the Mission during the first three months of its existence, I have, I hope, made it clear that as yet your fund has not been touched. But I cannot count on permanently retaining the services of the doctors who now belong to the Mission. I want medical men as well as funds to support them. Please bear both these facts in mind. The best thing would be for one or two of you, who can keep your own mess, to come and throw in your lot with us. If they will live as we live, they will not require more than £50 a year, and on £100 a year will be positively wealthy. In my next letter, then, expect to hear not only that the fund has been drawn upon, but that I shall have need of an increase as well as a continuance of your generous support. Morning Calm finds its way I hope into every mess, and so I will only say of myself that I am “well and hearty," and always your grateful friend,

C. J. CORFE, Missionary Bishop.