Morning Calm v.36 no.182(1925 Jan.)

The Corean Mssion. The Mission to Corea was set on foot in 1889 by the direct action of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, in response to the urgent and repeated request of those best fitted to judge of its necessity, viz., the bishops in the neighbouring countries of China and Japan. From the outset it has been worked in Corea itself, on the most economical lines possible, by a small staff of celibate clergy, assisted by Sisters (of the Community of St. Peter. Kilburn), a few other lady workers, and one or two doctors—none of them paid more than the barest living wage. In 1922 the American Congregation of the S.S.J.E. (Cowley Fathers) accepted the invitation of Bishop Trollope to open a Branch House of the Society in the Diocese of Corea. Ill-equipped with men and means from the start constantly embarrassed by political disturbances in Corea, and, of course, especially hampered since 1914 by the war, the Mission has nevertheless succeeded by its patient labours in building up in Corea a compact little Christian community of some 6,000 souls, about nine-tenths of whom are of Corean birth and speech, and the remaining tenth Japanese. The English, or English-speaking, community is small, but the Mission has always regarded the care of their souls also a first charge on its time and energies The “objective” of the Mission—which since its foundation has always been worked on distinctively Catholic lines—is, and always has been, not the mere conversion of individuals, but the setting up in Corea of a fully equipped and synodically governed province of the Catholic Church, self-supporting and capable of managing its own affairs, with an indigenous ministry and a vernacular liturgy carefully formed on the best Catholic models. Upon the native Church thus formed will ultimately rest the task of winning their myriads of non-Christian brothers and sister to the Faith. With this object In view no pains have been spared in impressing on the members of the infant Church the necessity for self-support. Not only are they learning to take a keen interest in the affairs of the Church, through their local and diocesan conferences (with the Bishop and Presbyters in Synod as the supreme authority within the Diocese), but as Christian congregations are formed, they relieve the Mission of the entire burden of local Church expenses and the maintenance of the native ministry.

Two things are urgently needed : (a) A yearly income of ₤12,000 (towards which S.P.G. at present contributes about ₤5,000) to replace the present wholly Inadequate sum of about ₤8,000 a year . (b) A capital sum of ₤2,500 to enable us to complete and furnish the first part of the great Central Church in Seoul. ₤4,000 has been already contributed, mainly as a memorial to the late Bishop, Arthur Beresford Turner : ₤4,500 from the Anglo-Catholic Congress, 1920 ; and between ₤6,000 and ₤7,000 from the Wills Bequest.

The Bishop is convinced that, if once an adequate measure of support is secured, we may look forward to seeing in the not distant future the infant Church in Corea capable of standing on its own feet with only a minimum of support and supervision from the Church in England. ———— The League of St. Nicolas (with which is incorporated the Association of Prayer and Work for Corea) is a League of Churches, or Parishes, whose priests and people are pledged to support the Mission by their sympathy. prayer, and aims. Full particulars to be had from the General Secretary (see page iv.). The full list of Churches is printed in July and January Magazines. Children's Letter. MY DEAR CHILDREN, When visitors come to Corea they mostly want to take to England some little curio or a nice cabinet fitted with brass, or perhaps a lacquer chest inlaid with mother-o'-pearl. There are many quaint curio shops in Seoul and I love to search amongst the things and find old coins, or an amber chain, or an old bit of embroidery. We are hoping that some day we shall be able to form an Art League and get the Coreans to make beautiful things for our Corean Food Vessels, Wind Bell. churches. This year we have opened an Industrial School in the village of Chin-Mal, near Su-Won. The idea is that as well as teaching the villagers weaving the men and boys will be taught to make brass things, such as candlesticks, crosses, and vases for our churches. Coreans can weave silk beautifully and I am wearing a lovely silk girdle made by a girl from this village of Chin-Mal. This girl had fed her own silk-worms and spun the silk for this girdle, and I can hardly tell you how I value it. We do from time to time receive presents from our Christians for the churches. At Kanghwa the Sanctuary mats were made by Kanghwa people, and quite recently one of the Kanghwa Christians made a present of a beautiful mat for Paik-Chun Church. These mats are made of straw with beautiful designs and are made only by the people of Kanghwa and neighbouring islands. The other day a Christian potter brought two vases made at his own kiln for the Church. A Christian young woman of Seoul has given a beautiful cushion for the Sanctuary of one of our churches. I expect you have all been to Wembley, but I am sorry there is no Corean Court at the Exhibition. However, you must see our Corean things at one of the Missionary Exhibitions. The other day I was reading some Corean history with my teacher and I found that once upon a time a Corean king held a sort of "Wembley" in his palace at Seoul. The king was a great monarch named Say Chong, who lived and reigned about 1419 A.D. The king had three clever ministers named Whang Hoi, Haw Cho, and Mang Sa-Song. They erected a wonderful tower in the palace called "The Palace of a Thousand Autumns." They also made a wonderful and large telescope, and a big copper water clock which struck the hour when the water dropped in their pavilion in the palace they could be seen composing music and revising the calendar. At the same time and in the same palace grounds two other men made a wonderful hill twenty feet high of paper and placed on it figures representing the four seasons and the twelve hours. Also a wooder man to beat a drum and a woman to strike a bell at early dawn. There were also a golden sun that rose in the morning and a silver moon in the evening, and number of quaint wooden men, trees, birds, and beasts. There were many other beautiful things in the palace grounds and the king always got up at 3 a.m. and visited his “Wembley." His Majesty also built a little thatched house in the grounds where he would sit writing many famous books with his scholars, and it was in this thatched house that be invented the wonderful Corean script called Un-Moon. I hope that the real Wembley Exhibition will not make you forget Corea, and although we are not in the British Empire, yet the English Church is trying to share with the Coreans the best of England's possessions—her spiritual heritage. Yours affectionately, CHARLES HUNT. The Children's Secretary reports the following contributions during the last quarter :—A.M., 10s.; Wrenington S. School, ₤2 9s. 4d.; Three Cross S. School, 10s.; Thrapston, 7s. 6d.; Doncaster, 5s. ————— Please note extra topics of this leaflet may be obtained at the following rated : twelve for 1d., twenty-five at 6d., or single copies at 6d. each, from MISS SEATON, 61 York Street Chambers W. 3, A Challenge. THERE has just been received at the Office the annual contribution from St. Matthew's, Westminster. For some years past it has been £50. This year it is £60. Twenty per cent, increase. Here is a challenge to other churches, so that our total for the year may be the ₤6,000 asked for by Bishop Trollope. All 1924 money must reach the Office by January 9th, 1925. The League Churches and Prayer.

NEVER was the Mission more in need of the prayers of the faithful. There are the new developments in the north of Corea, there is the encouraging growth on the Japanese side of the work, there is Dr. Borrow's new hospital, there are the beginnings of a native Sisterhood. Everywhere after a period of silence there seems new life breaking out. With all this there is therefore the pressing need for more young priests to fill up the rank. There, too, is the growing necessity of relieving Bishop Trollope of some portion of his work. It is to tbe corporate prayers of the League Churches, and to the individual prayers of Associates that the workers in Corea look for the necessary stimulus. Let that be given with increased earnestness during the coming quarter, and we have little doubt that the year will close with an increased income, increased zeal and devotion at home, and a prospect of additional priests.

Every Church joining the League undertakes to make some special remembrance of the Mission at some regular time or times. It may be a weekly or monthly memorial at the Altar, sometimes it is at a regularly recurring Service of Intercession. We want these memorials to have greater reality, and to effect this we have a suggestion to make. If any parish priest or local secretary will send a card to the Office giving the special day or days on which Corea is remembered in the services of the Church we will endeavour to pass on the current needs for intercession in time for these days. It would be a great thing for the Mission if we had such information available at the Office. Where there is only a quarterly magazine it is difficult to keep those who are praying aware of the pressing needs as we bear of them. Sometimes there may be, for some long time, nothing to add to the printed paper in the magazine. At other times news comes through and there is no means of communicating it to those who should be told of it, and who would probably be glad to know and help. We shall endeavour with the subjects for intercession to provide short notes to make things clear. Too often a congregation finds it difficult to pray intelligently when the intercessions are used with no explanation. Let us try this new way of prayer for the Corean Mission as we enter on the winter work.

The Bishop's Letter. SEOUL August 9th, 1924 MY DEAR FRIENDS, It is a tremendous effort to write even a letter in the midst of our melting summer heat. One feels, indeed, that one has one's work cut out even to exist during these "dog days" which in Corea (under the name of the “Sam Pok) last for thrice ten days, beginning this year on July 20th. Not that the hot weather is confined to those thirty days, for it is well under way by the summer solstice in the last week of June and lasts on without intermission until the close of a period, marked in the calendars rather proleptically as “cessation of hea”' at the end of August. And then, on a day marked by the old world wisdom of Chinese astronomers as "White Dew" in or about September 8th, one begins to feel that one is emerging from an eighty days Turkish bath, and that life is almost worth living again. But the “summer of our discontent" lasts practically from the birthday of St. John the Baptist in June to the birthday of Our Lady in September. And only a very determined Mariolater could hope to put much vigour in this climate into the observance of "Lady Day in Harvest,” as our ancestors used to like to call the Feast of the Assumption on August 15th. And any time within these eighty days may come our "rain," rains such as you never see in England and which beggars description. This year it rained with terrific violence practically all through July, when (as usual) miles of good road and railway embankment and scores of bridges were washed away, huge landslips took place on mountain sides, and hundreds of houses in different parts of the country were ruined. Here, in this house in which I am sitting, with its heavy tiled roof, I had no less than sixteen baths, pails, basins, &c., set out to catch the leaks, while my writing desk has had to be moved more than once to find a dry spot where I could sit and write—"dry" that is so far as outward sources of we are concerned, for one never ceases to drip with perspiration morning, noon, and night during the "Sam Pok."

But I am not at all sure that the insect life of Corea does not provide the most terrific feature of our hot weather. The plague of tlies by day and of mosquitoes by night, the swarms of moths, cockchafers, beetles, crickets, and every sort of winged creature whose persistent attentions make any activity by artificial light impossible, and drive one early in the evening to paint and sweat under the mosquito net. And then, out of doors, hornets as big as a small mouse, gargantuan spiders whose webs almost throw you backwards if you hit against them in the dark, ants as large as black beetles, which spoil all pleasure of sitting on the greensward under the shade of trees, butterflies nearly as large as a swallow, though these last are handsome and harmless fellows, except for a poisonous moth which seems to have caused something of a scare this year. Scorpions we fortunately lack, and snakes (though they are hardly insects) do not seem nearly as plentiful as they were twenty-five or thirty years ago, when we not infrequently found them in our houses. But there is a very unpleasant form of centipede, with a hard, dark green, shiny back, and pink belly, which sometimes grows to four or five inches long, and can give you a nasty sting if he finds his way into your house as one did into my bedroom the other day. He is no relation to a foolish looking and rather grotesque "hundred legs," who scampers over one's walls and is said to catch and eat mosquitoes (for which he deserves praise), and who is said by the Coreans to be quite harmless unless he bites you in the middle of the upper lip, immediately under the nose, when you will infallibly die! And then there is the ceaseless and exasperating song (if that can be called a song which is said to be produced by rubbing the legs together) of the cicada. About 4.30 a.m. one is roused from one's uneasy and perspiring slumbers by a noise as though an army of scissor grinders had taken their stand just under the window, and this din continues without ceasing till nightfall.

The work on the Pro-Cathedral is practically at a standstill owing to the heat and the wet. Indeed, the actual fabric is all but complete, though how soon it will be fit for consecration and for regular use for public worship I do not know. I should like to think that we might count on the consecration of so much as is finished on Holy Cross Day (which falls on a Sunday) next May; this being a day full of sacred memories for the Corean Mission. But as I said in my last letter c'est le dernier pas qui cosite, and the last thousand pounds which is likely to be more difficult to find to complete the fabric as it stands, quite apart from furniture and fittings. This is the more exasperating as it is largely due to fluctuations in exchange between sterling and local currency. At present the rate of exchange is much in favour of those drawing sterling from England and exchanging it here. And if I had been able to postpone drawing any of the building fund from England until this last spring I should have had the £1,000, now lacking, in hand, and a balance to spare. In this connection I am not at all sure that this tiresome "luxury" tariff suddenly adopted by the Japanese Government is not going to hit us very hard. Certainly this tax of 100 per cent. on all imports is going to raise the cost of living to an almost prohibitive extent, the Japanese Empire being, without the new tariff, already reckoned as the most expensive part of the world to live in. And such enquiries as I have made hitherto do not at all encourage the hope that "Church goods" will receive preferential treatment. To take an instance, I had made some tentative The East End of the Pro Cathedral Awaiting Decoration and Furnishing enquiries as to what it would cost to fill the semi-dome of the Apse of the Pro-Cathedral with mosaics, the material for which would have to be imported from abroad. Apparently, it could be done for about £1,500, and I am so anxious to give the new sanctuary its due dignity that I would gladly (once the fabric is paid for) sacrifice subsidiary pieces of adornment and furniture so as to concentrate on this. But, plainly, if the cost is going to be doubled by the new tariff it is out of the question. The same holds good of the bell, the Altar ornaments, &c., for which friends at home are already collecting. But I am not without hope that the Government General may be found willing to show us consideration in this matter. Meanwhile, Mr. Brooks is busy helping the Fusan people with the erection of their long desired permanent Church, of which you may read something in another column, and of which I hope it may be possible to send pictures for the next Morning Calm. I am hoping that Dr. Borrow is going to find it possible to tell you something about her start at Yo-Ju, and perhaps to send some pictures. I don't think I mentioned in my last letter that, acting on the advice of Dr. Borrow, we had to send two of the staff to Peking last May for treatment in the Rockefeller Institute: Fr. Arnold, for constantly recurring throat trouble, and Fr. Hewlett, for sciatica of a very obstinate kind. Fr. Arnold returned a new man after an absence of a little over a month, but Fr. Hewlett's trouble has been found much more intractable. He writes, however, more cheerfully now, and we hope to have him back at the end of August. At September Embertide I hope to be able to ordain to the priesthood, John Kim, of On-Sou-Tong, where he has been acting as deacon-in-charge (the S.S.J.E. Fathers supplying sacraments) for the last year. He has been brought up from childhood in the Church, having been baptized by Fr. Hillary as a boy, and I have great hopes of his future. He will make our seventh Corean priest. Pray for him and for all of us. Yours affectionately in our Lord, + MARK, Bishop in Corea

The New Mission Station at Pyeng Dang. ON my return from furlough in April, although I knew that I should not go back to work in my old district in South Chung-Chong, with its centre at Chun-an Pou-tai-ri, the question of my future was still unsettled. Fr. Mark Kim was already living with his family at Pou-tai-ri, and the months since my absence had witnessed the decision of almost all the few remaining heathen households in the village to join the Church, so that there were some forty new catechumens and enquirers; a most encouraging start for the new priest in charge. It was soon made clear that I should go up North and take charge of the work in the province of Pyeng-an, where without any efforts on our part, and rather to our embarrassment, owing to the difficulty of visiting a region so far away, a number of villages had expressed a desire to be instructed in the Faith. For the past two or three years Fr. Hunt has visited these people at intervals, and a few had been baptized. Also in Pyeng-Yang, the second largest city in Corea, and spoken of as the Northern Capital, a few of our Christians were living. one working in a bank, two studying to be nurses in a hospital, one at a school, one in a sugar producing company, and there was a Japanese family, the father of which is in the post office. Last autumn the Bishop bought a splendidly situated piece of land, a thing not easy to procure in the growing city, where a good site is apt to be snapped up at once. We had in the past bought a piece of land, but during the rains last summer it had been flooded very badly, and was also in a bad position for Corean work. We hope to re-sell this and help to pay part of the rather heavy price of the new site. There is a foreign-built house on this site, and to it the Bishop sent Miss Grosjean, and a Japanese Mission woman, Miss Inaba, last November. Since then a priest has visited Pyeng-Yang almost every Sunday, and a number of Coreans have become enquirers, and a few have been admitted to the catechumenate. Such was the state of affairs when I moved here the week before Whit-Sunday, and I will try to give a few first impressions of the place To begin with there was no house for the priest to live in, and as a temporary residence he has taken up his quarters in the basement of Miss Grosjean's house, which has a door opening out at the back and no connection with the other part of the house, so that it makes a self-contained suite. The room itself was used by the original owner to store things in before sending them up to a goldmine of which he was agent. It has a concrete floor and thick stone walls, and gave promise of being a beautifully cool spot during the hot weather. And so it was, but alas, when the rains began, the walls began to drip and the floors to ooze, till a night or two ago my dog who had taken up an unpropitious spot for the night found itself in a pool of water before morning. Meanwhile, a new house in Corean style is rapidly going up, and I look forward to finding myself in dryer quarters in August. The contrast between Pyeng-Yang and Pou-tai-ri is tremendous. The latter was a very countrified village, small and very peaceful, known officially as the model village of the district. Pyeng-Yang has a reputation of being the wickedest city in Corea, though whether it deserves this name I do not know. Dust, flies, and noise is my first chief impression. The Mission compound lies on the edge of a poor and rough part of the the town, and day and night the noise goes on. Babies weeping, shouts and cheers from an archery booth not far off; the tum-tum of a witch's drum in a house nearby where somebody was ill went on almost unceasingly for a day and a night a short while ago. Hooters summon the workers of several factories, aeroplanes from the military school of aviation are so constantly circling over the city that no one bothers to look up at them, motors constantly pass on the main road a hundred yards below us, while the distant rumble of the trains as they cross the long ten-span bridge over the Tai-dong river reaches us especially during the comparative calm of the night. Electric light, waterworks, and a tramway system are also changes from l'ou-tai-ri and have their conveniences, though I prefer the water of my old well, cold and fresh in the hottest weather, straight from twenty or more feet of depth in Mother Earth. One noise which one would expect to be predominant, the rat-tat-tat of the Corean clothes ironing sticks, is conspicuous by its absence. I have not as yet investigated the reason for this, perhaps the Western iron has taken its place in this, in many ways up-to-date, city. The view from the edge of the bluff on which we stand is fine to the south and west. The Tai-dong river bounds the city on the south, and comes into sight flowing round the base of Mo-ran-pong (Peony Point), on which stands an ancient pavilion and a Buddhist temple. The history of Pyeng-Yang goes back to about 100 B.C., when on the fall of the Yin Dynasty in China Ki Cha fled to Corea and founded a kingdom. The reputed tomb of Ki-Cha can be seen at Pyeng-Yang to this day, among many other things of great historical interest. Of the work of the Mission in Pyeng-Yang I hope to have the opportunity of writing an account in the future. A. CECIL COOPER

St. Anne's Dospital, Yo-Ju. DR, NANCY BORROW writes :— "Our work began in very earnest on Low Sunday: the furniture and luggage, &c., had just been brought up from the river-side and was lying about the compound when there came a call to an urgent case; a man who had been unable to swallow anything for four or five days (so the message ran) begged us to go and feed him with an instrument. I was rather balled for a few minutes; my own instruments and equipment had gone in the flames after the earth quake at Yokohama; a generous gift of instruments from some American medical friends had only arrived in Seoul in time to be shipped with the rest of the goods destined for Yo-Ju. The cases had not been opened and I had no idea where anything would be found. "However, the first case we opened produced a stomach, tube, so in a very short time we were pouring milk (tinned) and eggs down an emaciated and pitiful looking specimen of humanity with a huge swelling on one side of his face. He disliked the process so much that he found a way, or said so, to get some nourishment down before I next appeared with the tube, and hastily assured me that he had already had his breakfast. He was very ill indeed, and it was late in the day to do anything for him as he seemed so thoroughly septic, but I got a few operating things together and operated on him just as he was, in his very dirty house, and though what I was able to do under such conditions seemed, and was, very inadequate to produce the result, he began to improve at once, and is now well and able to work, thanks I am sure to the faithful prayers of all those at home who have prepared the way for our work here. He will be, we hope, one of the first fruits of the work here as he very early expressed his intention to become a Christian, and he and his family are now attending very faithfully for instruction. “About the same time another family of five adults and several children came forward quite voluntarily and asked for instruction; they have all been coming regularly for classes and seem very much in earnest. Thus even before the little temporary chapel was ready Women Patients at St. Anna’s Hospital, Yo-Ju With Carrying Chair on right for worship we had a small group of enquirers and since the hospital was opened several others have joined them. "For the first six weeks, we staved off patients as far as possible, and gave ourselves up to repairs, alterations, and preparations for opening the hospital. By June 3rd we were ready for the opening ceremony. The Bishop, bringing several priests and Corean workers with him, came down again and blessed the hospital buildings and the house, and after confirming nine Christians from a village a few miles away from Yo-ju, he dedicated the chapel—our patron saint is St. Anne—and said Mass. In the afternoon we had a 'tea' function for the local officials and others. This ended our initiation; the next day, the daily round of seeing patients began. For the present we are limiting ourselves to out-patients' work as we are neither staffed nor equipped for in-patients. There are no wards as yet, only two small rooms which we lend to out-patients’ who come from a distance and require special attention. This definite limitation of the medical work leaves time and freedom of mind for the spiritual side of the work. So far we are finding the patients, especially the women, very responsive; some indeed seem to have their minds awakened already to all that we can teach them. One woman who has just left us listened for several days to teaching given to a catechumen and then asked if she could believe away alone in her own home with only unbelievers around her. We reassured her and she studied with all her might for a fortnight, and then left us to go to an outlying heathen village, taking with her a gospel, knowing the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments thoroughly, and with an unusually good understanding for an enquirer of the elements of the Faith. She was most anxious to learn to pray before she left us, and asked rather pathetically just before she went whether if ‘book words' failed, her 'longing' prayers would be accepted? She is gone now, but we hope to follow her up later. She little thought that she gave us as much good cheer as we were able to give her. It is souls like this who come forward voluntarily and seem already prepared to receive the Gospel who give us much ground to hope that there will be before long first fruits of the work in this new centre. "It is just four months since that first night, Easter Tuesday, when we arrived to find the house empty except for the “spirit house" which had not then been removed. In itself a spirit house is simple enough, just a hanging box with tablets or small scrolls inside, and generally an accumulation of dust as well, but be it due to suggestion, 'nerves,' or to simple fact, there is undoubtedly a sinister influence emanating from these signs of spirit worship. The atmosphere feels 'creepy' and there is a vivid consciousness which has to be experienced to be understood of the activity of the powers of evil all round us. But it was Easter week and we, fresh from our Easter Communion, were all very conscious that we had with us the 'Light that shineth in darkness.’ " The Church in fusan.

COREA has always been a hermit kingdom, but, also, she has always suffered from the inquisitive interest of her two great neighbours. In the sixteenth century, the ferocious, self-made ruler of Japan, Hideyoshi, overran the peninsula with his troops and with the assistance of his generals, some of whom were Christians, inspired a goodly fear of the “people of small stature." The net result of his invasion was the founding of a small permanent colony of traders on the coast nearest Japan, at a port called Fusan. From that time this has always been a Japanese settlement.

When our Mission was started in Corea one of its first efforts was to collect the few faithful of our Church there, and administer the Sacraments to them. For the last fifteen years a Japanese priest, Fr. Shiozaki, has been working among them and has collected a keen body of faithful who practically support their priest, to the extent of £100 a year, and have also in the last ten years countributed £1,000 towards building a permanent church. The building was talked of before the war and our good friend, Mr. Dixon, of Birmingham, had made plans for a most delightful church, but owing to the increased expense of post-war building these could not be used. However, Mr. Brooks has designed a simple brick and stone church well-suited to the site at a cost of £1,500 (the Mission is still trying to find the additional £500). Every morning the ferry boats from Japan coming into the harbour from the east will see its silver cross and scintillating spire—a real witness to the faith and good works of the little congregation assembled in it; and shining from afar may it encourage our good friends at home who have helped us by their prayer and work, not to faint in well-doing. The prayers lifted up by this little church here will avail for those who have had some share in its foundation. It is hoped to consecrate the building at Michaelmas. Let this work in Fusan be in your prayers at this time, and thank God for the work of Stephen Cartwright, Priest (R.I.P.). who founded the present church, and of Miss Elrington, who has unfortunately been called back to England before being able to see this material witness of her years of devoted work in Fusan. E. ARNOLD Work among the Japanese in Corea. SINCE my return to England last April I have been asked to write something on the work as I have known it. I must go back a little as it is some time since anything appeared in the Magazine about this side of the work. In the autumn of 1992 it was settled that Fr. Morley should come to Taikyu, where I had been working since 1920. The catechist, Nathaniel Kikuta, had indeed been there since 1921, but it had only been possible to have a monthly mass as a rule. The Church had grown a good deal in the last three or four years, and by families, which is far the most satisfactory way of increase, especially when these families are likely to remain in the town. But when the great hope of having a resident priest in Taikyu was fulfilled by Fr. Morley's arrival in March, 1923, I went back to Fusan to help Fr. Shiozaki till I had to antedate my return to England for family reasons. The present Fusan is a very different place to what it was when I first knew it. It has grown into a very large and busy port—the gateway into Corea from Japan—and the old simple life of the place has quite disappeared. During the latter part of the European war conditions in the Far East made work among Japanese extremely difficult. I think this was particularly the case in Fusan. We did not progress much at that time, indeed in comparison with work done before 1916 it might almost be described as a "slump.” But that phase has happily passed, and last year the Church in Fusan had a somewhat remarkable addition to its numbers, as the editor of one of the chief local newspapers was baptized on Christmas Eve with his wife and daughter aged sixteen. There was great opposition from the man's old mother, an ardent Buddhist, but somehow it was more or less overcome. The wife is an unusually fine character, and her quiet perseverance and faith helped her to win her husband. In looking back on the work of past years in Fusan and Taikyu, the places I know best in Corea, I cannot fail to be struck by the great gain in strength to the Church when a whole family becomes Christian as is the case in many instances. Besides the obvious immediate advantage it raises hope for the future. For the “family” in the East means a good deal more than it does with us in the West. The influence of the head of the house is much stronger and more far-reaching, extending to younger brothers and their families, and, strange as it may sound to Western ears, to sisters-in-law, rather than to sisters who are married into other families. In 1909 I paid my first visit of any length to Fusan and Mr. Yasutake, a Christian lawyer, and his wife had just been baptized and confirmed. I believe I was present at their first Communion. Since then no less than thirteen other members of their family have been baptized. There was first the son, a schoolboy at the time, then the old father, a widowed sister-in-law and her four children, a younger brother and his three children. The son later married a Christian girl and their little daughter, Eunice, now brings the Christian family up to fifteen members. We could wish that many more could bring in their relations in this way. Since I have left I have heard two important pieces of news. First, the wonderful progress in Catholic Faith and Practice which has been vouchsafed to the little Christian congregation in Taikyu. At one time it seemed as if opposition from one or two members of the church from a Protestant point of view would give a great deal of trouble, but prejudice seems to have been overcome and the Christians appear to have given themselves up to be taught with very happy results. A second cause for thankfulness is that the permanent church in Fusan for which we have been waiting for so many years is at last in the hands of the builders Hitherto, we have too often had to depend on a Mission House with a room set apart for worship. Of this one end is shut off by a curtain or sliding paper door to form a chancel, and this may sound very suitable, but in practice it is extraordinarily inconvenient. People visiting such a Mission house have said to me, “Oh! What a nice little place! What do you want more than this?" It is not so much a question of space as of suitability for the requirements of a church both in teaching and in practice. A Japanese house is a building, the walls of which are mostly window and roof! Inside hardly any solid walls, even if lath and plaster could be called solid. The rooms are divided by sliding paper doors, and every sound can be heard in adjacent rooms. In such a building there is no privacy for the priest, or for any who might wish to use the church for private prayer. It makes it difficult to secure quiet before or after services, and though Confessions have been heard by the Japanese priest both in Fusan and Taikyu in special cases, it was difficult to lay stress on the use of the Sacrament of Penance where privacy was so difficult to obtain. I am sure it has been a great gain to the Church in Taikyu since the catechist and his family moved out of the rooms adjoining the church. These rooms could then be used for the “palaver” which is dear to country Christians, and at other times of the day the church room itself was quiet for private prayer. There has been a wonderful coming forward for confession in the Taikyu congregation where many have before held back. I hope what I have said may give point to our thanksgivings for Fusan and Taikyu. BEATRIX ELRINGTON. Organizing Secretary's Letter.

THE last quarter was more or less the holiday part of the year, and I hope, in spite of the bad weather, you have managed to have a fairly good time, and feel all the better for it. We all return to work invigorated in spite of adverse conditions, and ready for the problems which confront us and labours to be enjoyed—in my case a rather heavy programme of autumn and winter engagements in addition to the routine work.

During the last three months I have preached at the following places amongst others : St. Barnabas, Tunbridge Wells; St. Lawrence, Ardeley; and Chester Cathedral. This last was a pure joy. This is a real House of God and family gathering place for the people. To see all the ancient Altars in use; to sense the wonderful atmosphere; to have the artistic and romantic side of one pleased by the glimmering of hanging lamps, the sight of wonderful vestments, and the congregational instead of the ordinary formal cathedral worship, was to see a cathedral of Old England as it used to be in the days before Northern Europe lost her sense of humour. I not only preached here; I was delighted at being asked to take an active part in the various services of the day. The Dean of Chester, to whom I showed a photograph of our new Pro-Cathedral in Seoul, made certain very instructive remarks, which we in England as well as in Corea will do well to take to heart. I explained that the ends of the transepts and the western bays of the great church were yet to be added. "I don't know how long it will be before the church is finished," I said. "What does it matter," he replied, "whether the church is finished now or in five hundred years' time? You have sufficient completed for View of Seoul from south-East Angle Tower of Pre-Cathedral your present wants. The rest will come when it is needed. This Cathedral (Chester) took hundreds of years to finish. Be thankful for one thing ; you have not taken a large parish church and transformed it into a cathedral. A cathedral must be built as such, in a sunshiny place full of laughter, where everything is beautiful and peaceful, and added to and finished as a work of love as the years go by." Needless to say, there was an excellent collection at Chester, some £20, and the congregation included a number of American bishops and dignitaries, who had come over from Liverpool, where that cathedral had been consecrated the day before. I like to think that in Seoul we are building light-heartedly, a church that will endure through the ages, never quite finished but ever offering an opportunity of something to be added; like our own lives in which we must try to help the Divine Architect, giving Him the opportunity of adding to us Spiritual Graces. It is a terrific thought, that we can help the Creator, and it is worth thinking about. Fr. Hodges has arrived all well, on leave, and has I understand the usual full programme of sermons on behalf of S.P.G. as well as one or two contributions from me. I think a priest on holiday should be left alone as much as possible, but as things are this is not practicable. Fr. Hodges is to speak, amongst other places, at Tunbridge Wells, where the occasion promises to be one of more than usual importance in view of possible developments, and I hope all our friends in that part of the world will make a point of being present. All particulars can be obtained from Fr. Torrance, of St. Barnabas. Fr. Stacey and his people at Earlsfield, S.W., made us a kind offer of furniture and ornaments for Corea, which to my great regret I had to refuse, but our best thanks are due to them all the same. There was a wooden Altar, desk, &c., but I considered such things could be made locally, if not so well, and there is the fact of a very heavy import duty with which to reckon. This is a short letter, as I am writing away from my records. Amongst my future engagements are : Ruridecanal meeting at Enfield; Fr. Grosjean's church at Southfields; St. Leonards-on-Sea; Harpenden; St. John's, Crowborough; Bath district; and St. Stephen's, South Kensington GRAHAM MARTYR. Home Notes ON our first page we have spoken fully of the new possibilities for prayer. Here we would add some practical information for our home workers. 1. The Annual Accounts for 1923.—We do apologise most deeply to our supporters that these have not yet been published. But we are waiting for the audited account from Corea to publish with the English accounts as a complete whole. There were some changes last year in the work of our Treasurers, and that meant readjustment in the books in Corea which has delayed matters. Moreover, the Corean accounts are audited as a work of love for the Mission by one of the leading business men in Corea and his time may not always be at our disposal. 2. Donations for furnishing the Pro-Cathedral or Central Church.—The present condition of exchange makes it expedient to transmit money to Corea. On the other hand the 100 per cent. tariff now imposed on everything entering the country has led the Bishop to write to tell us to stay our hands in sending out any gifts of special articles, or work, until he has thought out what is best to do. In the meantime we are glad to receive any curios, jewellery, &c., to sell for the furnishing, and are banking the money. A friend of the Mission has recently unearthed a wonderful old work box, over a hundred years old, to be sold for some special purpose. 3. Miss Bourne reports hopefully of the exhibitions and plays of the last quarter. Please see that the Pak family are introduced to many parishes this winter, and apply through Miss Bourne, 1 Sunnyside, Speldhurst, Kent, for information as to dresses. Exhibitions and tableaux have been of great help to the Mission in past days. Many will remember with gratitude the eleven years' devoted service of Mrs. Cooper, the mother of Fr. Cooper, who passed to her rest this spring. Several of the curios were her personal gift, and her rest expended itself many a time in planning tableaux and interesting stewards at exhibitions. 4. We have had several satisfactory book stalls recently at meetings. Please see that there is a book stall if your parish is to have a meeting this winter, and apply to the Office for the paper on how to run a book stall. Have you read "On, to the City of God"? If not, why not? 5. The little St. Nicolas cards which have been produced by the “Blue Bird" publishers (Babhacombe), which we are selling, have been welcomed in many places. We repeat the prices—3d, for grown-ups, 2s, a dozen for distribution to children. With a wooden foot, cut out and mounted, 4d. for elders, and 2d. for children, postage extra. 6. There will be the usual Corea Stall at the Annual Sale for Missions at the Horticultural Hall on November 12th and 13th. Please see there is a crowd of buyers at Stall 16. We shall have ———————————————————————————————————————— Please out off here for private use. Thanksgivings and Intercessions. THANKSGIVINGS. For the preservation in health of the workers in Corea during the hot weather. For the manifold blessings on the work among the Japanese is Fusan and for the signs of increasing zeal and devocion. For the encouragement to Dr. Borror in bir new work at You INTERCESSIONS. That guidance may be given to those who are planning for the division of the diocese. That wisdom, Insight, and wide vision may be granted to all to whom is entrusted the privilege of fostering vocations to, and developing plans for, the religious life among Corean women and girls. For guidance in all plans for the future of St. Michael's Training College. That the funds may be forthcoming and the why opened, for worthily furnishing the Central Church to the glory of God.

a number of useful articles, aprons of all sorts, linen and other bags, hot water bottle covers, &c., and many new "lines" with Corean lettering. But parcels of other attractive things will be welcomed by Mrs. Weir, 15 Westbourne Park Road, W. 2, or (if for St. Peter's part of the Stall) by Sister Etheldreda, St. Peter's Home, Mortimer Place, Kilburn, N.W. 4. Please mark prices. Let us aim at raising the ₤100 of earlier years. 7. We hope to have some sort of winter gathering this year, but have not yet decided what shape it should take. Will secretaries who have brilliant inspirations please communicate with Miss Borrowman at the Office? 8. Our offer of Registers has been accepted by a good many workers, and we hope to have thus ensured a permanent record in many places of the help given to Corea. We are sorry the new secretaries' forms contradicted the old diocesan forms as to dates. The later date is the correct one, and the necessary corrections shall be made as they had been made previously, the next quarter. 9. Please note that Fr. Hodges, now on furlough, will give the address at the Quarterly Interession Service at All Saints’, Margaret Street, on October 21st, at 8 pm. All London friends of the Mission are invited to join. 10. Please note that, owing to the expenses of increased circulation, it has been found necessary to make a charge for the Children's Leaflets which have hitherto been provided gratis. From January, 1925, the price will be 3d, for twelve, 6d. for twenty-five, i.e., about 1/4d. each. Stamps should be sent, in giving the orders for the numbers required, to Miss Seaton, 61 York Street Chambers, W. I. 11. We are asked to say that Christmas Cards and Calendars will be obtainable (half profits to Community of St. Peter, Corea) on application to Miss B. E. Hutchinson, St. Benet's Vicarage, Lordship Lane, Tottenham, N. 17. (Please mention Morning Calm in ordering). —————————————————————————————————————— For Cecil Cooper, Violet Grosjean, and Inaba San, llving at Pyeng Yang among difficult surrounding. For Nancy Borrow, doctor, and her Corean fellow workers in St. Ann's Hospital, Yo-Ju. For restoration to health of George Hewlett and a blessing on his lonely life at Eum-Song. For John Kim, newly ordained priest, in his increased responsibilities. That more English priests may bear God's Call to serve Him in Corea. That there may be increased devotion in our home work, and more interceders for the Mission. That children may be ready to play and work for the conversion of the children of Corea. That many who have hitherto given little help to Mission may, with the revival of spiritual life in England, be led to share in the opportunity of spreading the Catholic Faith in the land of Corea. That God will over-rule to His Glory all seeming hindrances and disappointments. ———— A limited member of extra copies of these Thanksgivings and Intercessions may be obtained from the Office at the following raise : twelve copies for 3d, twenty-five copies for 6d, i.e., about 1/4d. per copy.