Morning Calm v.3 no.20(1892 Feb.)

THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ No. 20, VOL. II.] FEBRUARY 1892. [PRICE Id. ________________________________________ The Bishop's Letter. CHEMULPO, COREA: October, 1891. DEAR FRIENDS, Early in this month Mr. Trollope and Mr. Peake started on an overland trip to Gen San, a trip long planned and much looked forward to. As you are aware, to Mr. Trollope has fallen the burden of managing our central mission-house in Seoul, where, with the exception of an occasional trip or two to Chemulpo, he has lived with the bulk of the members of the Mission since his arrival in the country last March. My own trip to Gen San in June will, I hope, have prepared the way for him, and provided him with a warm welcome on his arrival from the five Europeans who live in that port. But the trip is chiefly important to us as affording Mr. Trollope, not only the change which he needs, but also the opportunity of getting that practical insight into Corean life which we all of us desire. I expect them to be absent for a month, and have warned them both that the Editor will look to have the pages of Morning Calm enriched for many a month with an account of the experiences. He has taken the camera with him, and much wish I could see my way to transferring to Morning Calm photographs which he will take on his journey. From the fact that Mr. Peake has accompanied him you will rightly conjecture that the work of printing Mr. Scott's English-Corean dictionary is completed. Ever since April Mr. Peake has stuck manfully self-imposed task, and with scarcely any assistance has us a large volume consisting of 350 pages. The whole Issue (400 copies) is now in the hands of the bookbinder, and in a short time will be ready for sale. Mr. Scott has been good enough to recognise our share in the work by presenting each of us with a copy. The strain on Mr. Peake, especially during the hot season, must have been great. But he has set us all an example of patient industry which is well understood, and I hope will long be followed by those who have witnessed his daily work. The Mission is under a deep obligation to him.   14 THE MORNING CALM.________________________________________ This at least is what one is tempted to feel until we remember that his sacrifice has not been offered to the Mission, but to Him who has called us to labour for Him in this country. I determined that, the dictionary once completed, Mr. Peake should have a thorough change ; and, finding that the trip to Gen San would be agreeable to him, I had the greatest pleasure in arranging that he should accompany Mr. Trollope and enjoy the out-door delights of a Corean autumn-surely the best autumn which can be found in any part of the world The building operations in Chemulpo being now happily completed, I propose leaving Mr. Pownall in charge and going to Seoul, where I hope to spend the winter. My plan for the winter must be reserved for another letter. But bear in mind that in Seoul we have two houses, a mile apart. One the House of the Resurrection in the heart of the city, the other the House of the Advent near the Consulate-General, where we have the little church room which enables us to provide services for the English and American residents near their own homes. On the first of October Dr. Landis reopened his classes for Japanese after a long, very long vacation. He is still kind enough to be responsible for the school. But we have provided him with a school-room-the room which was built last spring, to be used as a dispensary until his hospital should be ready for occupation. Last term the Japanese invited him to come and teach them in a room provided by them. The building of this room enables him to invite them to come and be taught in a place of our own providing. I was a little anxious to see what would be the effect of this change on the Japanese, who are all adults and in business of various kinds in the town. The notice which we sent round and had printed in the Chemulpo Gazette (a Japanese paper) was well received, and I am happy to say that the change of locality has resulted in no falling-off of the numbers. Tables and benches and the inevitable black-board have been provided, and in a well-lit room the doctor, assisted by Mr. Pownall, presides over four classes of various degrees of proficiency every night. Nor have our Sunday-school pupils forgotten us. We continue to receive applications from catechumens and enquirers. The difficulty of giving religious instruction in English remains, however, and must remain until we get some clergy from England who will come and devote themselves to this large and growing side of our work. Last Sunday at Evensong I was delighted to see amongst the congregation two Japanese blue-jackets from a Japanese man-of-war which happens now to be in the port. One of them I   THE MORNING CALM. 15________________________________________ found to be a Christian, baptized by Bishop Williams of the American Church in Japan. I hope they understood us. They were certainly attentive, as blue-jackets invariably are. I have only one other bit of news to record, which has not assuredly been left to the last because it is of least importance. Mr. Small is leaving us this month for Canada, in order to give temporary help to his old Bishop of New Westminster, who has been unable to fill the post which Mr. Small occupied last year in Lytton. The Indians of whom he had charge were always accus-tomed to receive during Advent and Lent a preparation for their Christmas and Easter Communions. Since his departure the Bishop has been obliged to get men as best he could, besides giving up much of his own time in order to continue necessary ministra-tions, a clergyman whom he was expecting from England having failed to get a doctor's certificate. In a recent letter the bishop speaks of the Indians as being absolutely without a shepherd. In this emergency it occurred to me that, without running the risk of permanent detriment to ourselves. I might ask Mr. Small if he would consent to be lent to the diocese of New Westminster for a time. He gave his consent, and I made a formal offer to the Bishop. The offer has been accepted, and, as I said, Mr. Small leaves us by the next steamer for Vancouver. Thus Corea is privileged to do a little bit of missionary work on her own account. We have but two priests here, and we have lent one or them for a time to Canada. English priests, please make a note of this: especially those of you who have not yet made up your minds to accept your share in the responsibilities which God has laid on us Englishmen in that great Dominion. Many of you will read this letter. I hope that at least one of you will enable Mr. Small to return to Corea next summer or at the latest next autumn. At the same time, my dear friends, to whom I am writing this, you must believe me when I say that in the present stage of our work out here both Mr. Small and I are conviced that the step may be safely taken. The immediate need of New Westminster is greater than that of Corea. And, let me add, going will not involve us in additional expense. We take the step in faith, for the benefit of the whole Church ; an believe that if New Westminster derives an immediate benefit Corea will not be the loser. It is not easy to say good-bye even for a short time to so loyal a worker and true friend as Mr. Small. But a sacrifice which costs us nothing is no sacrifice at all. I well remember last autumn how proud the Bishop of Westminster said he felt at giving up two of his priests foreign mission work. We have now tested the value of one of   16 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ these priests, and feel a real pleasure in lending him to New Westminster. I am sure you will now give the diocese of New Westminster almost as large a share of your prayers as you give to Corea, and so help us to show to all men how firmly we Churchmen believe in the catholicity of the Church of Christ. God bless you. I am, your affectionate friend,

• X C. J. CORFE.

Hospital Naval fund. LETTERS have been received for the Committee of this Fund, both from Dr. Wiles and Dr. Landis. They will be printed in the next report. But there are some passages in these commu-nications which the Chairman is sure all readers of Morning Calm would wish to see without delay, as giving information of general interest respecting the country and people, and which emphasise the need of our medical pioneers. Dr. Landis, dating from Chemulpo on October 1, thus describes the people : - “The Corean is very conservative, even more so than either of his neighbours : he is, to all outward appearance, the same individual to-day as his ancestor Tau when he crossed the River Yaloo from China 3,000 years ago. Oppressed for centuries by Japan on the east and China on the west, who usually made this country their battlefield, he is quite naturally suspicious of foreigners and all things foreign, and clings to old customs and traditions with a tenacity that would work miracles if enlisted on the side of the Cross. He is a superior man, physically and mentally, to either of his neighbours, and the Corean scholar has for centuries maintained the first place in the ranks of the students of Confucius. And yet, notwithstanding his exclusive-ness, he has a warm and grateful side to his nature. Let me give an illustration. Last summer there was a strike for higher wages amongst the coolies who work in Chemulpo, and for a week neither the Japanese, Chinese, nor Europeans were able to get any work done by them. Yet those coolies who were emploved by the Mission in levelling and preparing ground for the school-house and hospital were the only ones who continued to work at the old rate of wages. These coolies all had at one time or another been treated at the dispensary for various complaints, and gave this practical proof of their gratitude. “The opening of the country to foreigners has not been an unmixed blessing to the people. Opium, the eating and smoking of which is forbidden by the law, was quickly introduced by the   THE MORNING CALM. 17________________________________________ Chinese, and already there are at least half a dozen opium dens in this port alone. This, of course, means that the use of opium is privately carried on to a much larger extent. During the past year, eight cases of opium-poisoning have come before me, two of which were fatal ; also fifteen opium habitués have applied for relief from the chains of opium excesses with which they were bound.” Dr. Wiles concludes his report of their first year's work at Seoul and Chemulpo as follows: - “There is a large amount of sickness in this country, especially amongst the poorer classes, and the subscribers of the Naval Fund can feel sure that their money is doing a vast amount of good, especially to that class ; and as increased means of treatment are available, a larger amount of good will be done. “The Coreans are gradually learning to appreciate the medical skill of foreign doctors. Up to a short time ago the treatment of disease was principally done by ‘charm’ of ‘sorcerers’ ; and even now for many diseases they still go to them for treatment-their belief being that every acute disease depends upon the presence of a special evil spirit, and until that is cast out the patient cannot get better. It will be a work of time ere they change a practice which is so rooted in them. For all surgical affections and chronic maladies they come readily for foreign medical treatment, but for acute disease very seldom, except in the case of those whose families have had most inter-course with foreigners. As regards Corean doctors, they are most ignorant. Their treatment is the same for nearly every-thing-adopting a practice called ‘acupuncture,’ which means ‘putting in needles’ : I have known them do it even for a broken leg. As their needles are always very dirty, the resus often fatal to the patient. “As only women of the coolie class can be seen by any man, except he belongs to their own family, it is hoped that the arrival here of the lady doctor will extend the usefulness of Naval Fund in the treatment of diseases of women and children. The mortality at present existing amongst the children is enormous, owing to the want of good medical treatment, and the number of blind children at Seoul is quite appalling, caused by neglected ophthalmia. I hope that these remarks which I have put together will help to show that there is an abundant scope of usefulness for medical work in Corea, 10 which the Naval Fund will be of as much assistance, I hope, in the future as it is at the present time.”   18 THE MORNING CALM.________________________________________ Association of Prayer and work for Corea. THE General Secretary makes a very special request that any errors or omissions occurring in the February fly-leaf of the Association may be notified to her immediately in order that they may be corrected in the Annual Report. It is more than probable that in consequence of her recent illness, from which she is mercifully recovering, many mistakes and oversights may have been made in the large and varied interests which the Association now embraces, and she is very anxious that these should not be perpetuated through the whole year by being repeated in the Annual Report. So she will be really grateful for corrections, and for speedy ones, because the draft of the Annual Report will be taken in hand soon after the publication of the February number of Morning Calm. The General Secretary regrets that in spite of reiterated requests to the contrary, some Local Secretaries have sent in with their January reports monies and accounts which belong to 1892, instead of keeping these back for the April report. We are glad to be able to give an account of a sale of work, for various funds of the Mission, lately held at Stoke Newington. Mrs. Hurford, the Local Secretary, says : - “Our sale was a great success. We estimated £15 as the result, but are pleased to say we cleared £26, the following stalls contributing: Working Party (for Association of Prayer and Work) £16; Young Men's Stall (Education Fund) £7 10s. : Children's Stall (Children's Fund) £2. 10s. Our expenses were £1. 1s. for printing, &c., and we charged 6d. for admission, which produced enough to pay all expenses and a surplus of 5s. for the General Fund. It should, however, be gratefully recorded that the use of the parish Mission Hall, as well as the necessary requirements for the refreshment stall, were given us free of charge. Before the sale commenced, a short service for the workers was held in the Oratory, and was conducted by the Rev. J. L. Le Couteur. Our stalls were trestle tables with low forms on the top, the American organ forming a good background for the fancy stall, as we were able after draping it to pin articles upon it. “We should like to take this opportunity of thanking all unknown friends who so kindly answered our appeal and sent so many beautiful gifts to our sale. As far as possible each parcel was acknowledged, but friends at Wem and Bromley did not enclose their addresses, also a friend at Oxford to whom an   THE MORNING CALM. 19 ________________________________________ acknowledgment was sent, but returned. We ask them to accept through this medium our best thanks. "Our Annual Meeting will take place at the mission hall, 106 Church Street, Stoke Newington, on January 29, when the Rev. H. H. Kelly will give an address with lantern views of Corea. We shall be pleased to see any friends interested in the Mission on this occasion." PORTSMOUTH ORPHANAGE BRANCH. Miss Woodin, the Secretary of this Branch, writes : - "A word of warm and hearty thanks must be given to those members of this branch who have sent donations to us this quarter. One of these gifts has touched us deeply, being part Jimiopf a longest service' prize, and sent as a 'thank-offering for being kept contented.' With this example before us, more gifts will surely follow, and all who help in any way know well the happiness it brings. Our needlework earnings have been very small, because our spare time has been spent in working, by the Bishop's request, the altar linen for Corea. But we hope soon to begin again, and may we say that our sale-box is never too full of nice plain aprons or useful articles of wear. To those who cannot help us in these ways we send the Bishop's own words, used by him in writing to us about the completion of his Church of S. Michael and All Angels, that ‘valuable as these gifts are, the Church has not been built by them, but by your prayers; you must give us more of these prayers, for we want them badly.’ As most of the members of this branch know, the promised leaflet has not been possible this quarter, but is by no means forgotten." S. H. B., For M. M. CHAMBERS HODGETTS, General Secretary. The Spirit of Missions. THE following letter from the Bishop of Urmi to an Assyrian deacon now in England, giving an account of the funeral of Mr. Jervis, of the ARCHBISHOP'S MISSION to the ASSYRIAN CHRISTIANS, will be read with great interest. It recalls the accounts of Henry Martyn's funeral at Tokat in 1812, and is a conclusive proof of the great reverence in which the Mission is held : - “Urmi, Oct. 16, 1891. “My dear beloved Deacon,-I send greetings, with love, to   20 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ you. I a thousand times with sighs remember my deacon, who has been separated from me all this time. . . . About the mis-sionaries and the Sisters of Mercy (the Archbishop's Mission). "They are broken-hearted and sorrowful. Mr. Jervis died on Wednesday night, at 11.30, on October 2, from pneumonia. Three American doctors attended him. The funeral service was held in the chapel of the Sisters. The procession took place through the great street from the front of the Mohammedan mosque towards S. Mary's Cathedral. “There were more than 700 men attending the funeral, priests and deacons and so on. Three crosses were carried before the bier like banners, eight priests carrying the bier. Myself and Mr. Neison went after the bier. The missionaries with the Sisters were singing most solemnly before the bier. The American missionaries (Presbyterian) came after, followed by the clergy, scholars, &c. The Mohammedans were amazed and stricken with awe, seeing the crosses in Mohammedan streets, as there has never happened such a thing before. “There were Mohammedan gentlemen representing the Government at the funeral. There was felt to be in the death of this English priest a great loss and sorrow, and indeed nearly every eye was shedding tears. After the interment the missionaries and Sisters stood in order, and everybody went and shook hands with them, saying, ‘May peace and safety be on your head,' according to our custom. I invited everybody to share in the funeral dinner in my house. All came with the exception of a few who thanked me with gratitude. “ Remain in peace. "One who loves you,

“YAQUE GORIEL (By grace of God),

“Bishop." We must not fail to notice the death of Samuel Adjai Crowther, first Bishop of the Niger Territory. Few lives have been so eventful as his, and few can mark such an era in the history of a Native Church. Born at Ochuga, in the Yoruba country, the date of his birth is unknown ; but he is supposed to have been about twelve or fourteen years of age when he was captured by a British man-of-war in 1822, after having been four or five times sold as a slave. With many others Adjai, as he was then called, was placed under the charge of Mr. Weeks, afterwards Bishop of Sierra Leone, at Bathurst, near Free Town. Here he soon distinguished himself by his ability   THE MORNING CALM. 21________________________________________ and his eager acceptance of Christianity, and was baptized on December 11, 1825. In the following year he came to England, but soon returned home, and remained as a Christian teacher at Sierra Leone for some years. In 1841 he was taken as an interpreter on the Niger expedition, and then was sent to England to be prepared for Holy Orders at the C.M. College at Islington. He was ordained in 1843, and returned with two English missionaries to found the Yoruba Mission. Thus began his long life of ministry, which has only ended in his death (of paralysis) on December 31 last. He was consecrated bishop in 1864 ; and his devoted zeal has given strength to the missionary cause throughout the world. It is generally acknowledged, however, that the Church of the Niger district warns us not to be too hasty in our desire for advance. We should do well to learn something from the Roman Catholics in Japan, who will only ordain Christians of the third generation, And another lesson we have learned: that a native Church must be carefuly built up upon the full firm ground of the whole faith once for all delivered to the saints. The Niger Church has need for great care and fervent prayers; but the life of bishop Crowther himself none the less ought to make us very thankful. The Mission Field for December and January contains letters from the two missionaries who have undertaken to work amongst the fierce and unknown Betsiriry of Madagascar. Mr. McMahon wrote on September 11, from Anàlatsivàlana, in the Sakalava country (the western part of the island), just before starting for the interior. “We landed just a month ago,” he says, “at the mouth of the Morondava river, and after a week got twelve canoes, and proceeded up the river about thirty miles to Mahabo, where one of Toera's relations lives. [Toera is the king of the Betsiriry.] She is head of the Sakalava immediately south of Menabe, his territory proper (of which Betsiriry is the eastern division), though all the Sakalava princes acknowledge him as their head. I considered this the best route, as I heard that this princess had some influence with him, and remembered the chiefs spoke about her to me before. The quicker way would have been to have brought boats (outrigger canoes) and have gone back up the coast about forty miles, and up the Tsiribihina river, but this was impracticable, owns Ngareza, Toera's half-brother, who is a terrible robber, and would have fleeced us well before we could get to the king. We stayed at Mahabo some time, and saw Rasinastsy, the princess, several   22 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ times ; she received us well, and sent messengers to Toera to inform him of our coming; she sent us an ox, and in many ways showed herself well disposed ; in fact, we had so many petitions from her people and chiefs to settle down there, that if we had stayed longer I doubt if they would not have tried to keep us. The reason of this was principally our doctoring, which brought us from twenty to thirty patients daily. However, as there is an Hova governor (without much power, however), and a good many Hova there, we did not wish to stay; besides which, our first endeavour is to reach Toera, the king of all the Sakalava, and see my old friends. This, however, is no easy matter in any case, and specially as a large expedition of South African miners has arrived from Natal, and a number of these have gone north by Toera's permission, and we now hear that they have given great offence by photographing their idols, and in other matters, so that messengers arrived from him to stop any Europeans who might be coming to his country. We had set out from Mahabo with thirty Sakalava as guides and porters when this news came, and the six headmen whom the princess had sent with us told us we must stop, which we did, and camped out in an open place in the forest where there are several Sakalava villages, and one went back to ask what should be done. Immediately she sent Benajo, her head chief, to us (the governor accompanying him), and we had a long conference, and sent forward three messengers (one a chief whom we had learned to like much) to the king, showing him that we had nothing to do with the former expedition, and were not going through his country, but coming directly to himself, and to inform him that it was the European who had already been in the eastern * part of his country, who had come with his friend to visit the king himself, and begged permission to see him. Our messengers had very much difficulty in getting through to the king, but after about a week got to him and his principal chiefs, and explained so clearly that they got permission for us to come, and we hear that we shall be welcomed, and may stay as long as we like ; but this was not part of the king's message, though it came from him. I think. We are both very much delighted to find the way open, and already eight men from the king are here to accompany us northwards. We have about three days' walk before us; it is probably only forty miles, but, as the temperature is 91° in the shade, we shall not over-exert ourselves . . . . One of the king's medicine-men, Tsaranomè, has helped us much, and says he will

• On his former visit to the Betsiriry, Mr. McMahon had come from the Hova territory, across the great unexplored desert of Central Madagascar.

  THE MORNING CALM. 23________________________________________ vouch to the king and tell him to cut off his head if our object is other than to do good, which for a Sakalava medicine man is a great thing. I hope we may use this man to prevent any collision with the medicine men, who, I fear, will see that their doom is certain if we settle in their country. I have been treating him for a complaint which he could not understand, and he is very grateful and much better. Altogether I think our first month has been a most encouraging time, and full of good omens for the future, much more so than I could have hoped . . . . We are writing under endless interruptions, so please excuse this short note; an admiring crowd of painted Sakalava at each end of the tent asking questions about everything is not conducive to letter-writing.” At length, after several false starts, they were able to get away on Monday, September 14, and after a difficult journey reached Toera's town, Androngòno, on the morning of Friday, September 18. Here the story is taken up by Mr. Smith's letter, written on their return to the coast. A bad start was made: one of the chiefs who accompanied them injudiciously mentioned that they hoped to settle there, the result being that their first reception by the people was cool, and they were informed that they would be kindly treated but must not remain. On the following day, however, they had two interviews with Torea himself, when the question of settling was not brought forward, and they were well received. They also saw the two leading chiefs, Ivongovongo and Sambilo, and gave them the inevitable presents. “Of these the former was very friendly throughout our stay; the latter, who is chief of the medicine men, was distinctly opposed to us at first, but apparently came round before we left. We were seventeen days in the town, and from the first the king was very friendly, Twice he visited us in our tent, and twice summoned us to private visit in his court.” Beyond the frequent examinations to which they were subjected for purposes of state, “all days were much the same; a crowd of people from morning till night, many of them patients for McMahon, some for conversation, and some merely to ‘manenty vazaha’ - ‘to stare at the white man,’ as they said. This last occupation never seemed to weary them, though we did not always appreciate it with ther-mometer only twice below 90° during the day, generally 99° and twice 101°. The readiness with which the people put them-selves forward to be doctored surprised us both, knowing the intense superstition of the people and their dread of charms.   24 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ The medicine men, of course, did not like seeing that ‘the hope of their gains was gone,’ and told some of our patients that when we left we should recall all the medicine we had given them, their diseases would return, and they would die miserably. A few words were enough to convince the people on this point, and the fact that some 150 people in all were regular patients during our stay proves that the medicine men had not convinced the people.” The letter goes on to explain the causes of their return to the coast. Toera, who seems to have been their firm friend through-out, announced his intention of returning to his old capital, Ambiky, much nearer the coast, and of taking them with him. This latter was strenuously opposed by most of the people, who, indeed, packed up their goods and pretended to desert the king. Thereupon for the time he gave way. On Sunday, September 28, however, he came to the missionaries and told them that he intended to go to Ambiky, even if it involved fighting ; but meanwhile, to avoid danger to them, they must return to his sister, at Mahabo, and he would send for them as soon as he was safely established at Ambiky. They asked to be allowed to go by water to Morondava, but Toera refused to allow this, as their property and lives would be in danger at the hands of his robber brother, Ngareza. So they were compelled to return to Mahabo, assured again and again by Toera that it was only temporary, and yet doubting whether they might not be leaving the country permanently. So things remained when the letter was sent off, and they were waiting and hoping soon to be summoned into Toera's presence at Ambiky. Mr. McMahon and Mr. Smith are hidden from our eyes, but not from the benefit of our prayers. We take the following from the Bombay Guardian: - “On November 25 the Bishop of Calcutta formally opened the new Mission House of the Oxford Mission to Calcutta. This house has been built to replace their old house, No. 99 Muktaram Babu's Street. The old building was found in many ways to be unsuitable for a mission house. It was hot and unhealthy, and though full of rooms had no suitable accommo-dation for Europeans. The Mission decided that they would not again make the experiment of buying a Native-built house and then trying to fit themselves into it, but would build a house to suit their own needs."