Morning Calm v.4 no.33(1893 Mar.)

SEOUL, November 1892.

DEAR FRIENDS, This has been a busy, eventful month. I hardly know how to get the record of it within the limits of a single letter. Perhaps the Editor will cut it in half and allow the second half to appear in the next number of the Magasine.

I returned to Nak Tong from Chemulpó on October 31, and, accompanied at the Holy Eucharist by Messrs. Trollope, Warner, Davies, Smart, and Hodge, I entered, the following morning, on the fourth year of my episcopate.

The steamer which was to bring the Sisters of St. Peter to us reached Chemulpó that week; and Dr. Landis, who had made every provision for their comfort which kindness could suggest, accompanied them in the steam-launch to Mapó, within four miles of Seoul, early on the morning of the 4th. Some of us walked down to the river to meet them; the rest went to the Sisters' house to complete the task of knocking off the hoop-irons and taking the screws and nails out of the packing-cases. At about 10 A.M. they arrived in the compound, having walked from the river, looking rather as if they were prepared for a journey, and not at all as though they had passed a cold and sleepless night in an open boat. Through the kindness of Miss Cooke and Miss Heathcote, they were able to get immediately a much-needed breakfast, after which they commenced unpacking with a vigour which astonished those of us who did not know the ways of the St. Peter's Sisters. Mrs. Hillier, who had made their acquaintance a few months previously in England, came in to welcome them to Seoul, and to assist them in the work of unpacking. Mr. Hillier also looked in to see if he could be of use. But, in truth, the good Sisters seemed quite able to take good care of themselves. They had had sent them a plan of the house, and knew where everything was to go. So, although they again accepted Miss Cooke's hospitality for tiffin, they had dinner in their own house, and, long before dark, had emptied the contents of their packing-cases and reduced their rooms to good order.

It was a great satisfaction to me to see their keen appreciation of all that Mr. Trollope had done for them in providing them with so convenient a house. And with so beautiful a chapel--for, now that it is furnished with the handsome presents given them by the Associates of St. Peter's, the chapel really is beautiful. For some weeks we have been using St. Peter's Chapel as the parish church, but now we retreated to the west of the screen, and for the first time used the permanent church on the following Sunday. As it was also the Feast of St. Leonard, I thought Mr. Warner would enjoy the privilege of being the first to celebrate in the new church-whose dedication was reserved for a later date, the first Sunday in Advent. To return to the Sisters once more. November being a broken as well as a busy month, they expressed a desire that the regular lessons with a Corean teacher should be deferred until next month. They were good enough, however, to accept for a few days such instruction in alphabet and primitive sounds and sentences as I was able to give them. . So well and quickly had the Sisters settled down that I felt at liberty to go back to Chemulpó for the next Sunday services in St. Michael's, and wait for the steamer on Tuesday, the 15th, by which we expected Mr. and Mrs. Doxat to arrive. She came in punctually to her time, and with our travellers in excellent health and spirits. Early on the following morning we left by the river launch for Mapó, Dr. Landis being again of the party, and rendering invaluable service. In spite of a threatening looking morning, the day was lovely, and, mishaps and stoppages being few, we thought we should arrive in time to save the City Gate. But the water in the river was low, and a delay on a sandbank for an hour or more brought us to Mapó after sunset, when we knew we should have to walk very fast if we were to be at the City Gate before the big bell had finished its curfew. John Wyers was at Mapó to meet us, full of expedients and his usual readiness to lend a hand. It was now very cold as well as dark, and I don't think Mrs. Doxat ever had such a sharp walk-or a more precarious one either, for, in spite of lanterns, the ruts and ditches could not always be avoided. But it was all of no avail. We reached the South Gate only to find it locked, and had before us the pleasing choice either of spending the night in a Corean house outside or of climbing over the City Wall. But Mrs. Doxat did not hesitate. She insisted on climbing, and what could we poor men do but follow ? Walking along at the foot of the wall John soon found a likely place, about 30 feet high I should say, with a friendly rope hanging down

and a Corean soldier in the act of descending. First John went up to see if the rope was sound and properly secured. Then coming down he sent us up one at a time, the luggage being hauled up by the rope. When Mrs. Doxat's turn came we found that John had thoughtfully taken off his boots in order that he might be better able to give her assistance should she need it. From the nature of the case it is extremely difficult for one person to help another when both are dangling at the end of a long rope and digging their toes into a perpendicular stone wall. But, going slowly, and stimulated, I hope, by the encouraging shouts of those who were below, she got up admirably, John, the while, hovering about her and getting up himself, I know not how. But sailors are very like birds. Thus Mr. and Mrs. Doxat made a veritable triumphal entry into the capital they had come to conquer. A few minutes more and Mrs. Doxat was snugly established in the Sisters' guest room, Mr. Doxat hospitably entertained by Mr. Hillier, and the rest of us were finding ready listeners to the tale of our adventures in the warm library at Nak Tong. The following days were employed by Mr. and Mrs. Doxat in making the acquaintance of their new surroundings and settling into their house. On the first Sunday in Advent, as I said, I had determined to dedicate the new church-two years, or all but two years, having elapsed since Mr. Peake and I began the services for English Church people in Seoul in the little room in Miss Cooke's house. In previous letters I have told you that we owe this permanent church to the skill and patient industry of Mr. Trollope. It is in every respect a Corean building, so that outside, at least, there is very little in it that is suggestive of a church. I hope that one day he will be induced to take some photographs of it which will find their way into Morning Calm. At eight o'clock on the morning of Advent Sunday we assembled in church and sang the Veni Creator, and immediately afterwards the Litany. Then, prefaced by Psalms, there followed the Consecration of the Altar (which, designed by Bishop Scott, is a fac-simile of the one in St. Michael's), then the dedication of the church (the office in the American Prayer Book being chiefly used), and a celebration of the Holy Lucharist. Nor did we omit to remember in our prayers those who had made special gifts to the church, such as sanctuary screen, curtains, cushions, altar linen, book for altar services, and Bible. Thus through the bounty of the S.P.G., which does so much for us all, a second church, in the second year of our arrival in the country, has been erected for the primary use of

English-speaking members of the Church of England. If my dear orphan children at Portsmouth had any inkling of what we were doing on this day I know they sang their Sunday hymn ("Now thank we all our God") with sweeter voices and fuller hearts than usual. The beautiful rochet which they worked for me, and which was seen by many of you in the Corean case at the Naval Exhibition, was worn this day for the first time, and, when I took it off after service, I saw that they had worked into the neck the words, “ The Lord grant thee thy heart's desire "a prayer to which it was not very difficult for me to say “ Amen" with a full-a grateful-heart. God bless the dear hands that worked it. Before Evensong on the same Sunday I publicly gave to Mr. Doxat the charge of this church and congregation, again using, so far as I could, the office in the American Prayer Book. He began his ministry among us by preaching after Evensong, and then we sang the Te Deum as an act of praise and thanksgiving to God for giving us this second Eben-ezer. On the zoth, when so many of you were interceding for us and all foreign missions, the Sisters' house was solemnly set apart for their work and use. Passing from St. Peter's Chapel, we entered every room and there prayed that God's blessing might rest on its occupant and the work for which it was intended. Then back to the chapel again to finish our prayers, feeling that as St. Andrew was St. Peter's brother we could hardly have had a better day for this good deed. The whole house has now a settled, home-like look, and we greatly appreciated the kindness of the Sisters who, after the service, were “at home” to us in their large community-room. I have room, and only just room, to say that we are all very well, and, in the words of a letter received to-day from one of my orphan children, to wish you all “ a holy and happy Christmasa bright and prosperous New Year."

Yours affectionately,

C. J. ÇORFE.

Extracts from home Letters of "Rev. Mark Napier Trollope.

" DECEMBER 13.--It is getting very chilly now here, I can tell you. The glass was down to 5° when I got up this morning, and it has been freezing pretty hard and pretty continuously for the last three weeks. We have also had a little snow, but as a

rule the days are so bright, clear, and sunny that one does not feel the cold very much, especially if one can get out of the wind. Mr. Warner, who now lives with his teacher in a little village near Mapó came in to-day with the news that the river was frozen right over. When I was down there on Saturday it was quite open. I send the order of service at the dedication of our new church (printed at our press). It was a very nice service indeed, and I think the church is very nice. Then on St. Andrew's Day was the benediction of the Sisters' House. Mr. and Mrs. Doxat are a great addition to our party. I thought at one time that I should be spending the winter at Chemulpo, but after all the Bishop has gone there, and I remain here. I am getting on with Chinese, but I have so many interruptions that I find it very difficult. “ December 22.-The cold has been very bitter for the last month; every night 250 to 30° of frost, and only thawing slightly in the sun at mid-day, if at all. I can't tell you how I enjoy the cold, bright and dry as it is, and it makes me feel so well. We are all going to the Consulate for our Christmas dinner this year, and shall meet all the other folks there. I am going on to Chemulpó immediately after to see the Bishop, where, indeed, we all meet in conference on various matters. Association of prayer and Work for Corea. ON Friday, January 20, a meeting on behalf of the Mission to Corea was held at Theddlethorpe, Louth. The Vicar (Rev. C. W. Whistler) exhibited the new magic-lantern slides which he has been most kindly inaking from Corean photographs for the use of the Mission, which are now to be obtained from Mr. Kelly. There was a full room to listen to Mr. Whistler's interesting address, and the great success of the meeting is evidenced by the list of thirteen new members of the Association and sixteen new members of its Children's Branch reported as its result. We are glad to learn that a Working Party has been got up at Colwall, in Herefordshire, by the kind exertions of Miss Wynam. We are exceedingly grateful to her and to the many her ladies who are giving much time and thought to helping the Mission in this very important way during the winter months. M. M. CHAMBERS-HODGETTS, Gen. Sec. Rowancroft, Exeter, February 9.

The Spirit of Missions. “Now it happened that a certain King Heriold, who ruled over part of the land of the Danes, having incurred the enmity and hatred of the kings of that region, was driven from his kingdom. He came to the most serene Emperor Lewis, asking his aid, that by it he might be able to reconquer it. Lewis kept him at his side, and both personally and by others encouraged him to embrace Christianity, by which means the friendship between them would be made greater, and as a Christian people they would more gladly come to his aid, if both worshipped the same God. At length, by the gift of the Divine grace, he was converted to the faith, and Lewis received him from the holy font of baptism, and adopted him as his son. And when he wished to return to his own home, and was setting out with assistance, he began to inquire diligently for some man of holy devotion, who could go and stay with him, and be to him and his a teacher in the saving doctrine, to teach and strengthen them in the faith of the Lord. And so the aforesaid Emperor began to discuss the matter with the clergy and the rest of the faithful in his council of noble men, and to urge them to find him somebody fit and willing to undertake this task. "And when all affirmed that they did not know a man of such devotion who would undertake so dangerous a mission for the name of Christ, there stood up the venerable abbat of your monastery [Old Corbeil, Wala, and informed the Emperor that he knew a monk of his monastery who burned with a great ardour for the holy faith, and desired to suffer many things for the name of God. He praised also his bringing up and his manner of life, and said that he would do well for this purpose, but that whether he would willingly undertake this task he did not know. What shall I say more? By the command of the king Anschar was summoned to the palace, and the abbat told him the whole matter, and also what he had said. He answered that he was ready to serve God in all things which should be enjoined upon him on his obedience. And so, being brought into the presence of the Emperor, when the latter asked him whether, for the name of God, he would accompany Heriold and preach the Gospel among the Danish people, he replied that he wished it with all his heart. And when the abbat had assured him that so great a yoke was in no wise imposed upon him by command, but that if he should choose this of his own free will, it would be pleasing to him, and he would give him the license of his authority, Anschar replied that he still chose it, and wished to carry it out by all means. Then, when he publicly declared his intention, and it became known to all who dwelt in the house of the abbat, many began to wonder at so great steadfastness, that he should be willing to seek foreign nations and live among unknown and barbarous peoples, leaving behind him his fatherland and his kindred, and the most sweet affection of the brethren among whom he had been brought up. Many also began to dislike him on this account, and to wound him with derision, and some attempted to dissuade him. But the man of God remained firm to his resolve. At last, while the abbat went each day to the palace, he, staying at home, shunned the society of all, and choosing a quiet place hard by a certain vine, he retired there to pray and read. "Now there was also with the lord abbat a certain brother of your monastery, Autbert by name, who, when he saw him troubled and sad, and that daily he sat alone by himself, and sought neither companionship nor converse, began to feel pity for him. And one day, going to the place where he sat alone under the vine, he began to ask him whether he really wished to undertake this journey, Thinking that the question was asked not out of compassion, but rather out of guile, he replied, 'What does it matter to you?

Do not trouble me with such a question. Autbert assured him that he did not ask the question in jest, but really wished to know whether he was fixed in his desire. Then Anschar, rejoicing in his kindness, replied, I am asked whether I wish to go, for the name of God, to foreign peoples, to preach the Gospel of Christ, and this proposal I by no means have dared to oppose, but rather have yearned with all my strength that the means of going might be given me, and nothing shall ever turn my mind from this intention. Then the said brother replied, 'And I will never suffer thee to go alone, but for the love of God desire to set forth with thee, if only thou wilt ask the permission of the lord abbat for me.' And so this religious contention being settled, on the return of the abbat he came to him, and told him that he had found an ally, who of his own free will wished to accompany him on this enterprise. When the abbat inquired as to the person, and he named the brother Autbert, he was amazed at so great a wonder, never thinking that he, who was of noble birth in the world, and very familiar with himself, and prior in the monastery itself, would wish to do this, but nevertheless, having sent for him, he questioned him on the matter, who answered that he could not endure that Anschar should go by himself, and, for the name of Christ, wished to go with him as a comfort and helper, if the abbat and the brethren would give him permission. To whom the abbat answered that he would give permission if he freely chose to do this, but that no one of his household should be sent with him as attendant unless they were able to rouse anyone to do so of his own free will. And this the venerable abbat did out of no want of affection, but because it seemed abominable and unjust that anyone should be compelled to dwell against his will among pagans. And so they were both brought to the king, who, delighted with their devotion and eagerness, himself gave them their ecclesiastical outfit, and writing-desks and tents, and such other things as are necessary to so long a journey, and sent them away with the said Heriold."... From the Life of St. Anschar, the Apostle of the North (MIGNE, Patrologia Latina, vol. cxviii.). The Rev. J. Hackney gives in the Mission Field a striking account of his work among the Karen villages of British Burmah. "I resolved to discover, if possible," he says, "a workable circuit from the extreme south up to Toungoo, and accordingly set off to Tenyageloh in the south-west. There a Shan hawker supplied me with a list of villages in his 'run,' which I followed. In Christian villages the missionary puts up in the bamboo chapel ; but this tour through heathen territory necessitated sleeping with the Karens in their vile-smelling bamboo houses, beneath which pigs and poultry luxuriate, and the nature of the road-stream beds, quicksands, mud channels, morasses, and vast beds of slippery rock-necessitated travelling barefoot. I wandered about in this fashion for five weeks, when, about sunset on April 11 (1890), an opening in the forest revealed Karen village clustering round a chapel surmounted by a cross. This was the Christian village of Shwayjaw--the last " a long chain of twenty-four heathen and three Christian villages, which has been my yearly circuit ever since.

“The heathen Karens were hospitable, but very cruel and reserved. They are only just recovering from the cruel fraud practised upon them by the false prophet Kopaisah, who flourished in the Western Yomas from 1885 to 1888. This penniless nobody pretended to a divine revelation and commission to gather together the elect before the return of God in glory. Thousands flocked to his standard, paid their entrance fees, purchased rosaries and a supply of the elixir of life, and, as vegetarianism was a sine quâ non of membership, sold all their pigs and fowls and buffaloes, and laid the price at his feet. Thus the impecunious impostor soared rapidly into opulence on the credulity of a people whose traditions for centuries pointed to a great prophet who should return in the latter days with the lost * Book of Life.' Kopaisah amassed thousands of rupees, with which he purchased elephants and erected a splendid temple, from whose recesses he issued on state occasions to smile at the crowds of silly Karens, who fancied they were gazing upon a closely-veiled form of incarnated Deity. But his prophecies were cast into the too near future for fulfilment, his elixir of life was a failure, and his control over the weather precarious. Credulity rapidly gave way to suspicion and murmurs, and, in order to escape a violent examination of his pretensions and confiscation of his ill-gotten gains, he called in the protection of the American Baptists, by whom he was baptized, together with 200 of his more intimate followers, and then blandly informed his children' that his system had been merely a preparation for Christianity, and they might very profitably follow him into the ranks of the American Baptists. But they did not do so. A few still retain the rosary, many adopted Buddhism, but the majority relapsed into their old 'devil worship.' & Since my tour in 1890 several of Kopaisah's officers are moving about the districts informing the people that Kopaisah is the Christ of the Christians, and can be identified by a spear wound in his right side ; and to add to the confusion Buddhist priests are warning the people that Christianity means conscription. Needless to say, the Karen is very reserved and suspicious. This, however, is gradually wearing off, some becoming quite friendly and argumentative. .... One chief, a prominent follower of Kopaisah, showed me a Kopaisah charm, which was supposed to possess the remarkable property of bursting any rifle levelled at it or its possessor. There were then only three Christian families at this village. The congregation was just dispersing after an early Sunday celebration, when the heathen chief confronted me with the charm, and, crossing

the stream, he placed it at the foot of a tree and dared me to fire at it. The Christians begged me not to risk an accident. One shot, however, shattered the charm and the man's superstition, and he and his family are now members of the church." The Church Missionary Intelligencer for January contains some further reminiscences of Bishop French by the newly-consecrated Bishop of Caledonia, who was formerly with him in India, The whole article is deeply interesting, but one passage from it must be quoted for its valuable lesson:-" I must relate what happened one day in camp after a mail had reached us. He passed to me the letter he had just read with almost passionate eagerness. After I had finished reading it, and expressed my great pleasure at the baptism therein described--I think it was by R. Clark--he said, in a hollow tone that greatly surprised me, If I may claim a share in his conversion, it is my first convert after eighteen years' endeavour. I cannot explain this, for I know that other cases of conversion have been attributed to his agency. It was certain that he made no such claim, and he was probably correct. The impression his words made on me has never worn off. I am quite sure that those were his exact words. It is possible but improbable that he might have forgotten the instances that others relate. So precious was this instance that I doubt the possibility of his forgetting such another. How shall I express the worth those words have been to me through life! Could I have gone on as he did without the priceless tokens of souls won ? For a time, oblivious of the most gracious dealings, I have been often dispirited, if not despairing; but those words, as if written by a Divine hand, grew out again and again from the darkness and rekindled hope. That is the most wonderful faith which is unswerving, though it does not remove mountains, and which walks on the waves that must be parted for feebler feet." “In the Fuh-kien province of China 993 persons were baptized last year in the English Church's missions. Bishop Burdon confirmed 100 candidates in Hing-Hwa, which has never had a resident European missionary.”—New York Spirit of Missions. The Universities' Mission has sustained a serious loss by a great fire at Likoma; and the following letter of Archdeacon

Maples describing it is enough to show how much of good God has already brought out of it “I have a sad disaster to tell you of this mail. Yesterday, the 19th Sunday after Trinity, nearly one-half of our station was burnt to the ground. The fire started on the roof of our dining-room at about 1.45 P.M., and spread from house to house till eleven of our buildings were reduced to smouldering heaps of ashes. From the dining-room the flames were carried thirty yards or so to the church, from the church to what was John Williams' house, from that to my new house, then Atlay's and the library. Meanwhile four other houses in another direction were being rapidly consumed by the flames, one of these being the dispensary wherein was the greater part of our stock of medicines, though, fortunately, not a very large stock just now. The ladies' quarters escaped, and so did the fine row of four large houses that we have put up this year, and which have so much increased the size of our village. As to our losses, we must not too loudly complain, though the library, with its 1,400 volumes, more or less all gone, cost us something of a pang. Everything out of the church was saved, and nearly everything out of all the other houses. It was a very great mercy indeed-- and we sang a Te Deum last night after evensong in acknowledgment of it--that the row of buildings alluded to were spared, so that our printing-office with all its plant is intact, ditto both our stores, our large boys' school (the finest building we have), their dormitory, the new carpenter's shop, &c. "A far worse calamity than this fire overtook us six weeks or so ago, when one Saturday evening four of our Christian boys came back, after their outing, quite drunk. I took care to tell our people when preaching to them last night in the school after the fire that I and all of us thought so-nay, knew it was so. Reverses like this fire cannot but be good for us somehow or another, or they wouldn't come: I thought that ten years ago, when the Gwangwara raided us at Masasi, and I think it even more so now. All we men have been burnt out, but there were other houses ready, more or less, into which we have temporarily tumbled so it is all right; and as to the church well, it was only last week that we were getting ashamed of its rottenness and cobwebs; and then the new school will make a splendid temporary church, and some downright AI good builder will come out all the sooner and build the new one, I expect. As to the dining-room--well, it was on its last legs, and, though four of the houses destroyed by the fire were, it is true, brand-new ones, they were certainly not the largest or

most important of the new ones we have put up this year. Well, let us reckon up losses. First, what we didn't lose no human lives and no tempers. A favourite cat, whom we all knew as 'Henry Spicer,' perished ignobly in the flames, and two fat young ducks very perversely and very disappointingly roasted themselves alive, and, so doing, will never appear, as they had been destined to do, at our table! Then there are those 1,400 volumes. Ah, me! what a ‘blatter' of theology disappeared beneath the smoke and the flames when the library took the fatal contagion and perished miserably. Then the castor oil, too; bottles upon bottles of that were destroyed. In that dispensary, too, there passed out of existence a portion of a harmonium just arrived for the church at Msumba, as well as some two or three dozen candle-lamps, with which, some day, we would have made a merry display. You'll have to make more light for us somehow. There now, you know all that need be known. Of course, 'everything was done to arrest the progress of the devouring element,' and, of course, the flames had their own way. Then, of course, this one and that one distinguished him and her self in every possible way, and 'superhuman energy was, &c., &c., &c.' One thing, however, I know we all did ; we said our evensong in real thankfulness to Almighty God. Beyond all controversy, it is just when He seems to be chastening us that we catch the truest glimpse of His mercy-we understand better what mercy really is then. I do think this was in the minds of all of us yesterday, and today, as we groped about amongst the charred remains of library, church, &c., &c. "Yes ; let us have Gwangwara raids and fires sometimes they bring us up sharp, and remind us well in whose hands we and our work are. Now, don't go and appeal for us; people can send us books and replace those others, or not. I'll send you with this a list of our principal books that are destroyed, for we printed one not very long ago. As to the origin of this fire, I've written it all to the Bishop. Briefly, it was a 'crow'-a miserable carrion crow--no bird either better or worse than a carrion crow-set fire to our village, a kind of set-off in these last days to that other bird of better omen that, in Rome's palmy days, we are told, saved the Capitol. 'Tis a pity that birds meddle in the fortunes of cities or villages; though it is a great satisfaction to reflect that no human incendiary of malice prepense deposited the tiny bits of live charcoal that wrought all this mischief. "Mr. Atlay is ill with fever to-day, and most of us are

pretty tired. We have taken just this one day, so to speak, to look round and review the position, and to-morrow we shall go at everything--printing, teaching, building, &c., &c.—all the harder. I want no ad misericordiam appeals because of this fire, though you should bid our friends think of those real calamities that are apt to befall a village, like such as that one I would have you tell out in Central Africa (if need be) as I have told it out here. Do, please, try all you can and wipe out the reproach that rests upon all missionary magazines, that they are coloured, and that they are afraid to speak the truth about erring or lapsed Christians. Dr. Cust is quite right in his animadversions on the magazines for this very fault-and, mind you, he does not exempt us. Let our readers know just what we do write upon our knock-kneed and feeble ones in the faith. They ought to know that if there are not such backslidings and the like as we report them to you, it is because the missionaries do not know what goes on. Anyhow, St. Paul did make himself acquainted with what went on in his churches, and we know very well from his writings the kind of sins and backslidings he had to reprimand and rebuke; so, too, with us in these latter days. There is not one of my brother missionaries out here who does not think as I do on the subject. “ CHAUNCY MAPLES. "Likoma, October 24, 1892."

which were furnished with little altar slabs for ancestor worship. We saw nothing in the shape of a temple or place of worship of any kind, until we got right away from the towns and villages, into the mountain fastnesses, where the Buddhists have built their monasteries and temples. To return to our inn. We left it as soon as we could after our midday mcal, with the view of escaping the crowd of spectators, and went and lay down to rest on the grass under the trees, a little way out of the village. A few, however, of the more enterprising inhabitants, followed us out and did their best to engage us in conversation, which lasted till late in the afternoon. They were very friendly, and very anxious to learn all about us and our native country, and we could not help feeling what a good opportunity for informal "preaching the Gospel” would be given by such conversations as this to anyone with a mastery of the language, and our feeling on this point was deepened when we heard the bulk of the conversation being retailed afterwards by our most prominent interviewer (whose industry lay in the manufacture of tobacco pipes) to the crowd which thronged the inn on our return to watch us eat our dinner. Before returning, however, we had managed to escape from our inquisitive friends by walking some little distance further on to a little hill off the road, where by the light of the setting sun we said our Evensong beside an old tomb. And so home to dinner and bed. (To be continued.) The Spirit of Missions. THE Universities' Mission to CENTRAL AFRICA has received a large accession of strength. On Tuesday, January Toth, a party left England for Zanzibar, including seven missionaries-- one priest (the Rev. T. C. Simpson), one deacon (the Rev J. Grindrod), one nurse for the hospital in Zanzibar, one treasurer's assistant, and one lady teacher for the girls' school at Zanzibar, and two printers--one for Zanzibar and one for Nyasa. In addition to these, Bishop Hornby, who (God willing) leaves Marseilles on Feb. 12, will be accompanied by the Rev. J. S. Wimbush-who has been with him two years in Sunderlandand by three laymen; and before long the staff of the Mission will further be strengthened by the Rev. E. S. Palmer, M.B., of St. Saviour's, Leeds; the Rev. G. Du Boulay, of Sneinton, Not

tingham; and the Rev. A. G. B. Glossop, of St. Mary's, Colchester. In the meantime, however, a severe bronchial attack has prostrated Bishop Smythies, so that he was unable to leave on Jan. 12 as he had intended, and his departure is now indefinitely postponed We are sometimes apt to forget how large an amount of purely missionary work among the heathen has to be done by the American Church in the United States itself. But, with a population of Indians, Chinamen, and negroes far outnumbering the members of the Church itself, it is evident that no small part of its work consists of missions to the heathen. That this duty is clearly recognised is illustrated by the fact that the General Convention of the American Church has just founded four new missionary jurisdictions and supplied them with bishops. Here is an account, taken from the Mission Field, of a clinical confirmation by the Bishop of CAPETOWN at Heidelberg, a missionary station in his diocese : " I was told that an old bed(?)-ridden woman, of over 90 years of age, desired to be confirmed. I went to her hut with Mr. Schierhout, about a mile outside the village, and found her lying on the bare ground, except for a thin reed mat beneath her, and covered with three or four meal-sacks for warmth. The hut was a simple acute angle, standing on the soil, constructed of bushes interlaced, about five feet or less from the ground to the apex of the angle, and about eight feet long from one end, which had no door or shelter, to the other, which was closed in with bushes. A woman cooking some meal in a cauldron was squatting just inside the opening, and it was most difficult to get past her. We both, however, squeezed through, and I never confirmed anyone under such difficulties. A tall man of 6 feet 2 inches, I had to bend nearly double while saying the service over her, and it was not possible to bring more than one hand into use in the act of confirming. The poor old woman seemed most grateful, murmuring her thanks to us for coming, but chiefly to God for His mercies to her. Poor thing! to human eyes she seemed to have wonderfully little to be grateful for; but that she felt an inward peace in the assurance of God's forgiving love in Jesus Christ, and the hope of a speedy change from squalor and hardship here to the rest which remaineth for God's people, one could not doubt."

The following words of the Bishop of Manchester, who speaks with all the authority of experience, present a very living picture of the needs, spiritual and temporal, of our colonists : "Not only is it very difficult to travel in those countries, but it is quite as difficult to maintain churches when you have established them. No doubt it is true that a settler frequently has possession of a farm of exceedingly fertile land, which probably after ten years of very hard labour would furnish to fronten en became terne, him a small fortune. But, in the first instance, it is covered with timber of which you have no knowledge in this country, trees 200, 300, and sometimes 400 feet high, with a corresponding thickness. Every one of these trees has to be separately burned. The underwood has also to be cut away, and so luxuriant is its growth that if it is left for a single year it is almost as thick as it was at the beginning. I have known men who have laboured hard for ten years in such a field as that and been successful, and who have told me at the end that the work had been so tremendous that they felt as if they were broken men. How are such men to keep up religious services ? They have hardly enough to purchase the necessaries of life. How, then, are they to find money to build wooden churches and maintain missionary clergymen or lay readers? These things, I can testify, have to be done for them in Victoria by a central fund; but when, as in many dioceses in Canada and South Africa, such a fund could not be created, what is to be done? Why, either the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel must come to the aid of local effort, or we must let the inhabitants of the colony go back to practical paganism. It may be quite easy for us, sitting at home at ease, to talk lightly about going back to practical paganism, but if we had to go into the forest and talk to the men there, men of our own race, and hear them beg and pray that they might have the privilege of Divine worship, and that their children might have the advantage of religious instruction, why, we would feel like taking off our coats and selling them in order to provide the necessary means. I do not want you to take off your coats, but I do want to ask you to do all you can to help the Society to send forth ministerial aid to those of your brethren who are living in the wilderness." The Archbishop of Canterbury told the following story in Croydon Parish Church on New Year's Day :

• One of our missionary Bishops, travelling through a desolate tract of country, was asked by some good people if he would go round by a certain distant station where there lived

a strange man almost by himself who kept a sort of little inn. They told the Bishop this man was an atheist, and thought it would be a great blessing if he would go out of his way to talk to him. The Bishop found him out, and one evening had a long conversation with him. At its close the man said, “Bishop, I see you are labouring under a mistake; a man can't live here in the wilderness with God all day and all night and think there isn't a God. You must go to the towns if you want to find a man who doesn't think there's a God.'" Correspondence. Extracts from home letters of the Rev. Mark Napier Trollope. SEOUL, Michaelmas 1892. « HERE I am back home' you see, and very busy finishing the church and making final preparations for the Sisters and the Doxats, Warner has gone on a long trip up the river in a house-boat (not exactly like the house-boats at Henley), with a view to discovering whether that is a suitable method of taking missionary journeys. Davies has just left for Fusan, where he is to meet a member of the English Legation at Tokyo and Mr. G. N. Curzon (late Under-Secretary of State for India), who are going to travel overland from Fusan to Seoul, and who wired to our Consul, Mr. Hillier, for an interpreter. Mr. Hillier suggested that Davies should avail himself of the opportunity of seeing so much, so in the Bishop's absence I gave him leave. He ought to have a very enjoyable and useful trip. .... The Bishop is at Niu Ch'wang, whither Pownall goes shortly to relieve him and to take up his quarters for the winter. So I hope we shall have the Bishop with us here this winter. "Mr. Small's return from Canada is again, I am sorry to say, delayed, and my present companions are only the two laymen who joined us last July. One, a printer, is from Mr. Kelly's, and the other is a man who has done a good deal of lay mission work at home, and is very keen on it here."

• November 14th.-The Sisters have arrived, and are settling into the house that I built for them. There are five of them, and they have a trained nurse with them..... Their very presence in Seoul seems to make us feel warmer, and helps to give our Mission more of the position it ought to take. As yet I have not seen much of them since the day that we walked down to Mapu on the river to meet them on their way up from Chemulpo, whence Dr. Landis brought them by river steamer. . . . . I am probably going to winter at Chemulpo. At present Pownall is at Niu Ch'wang for the winter, where he is probably ice-bound by this time.

“Mr. Small will certainly not be back from Canada till spring. Mr. Doxat, whose arrival we are daily expecting, will be up here. Warner will be in a little house down by the river, and yet we must be represented, and ought to be strongly represented, at Chemulpo, where there are about twenty-five Europeans, of whom about six are British and Church people, and where the Bishop has already built a small church and mission-house, and where also Dr. Landis is working among Coreans in his hospital. It is, however, the Japanese, 3,000 or 4,000 in number, who constitute the real importance of Chemulpo. If I go I shall have to do all I can by learning a little Japanese, teaching English, &c., to make a lodgment for the Mission among them, so that when some one comes out really to take up Japanese work, he may find something ready to his hand.”