"Morning Calm no.1(1889 Nov.)"의 두 판 사이의 차이

2021년 4월 11일 (일) 08:33 판

November 28, 1889. MY DEAR FRIENDS,

Four weeks have elapsed since the Festival of All Saints, when I was consecrated Bishop in Westminster Abbey. You will agree with me that this is a fitting time for the beginning of my monthly letter. But amidst so much that I want to say it is difficult to know how to begin or how to confine within the limits of a letter the things which I feel must be said. And, though I know you are looking for news of Korea and the Mission, you will, I hope, forgive me if, in my first letter, I speak mainly about myself. I shall never be able to thank you sufficiently for all the kind letters you have written to me both before and since my Consecration. These letters still continue to arrive, from the West Indies and East Indies, from Zanzibar and Nova Scotia, forming, with those that have reached me from parts nearer home, an accumulation of kindness and affection which I shall never forget, but which I shall never be able to do more than acknowledge. The ist of November was a wet, stormy day in London, and I have every reason to be proud of the many friends and relations who braved the weather in order to support me with their presence. But I don't think they regretted having come, for the service was wonderfully helpful and impressive; and the gleams of bright sunshine which every now and then lit up the Abbey (especially during the act of Consecration) were happy cmens of a future which, however dark and stormy it may be, will be illumined, I doubt not, with the light of Heavenaccording to the motto of our Indian troopships-"Heaven's Light our Guide." I was presented to the Archbishop by my dear friends the Bishop of Lincoln, and Bishop Mitchinson, the friend of another friend of mine, Dr. Codrington, that great Missionary for twenty-five years in Melanesia. And so, surrounded by friends of all periods of my life-- schoolfellows and schoolmasters, shipmates and messmates, captains under whom I have served, and chaplains in the Navy who have so often helped me, I took my vows and was sent forth to this difficult work. It was a matter of great gratification to me

that Mr. Coxe Edwards, the chaplain of the Fleet, consented to act as my chaplain on this occasion. In having him by me at such a time I felt as if the naval service were expressing its approval of the step which I was taking. Since my Consecration I have been engaged in drawing attention to the Mission wherever I received invitations to do so. I began in London, and have gone as far north as Northumberland. Many of you have sent me invitations which I have been unable to accept. It is impossible for even a Missionary to be in two places at once. It seemed to be my duty, however, to go first to Oxford, my own University, and there appeal for men. At my first meeting I had an audience composed entirely of graduates who are interested in the work of Foreign Missions. Seeing that one of my first tasks will be to provide a Korean Prayer Book, it seemed very appropriate that my first appeal for men at a public meeting should have been made to those from whose ranks I have a right to expect volunteers-men who, by habit and training, are especially fitted for the difficult and delicate task of translation. It is of the utmost importance that our first authoritative documents shall be able to bear the close inspection, not merely of Korean scholars, but of English theologians, that our teaching may not only be understood by the people but be the doctrine which has been taught by the Church * always and everywhere." I made the same request at Cambridge, whither I went for my second week. In both Universities I was provided with more work than I had time to accomplish, and was received by everyone with the greatest possible kindness. If I single out Cambridge as having been specially kind, it is only because, as a stranger to that University, I had less reason to expect such attention. From Cambridge I went to Durham, and had a long consultation with my old friend and schoolfellow, Dr. Plummer, Master of University. There also I hope I have laid the foundation of future work in Korea, and trust that I may be allowed, before I leave England, to enlist many members of that University as friends of the Mission. Then I have had the privilege of speaking to the students of the Theological College at Ely and the Missionary College at Dorchester--a privilege which, for special reasons, was also a peculiar pleasure. I hope one of these days you will hear more about both these colleges in my monthly letters. Last Sunday I was in Newcastle-on-Tyne, and preached in the Cathedral from Psalm cxi. It was the first opportunity I had had, since my Consecration, of preaching on a subject which seems to me to have been so long obscured that it is now in many quarters denied-namely, that the evangelisation of our

cities and of our country parishes, the conversion of our heathen at home and in our colonies, will progress in proportion as the Church realises that her first duty is to evangelise the heathen; and by heathen I mean those who are not attracted to us by ties of kindred or political responsibility, but those for whose salvation the Church of God yearns, simply because she is the Church of God, and therefore thirsts for their salvation with the thirst of her Divine Head. It sounds like a contradiction, but think it out for yourselves and see if we ought not to expect our heathenism at home to be removed by the reality of the sacrifice wherewith men and women go forth from home in order that they may enter upon the Church's real possession. "He hath shewed His people the power of His works that He may give them the heritage of the heathen." At Newcastle I was not far from the parishes in North Tyne which are served by so many of my former colleagues in the Navy. Amongst these Naval Chaplains, I number some of my oldest and best friends. I was very glad, therefore, to be able to accept an invitation from Miss Taylor, of Chollerton, to a meeting in her house last Tuesday. With a thoughtfulness w which I am not surprised to learn is habitual to her, she had invited all the Naval Clergy in the neighbourhood to meet me, and I was thus enabled, not only to see many dear friends, but to kindle an interest in the Mission, which I believe will never be allowed to die out. Yesterday I was in Leeds, and was allowed to preach for the Mission in St. John's Church, whose Vicar, Canon Scott, is the brother of my dear friend, Bishop Scott, of North China. I do not think that my words there will have the effect of diminishing the interest which that parish has always felt in Bishop Scott's work.

To-morrow, the Eve of St. Andrew, I am to preach in St. Paul's Cathedral in the afternoon, and then to go to Oxford to preach at night on behalf of the Mission in the Cathedral there. On St. Andrew's day I return to London to preach in Westminster Abbey. Thus, after twenty-nine days, I return to the Abbey where I was consecrated Bishop, having been permitted during that period to speak twenty-nine times, twelve times by means of sermons, and seventeen by mcans of addresses at meetings. We have every reason, therefore (have we not ?), to thank God and take courage. And now a word or two about my plans. One thing is evident, we must have an Association for Intercessory Prayer. So many have written-So many continue to write--asking me to add their names. To arrange the heads of Intercession and Thanksgiving will be the work of time. As the Mission grows,

the wants will become apparent. The Association, however, can be formed at once, and I hope to send out with this letter a scheme which will, I trust, be helpful to those who wish to pray for us. Miss Wilson, Ackworth House, Salisbury, has consented to act as Secretary of the Association, and will receive the names and addresses of those who wish to join us, and who have not already communicated with me on the subject. There is no subscription and no obligation except to pray for Korea daily, in any words you please. I have been asked by many of my friends if they may help me by interesting others in the work of the Mission. I am desirous of getting a secretary in every Diocese, to whom friends of the Mission may refer for information; to whom also they may send donations to be transmitted to S.P.G. “Korea Special Fund," 19 Delahay Street, Westminster. I shall be glad to hear of any who are willing to act as Diocesan Secretaries. I am still looking for a doctor for the Mission, and feel that I must not leave England without one, owing to the importance of at once beginning medical work amongst the people. You sce it will be some time before any of us can preach, and I want the doctor to go ahead directly and show the Koreans that we do care about their bodies. Please God, hospital work will always be an important feature of the Mission, and I have every reason to hope that those of you who belong to the Service will look favourably on a scheme which is, I believe, shortly to be placed before you by some of my old shipmates and messmates. It is too early yet for me to speak of men or of the time of my departure. The scores of invitations to preach in different parts of England make it difficult even to think of such a thing. God has evidently work for me to do at home during the time that He is calling others to give up all and follow Him. May He grant them grace to obey His call. And so I am brought to St. Andrew, the fisherinan and Apostle, who, at the call of the Master, left off catching fish in order to catch men. May you, my dear friends, all enjoy that happiness which comes here and hereafter to those who follow Jesus Christ in the way in which He calls. Believe, with ever so many thanks for all your many kindnesses, Your faithful friend, C. J. CORFE

DEAR CHILDREN, There are a great many of you who have already learnt to pray for Korea, and to love the Mission which the Church is sending to that country. You are, therefore, my best friends, and my second monthly letter shall be to you. Some of you are too young to read it, but I shall try to make it so plain that you will understand it when it is read to you. Others of you are grown-up children, and I am sure that you, too, will be glad to have a letter at Christmas which you can share with the little ones. You will receive this letter, my dear children, at the beginning of the year, and it will tell you about the beginning of the Mission. How fitly, therefore, may it be addressed to children who are at the beginning of life! The Mission of the Church to Korea is, as yet, a very tiny child ; but, please God, she will grow a great deal next year. Your prayers and help will be to her what water is to the flowers. I am planting, you are watering, and God gives the increase. Now let me tell you some of the things which I want to plant in Korea : (i.) I want a doctor who will come and live with us and heal all the poor sick people who come to us. We do not want to make them pay for their medicines, but shall be quite glad if they will let us teach them to take care of their bodies and keep them clean. They will thus escape many of those diseases which come from dirt and neglect. For a long time this is nearly all we shall be able to do. It will be long before we shall be able to preach in their language. But the doctor I hope will help us to teach them that God loves their bodies as well as their souls, and sent His dear Son to redeem both. So when at home or at church you hear the words, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me," you must remember that we are trying to bring them to Christ by teaching them how sacred is that body which will by-and-by be baptized by water and made a member of the great Body of Christ. (ii.) Then I hope before long to plant a hospital, and, perhaps, more than one, for those who are too ill to come for medicines and too poor to buy them. I have a little friend, ALICE WATSON (I wonder if you know her), who is in a hospital. In a pretty letter she wrote to me last week she said, “I am very happy indeed, and the nurses are very kind,"

Now that is how we want the people in Korea to feel when they come into our hospital, which, remember, is not yet built. How do you suppose I mean to build it? I will tell you. Many of you know that I have been a sailor for a great part of my life. Sailors are my best and kindest friends. You will hardly believe how true a sailor's friendship can be. Do you remember what St. James says about taming wild animals?“ Every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed, of mankind” (St. James iii. 7). No one tames animals so well, or so quickly, as sailors. They tame them with kindness. And that is how they tamed me. They made a pet of me long ago, and now I want to show that their petting has not spoilt me, because petting does spoil children sometimes. My sailor friends, I believe, are going to help me build a hospital. Our Navy has performed many glorious deeds, but I do not think that any of them will be more glorious than this. It is a beautiful thing, my dear children, to do good hoping for nothing again. And for a long time the people of Korea will not know even how to say *" Thank you." (iii.) There is one more thing which I have kept to the last because it is the best and concerns the children. I want my children friends to give me a penny now and then to help me build an Orphanage. You must not take your pennies away from other poor folk and give them to me instead. I want you to give to me as well, because you love me and because it will help you to love God more. If you begin to put by your money now, we shall have enough in a few years to build an Orphanage. If, therefore, you wish to help my " Fund for Poor Children in Korea," get a little box in which to put your spare pence (and mind you always say a little prayer before you put the money in-this is very important). Or, if you prefer it, you can give the money to father or mother and ask them to send it to Mrs. GOODENOUGH, The Palace, Hampton Court. If you are sailors' children, you will know her name. Her husband was one of the bravest and truest seamen the Queen ever had. Last month some dear children at Gosforth, in the North of England, whom I had never seen before, collected over 8s. for me. That was the foundation-stone of the Orphanage. Another child in the same village, who is an invalid and cannot run about and play like other children, has promised to pray for me every day. That is another stone for the Orphanage, a very precious and lasting stone. Then, I have a hundred and sixty orphan girls, children of seamen and marines, and all

quite poor, living in the Home at Portsmouth. They pray for me every day. Again the children of St. Agatha's, in Landport, have promised to come to church once a month to pray for me. There are a good many solid stones here. And last week a little friend of mine, called DORA, gave me 6 d.; she was very particular that I should have the farthing. So you see I am getting on very well. The foundations of the Orphanage will consist of money cemented by prayers. And here I will end my letter, praying God to bless your Christmas and give you all a Happy New Year, Your affectionate,

• C. J. CORFE

III. DEAR FRIENDS, The children's letter, which will interest you I know, takes up so much room that I can only find space for a brief record of myself during the month of December. I hope that you duly received my November letter, and must impress upon you the necessity of keeping Miss Day informed of any change in your address. During this month I either have preached or am to preach twelve times, and have addressed ten meetings-in Worthing, Oxford, Croydon, Portsmouth, Cosham, Basset (Southampton), Salisbury, Warminster, Chichester Cathedral, and York Minster. Everywhere I have been received with a kindness and affection for which, believe me, I am sincerely grateful. My visits to Canterbury and Warminster were especially important. From the Missionary Colleges in these two places I naturally looked for companions. You will be glad to hear that, although no students have been definitely accepted, more have volunteered than I can at present support. If these men when they have finished their college course are able to offer themselves to me again, I know that I shall get the money needful for their maintenance, for I shall then have every reason to believe that their call to Korea is a call from God. I beg of you to pray constantly that their vocation may be made plain to them. This month, too, has seen the formal beginning of the Association for Intercessory Prayer on behalf of Korea. The paper issued with last month's letter is meant to be rather an indication of what we want than a reply to the requests, made by many friends, that I would furnish them with a Form of Intercessory Prayer. I quite intend to provide from time to time a list of

our special wants and special thanksgivings. You will understand, however, that this requires great care and attention. I cannot delegate the work to another, and have not yet sufficient leisure to do it myself as it ought to be done. In the meantime, the three collects for Good Friday which the Archbishop of Canterbury has unconsciously suggested ought to answer our purpose admirably. Miss WILSON will be glad to forward copies of the papers to all who signify to her their desire to have them. Let me say again that there is no subscription for this Association. I can only find room for one other matter. The roots of the Mission, though very small, are spreading in so many directions that I already begin to see how great an advantage --I had almost said how great a necessity-it will be for the Mission to have a Quarterly Paper. The materials for one are ample, and, if I can only find an editor who will become responsible for putting them into shape, I shall start it directly. May God give you and yours a happy New Year. Accept the affection and blessing of your faithful friend,

• C. J. CORFE.

IV. MY DEAR FRIENDS OF THE R. NAVY AND R. MARINES, I must lose no time in acknowledging the circular which my Commissary, Mr. HARBORD, has sent me. When I see what you wish to do for me, I am filled with gratitude, and yet, when I see the reason you give for doing it, I am covered with confusion. I cannot, indeed, accept what you say about my "devoted service” unless you will allow me to share it with my late colleagues. In the Committee which you have formed I see the names of many, from the honoured President downwards, whose devotion to duty is conspicuous, even in a service like ours, in which devotion is the rule and slackness the exception. There are men on this Committee who for years have taught me, by the example of their daily lives, the meaning of those words, "Love the Brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King”-that three-stranded cord which does so much to bind together in happy companionship the various members of H.M. Naval Service. My gratitude to you will be best expressed in the simplest and fewest words. You all know me, and will know, therefore,

what I mean when I say, "I thank you from the bottom of my heart." This movement, I am well aware, has had its chief impulse in your affection for me. I prefer, however, not to dwell upon that, but to tell you how profoundly I feel that this desire of yours to assist me in my efforts to civilise as well as evangelise Korea is worthy of the best instincts of the British seaman. I recognise in this scheme the same spirit which prompts him whose profession it is to be skilful in taking life to be foremost everywhere and under all circumstances in saving life and succouring his fellow-men. From what you know of Korea you will have gathered that it is a country in which disease results not so much from bad climate as from ignorance of the virtues of medical skill and of the regular use of good navy soap. A friend of mine thus describes what he saw in the capital of Korea : "On crossing a bridge over a small stream that runs the whole length of the city, we saw a number of women washing clothes in the water and beating them with sticks of wood. Though the stream was low and its bed served as a dung-heap, water was also being carried away from it for household uses, and there was evidence on every side that, according to all rules of sanitation, the population of the city should by rights have ceased to exist." This, I think, may have had something to do with another fact which he mentions: “The mortality from cholera in the capital and surrounding villages in 1886 was said to exceed 100,000 in the space of two months.” “Cleanliness comes next to godliness." I am not the man to teach that the order of these two ought to be reversed. But the above circumstances and my ignorance of the language justify me in teaching them cleanliness first. For I never intended to stand still, and your helpful scheme now comes and bids me go on in this direction. It will be some time before I am able to use the money which you give me, but, if I can carry out my programme, I shall use as much as you will give. There are four towns in Korea which by treaty are open to foreigners. Of these the capital, Seoul, is inland. Of the remainder, Gensan and Fusan are seaports on the east coast, Chemulpo on the west coast being the port of Seoul, which is about twenty-five miles distant. It is my wish to procure, as speedily as is consistent with prudence, a house in each of these four towns which will be suitable for a hospital, or, perhaps, at first for a public dispensary to develop into a hospital. The port of Chemulpo is, I fancy, more frequented by foreign ships than the other two. The hospital there I should wish as soon as possible to be made available for the necessities of seamen, especially our own dear lads,

With regard to Seoul, I have already got my eye on a house in the middle of the town, which I hope may do for a hospital. But, if I am to have hospitals, I must have doctors. Of course I should prefer to find medical men who were able and willing to keep their own mess, or be content with their board and lodging like ourselves. But such men are not easy to find, and it may be necessary to provide them with a small salary. You will say that this is "a large order." I admit it. But, though it will be "executed promptly," I do not expect it to be "executed immediately." In the hope, however, that it will soon require a man's undivided attention, I am looking for one whose experience and reputation will be a guarantee for the good administration of such a fund as this is likely to become. I know that you have confidence in me, but you will have greater confidence if there is in the Mission a doctor of repute who is advising me how to make the best use of your bounty. One such man has offered to come with me for a time, and I am now waiting his reply to a letter in which I have asked him to be my D.G. I hope next month to be able to assure you that mny yardarm is ready for the orders, “Let fall, sheet home!” And now, if this programme is carried out by your means, what will have been done? (i.) Amongst other things a great impulse will have been given to unselfish charity, by which I mean charity to those who have no other claim on our charity than that of our common humanity. (ii.) As a consequence, there will be more of the "willing mind” manifested in the larger support given to our already well-supported naval charities. (iii.) Your action will have strengthened my hands most effectually by helping forward the more immediate work for which I have been sent to Korea. (iv.) And, for the nonce, I put the Koreans last-you will have laid amongst them the foundation of the truest civilisation, and have earned for yourselves their gratitude, which may be long in coming, but which will surely come. Please understand that in this letter I have intended to address all my friends in the Service without distinction of rank, from the Admiral to the second-class boy, from the Commandant to the drummer. With a sense of gratitude which grows deeper in proportion as the load of your kindness grows heavier, I am more than ever your devoted friend, C. J. CORFE.

January 1890. DEAR FRIENDS, Once more I have to ask you to accept a short letter. But I know you will read No. IV. with great interest. Please give the matter of which it treats a place in your prayers. And now I give you a very brief epitome of my proceedings since I last wrote. My engagements from the Sunday after Christmas to the end of January have been, or will be, to preach sixteen sermons and deliver seventeen addresses. I accepted invitations to York Minster, two churches in Gainsborough, St. Anselm's and St. Peter's (Streatham), Leamington, Edgbaston, Dursley, Hereford Cathedral (I was ordained priest in Hereford), New Swindon, St. Peter's (Eaton Square), Friern Barnet, St. Peter's Home (Kilburn), Warrington, Farnworth and Bolton in Lancashire, Markbeech, All Hallows' (Barking), Croydon, Salisbury Cathedral (where I was baptized), Wilton, Hursley, and Botley in Hampshire. I have also to record a handsome grant of £ 360 from the S.P.C.K. in support of my doctor. Would that I could get him! Thank you, my dear friends, for all your prayers and kindness. May God reward and bless you ! Your faithful friend, C. J. Corre. VI. MY DEAR FRIENDS, Last month I told you I had been asked to visit St. Peter's Home, Kilburn. A delightful visit it was! giving me a charming insight into the good work which these nursing sisters are doing for our poor incurables. I longed to transplant the whole establishment bodily to Korea. May God open the way for this Community or some other to exhibit to my Korea poor a similar example of unostentatious, self-denying, practical Christianity! I wonder how soon it will be before I shall look on such a sight in Korea as I saw that night in the ward of the Good Samaritan, whose bedridden inmates lay cramped with rheumatism; or in the ward of the Good Shepherd, with its crowd of little children, who, in spite of their pain, looked happy because they were amongst friends. It is Christianity of this sort that I want England to give to Korea. You saw last month how the Naval Fund is going ahead. Where are my nursing sisters who will be ready to come when I summon them, I hope next year?

During this month I have been to a model Missionary service and a model Missionary meeting. At Markbeech, a parish containing some three hundred, nearly all poor, people, the meeting was held in the schoolroom. But, first, evensong was said in the church as a preparation for the meeting; and then an adjournment was made to the schoolroom, where, without prayer or further preface, the business of the meeting began. Both church and schoolroom were well filled. It was a weekday, yet the people were not attracted by a choral service, for there was no choir, and many of them came from far. Their reverence and hearty responses in church, and their interest and good-numoured attention during the meeting, made me wish there were more parishes in England like this. I don't know when I have spent such a happy evening. And now for a model Missionary service. An evensong, again on a week-day, in a country parish of 340 inhabitants, all, or nearly all, labouring men and women of the agricultural class, living, not round the church, but in cottages scattered about the parish, many of them more than a mile from the parish church, which we will call St. Cross. On this evening the church, which would hold a third of the parishioners, was full of poor people, who sang and responded as if they knew that the church belonged to them, and were proud of it. I preached to these people, and, though I had never been within fifty miles of the parish, and was quite unknown to the Rector, I felt as if we were old friends. After church I was introduced to several of the parishioners, who, without my knowledge or request, had obtained collecting-boxes for S.P.G., and had been trying to get their friends to give something every month for the Korean Special Fund. I feel that I can speak freely about this parish because I am not going to tell you where it is. But again I say I would that there were more parishes in England like this. Town parishes, with houses clustering round the parish church, please copy. Bishop Selwyn, of Melanesia, who loves my dear orphan children at Portsmouth, sailed last month for his distant diocese in the South Seas. He did not go, however, without giving his poor brother a substantial token of affection, in the shape of a magic lantern, which he has presented to the Mission. This, however, is a luxury which we shall not be able to use for some time. Another kind friend has sent me 400 picture cards with texts from Holy Scripture in Chinese. Lastly, the widow of a naval officer for whom I had the highest regard has given me 65 wherewith to buy knives and forks for the Mission house. I remonstrated, and said we must use chop-sticks, but she said, “Nonsense," and I suspect she is right. You, at all

events, will not have to eat with chop-sticks when you come to see me in Seoul. How kind people are, to be sure! I wish I could be properly thankful. I believe that at last I am a landowner, or at least a house. holder. I have heard of three small houses, all close together, in Seoul which I am assured are "water tight." After a good deal of thought and consultation with those " who know," I have determined to buy these houses. Before long, therefore, some £360 of the money which you have been giving me since November 1, 1889, will be transferred to Korean hands. And now surely I must start soon. It is so absurd to have a house and not to live in it. But my list of companions is not yet complete. I do not want to go until one or two clergy in priest's orders have come to me and said, "My living I will resign, or my fortune I will sacrifice, and dedicate it, together with my talents and my experience, to the Church in Korea." For these men I am keeping two places open. Lent is coming on, the season when we are taught the necessity and the privilege of self-sacrifice. The two last verses of Acts iv. I commend to my brother-clergy for their imitation this Lent. Talking of St. Barnabas reminds me of St. Luke, and St. Luke of the doctor for whom I am still waiting During the past month my engagements have taken me to Cambridge, Homersfield, London, Leeds, Exeter, Chesterfield, Greenwich, Chelmsford, Twickenham, East Grinstead, and Wallingford. I have preached eighteen times and addressed ten meetings. Two of these sermons and one meeting were on behalf of S.P.G., as were also two sermons in London and two in Wallingford. I found my friends in Cambridge even more cordial than they were last November, and it was worth going further than Cambridge to listen to Professor Westcott's earnest and eloquent appeal on behalf of the poor Eurasians, and the efforts which are being made to raise the position of women in India. He made me feel that the work of Foreign Missions can be done as well and as truly by stay-at-homes as by the Missionaries who go forth from our midst. When will the clergy realise this, and cease to be so dependent on the “ deputation” for the zeal which must needs be kindled in themselves before they can kindle it in the hearts of their people? Please remember that prayer is an essential part of our Lenten work, that prayer is a "charity” which is within the power of all to give, and that no one needs your prayers, my dear friends, more than yours very sincerely,

• C. J. CORFE.

March 1890. MY DEAR GENERAL SECRETARY, These monthly letters are beginning to remind me of the letters one sees advertised in the way-bills of certain newspapers, letters which are written by the editor to distinguished personages, but which everyone is meant to read who will buy his paper; letters, too, which are seen last of all, perhaps, by the people to whom they profess to be written. The distinguished persons to whom I have already written, besides my friends (who must needs be distinguished), have been the children and the contributors to the Naval Fund for Hospitals in Korea. That a general secretary is a distinguished personage goes without saying. I propose devoting this month's letter to you, that I may introduce to my readers both you and the Association of which you have been good enough to undertake the direction. The need of some association of the sort has been apparent from the first. As soon as it was known that this Mission to Korea must depend for its success entirely on the prayers of God's faithful people, those people were forthcoming with the offer of their prayers, and the Association for Intercessory Prayer was formed, as you know, within a month of my Consecration. But the large number of subscribers to the Monthly Letter shows that I have friends who wish to help the Mission in other ways as well. Before leaving England, I must do what I can to make it easy for these subscribers (who are mostly old friends) to do the work which they are evidently desirous of doing for the Mission. I can think of no better way of helping them than by forming an association. But there is another reason, stronger than either of these, why an association has now become needful. If I am able to fulfil all my engagements up to the end of March, I shall have preached, since November 1, 1889, in seventy-two churches and addressed sixty-six meetingsthis represents sixty towns or villages and many more parishes. You will have seen from the monthly letters with what great kindness I have everywhere been received. But I cannot regard the attention and interest which the Mission to Korea has called forth as my property, or as forthcoming on my account. They belong to the Church, and I want an association in order that all this attention and interest may be secured to the Church permanently. Those who have heard me will bear me witness that I have ever sought to make the interest in Korea a means rather than an end, a consequence of an increasing sense of duty owed to all the foreign Missionary work of the Church. My

own little corner of the heathen world is neither less nor more important than the rest of the dark continents and islands in which the power of the Risen Life has not yet been felt. The consciousness of my own needs only makes me feel more keenly how great are the needs of others. If, when I have been preaching about Korea, I have succeeded in making one person think more seriously of his responsibility towards Calcutta or Shoreditch, Central Africa or Qu'appelle, Tinnevelly or the Mackenzie River, I can truly say that I have been as thankful as if all his consequent interest had been centred in Korea. The Association, therefore, will be an association of those who will include Foreign Missions, and especially Korea, amongst the things for which they pray daily. I put Foreign Missions first, because I am convinced that any centring of the affections on Korea will not conduce to the health of the Church at large, and, therefore, in the long run, will not be helpful even to Korea. I want the members of the Association to find that their interest in home and foreign Missionary work is not only deeper but is spread over a wider area. You will observe that I have so arranged for the keeping of the rule of daily prayer that all who recognise the need and blessing of prayer can join the Association without finding that it necessarily entrenches either on their time or their purse. It will make a demand on their affections. But God has given us these affections in such abundance in order that we may be generous with them, and by giving them back again to Him promote His glory. “We love Him because He first loved us." There is no subscription to the Association. For the payment of the necessary expenses I shall rely on donations. I am sure I shall get enough by this means, whilst, on the other hand, I know that there are thousands of very poor people who can pray for the Church but cannot support every mission with their alms. Nor will this form of daily prayer press heavily on any. one. Please notice in the Association paper the different ways in which this rule may be observed. Thus the ploughboy in the fields, the artisan in the workshop, the servant-girl at her daily labour, the invalid on her couch, the schoolboy kneeling by his bedside, the sailor in his hammock, the priest at his altar--all can and all ought to pray for the Foreign Missions of the Church and for me ; all can and all may do so, if they please, by joining this Association---those who have most time, and those who have least, those who say fewest prayers, and those who say most. Rule II. is of a different kind. It has a local option air about it. This, however, refers only to the matter of subscriptions, for I take it that everyone who wants to keep Rule I. will keep

Rule II. so far as to work for me in some way, if only by interesting others. I am thus, you see, very anxious that the Asscciation shall be welcomed by all classes, especially by children, labourers, domestic servants, sailors, and others, who, because they are not wealthy or influential, are, I am afraid, sometimes regarded as the weakest links in the chain of prayer, whereas you know they are often the strongest. I should like, in conclusion, to draw your attention to the last paragraph in the paper of the Association, in which provision is made for its affiliation to other Missionary Associations. In nearly every parish the needs of the F. M. field are recognised, and prayers are offered for S.P.G., or C.M.S., or some special mission, or for all these together. All these parishes can be linked on to this Association without any appreciable or at least impossible burden. Instead of the rule of daily prayer, it will be sufficient if our needs are remembered in company with the needs of others; whilst the taking in by the parish of at least one copy of the monthly paper will be almost a necessity if the prayers are to be intelligent and the interest in the Mission sustained. Hoping that your duties may very soon become so numerous as to make it necessary for me to ask for half-a-dozen more general secretaries, and praying God to bless your efforts on our behalf, I remain, Yours very sincerely, C. J. CORFE. To Miss CHAMBERS HODGETTS, Rowancroft, Heavitree, Exeter, General Secretary of the Association for Prayer and Work for Korea, from whom copies of the Rules of the Association may be obtained. VIII. March 1890. DEAR FRIENDS The length of No. VII. makes it necessary for me to be brief in my letter to you this month. I am not without hope, however, that you will regard my letter to Miss CHAMBERS HODGETTS as a letter to yourselves. I know I can rely on you to do all that can be done to make this Association a success in the parishes, ships, barracks, &c., where, during the last four months, the needs of the Mission have been made known. Next month I hope to be able to chronicle another important departure in our organisation--the establishment of a monthly magazine.

I am very anxious to sell this magazine at one penny a copy, so as to bring it within the reach of all. But, unless I am to be in debt, this will mean a large circulation. I have calculated that if you each promise to get me only half-a-dozen annual subscribers the magazine will have a fair start. But I must briefly chronicle my engagements for this month, and conclude. They have been sixteen sermons and twelve addresses, in London, Moulsoe and Sherington (Bucks), Waltham (Sussex), St. Bartholomew's (Dover), Torquay, Bovey Tracey, Barnstaple, with the two neighbouring parishes of Marwood and Atherington, Honiton, Portsmouth Dockyard (where in my old church I was allowed to preach for the Mission and hold my first Confirmation), Winchester, Bath, and Axbridge. At the last moment I was unable to fulfil my engagement at Winchester College, and had to disappoint 600 children of St. Mary's, Portsea, who were assembled at a Missionary meeting to hear all about Korea. I am glad to have been allowed to speak for the Japan Mission in Christ Church, Kensington, and for the S.P.G. in Barnstaple and Bath. Let me correct an error which a kind friend has pointed out to me in a former letter. "Cleanliness is next”-not to godliness, but-"to goodliness." We cannot all be good looking, but we can all be clean. This, it appears, is the meaning of the proverb. But, if so, then for Koreans cleanliness will, I hope, come before goodliness, for from what I have seen of them in photographs I fear that if our efforts to make them clean are to depend upon their good looks we shall strive for ever in vain. Praying that you may have a very happy Easter, I am, your sincere friend, C. J. CORFE. IX. April 1890. DEAR FRIENDS, The letter to the General Secretary of last month must be followed by one this month to those of you who have given me a fresh proof of your friendship by consenting to become Local Secretaries of the newly formed Association of Prayer and Work for Korea. I am not going to spend any time in thanking you. Instead, we will all thank God for the fresh opportunity thus given us of serving Him. Many of my most intimate friends, whom I requested to

become Local Secretaries, and of whose co-operation I was sure, have declined to undertake the post. The reasons they give have puzzled me greatly, and I can come to no other conclusion than that they have not read my letter; and I am tempted to wish that I had written the important part of it in Greek, so that they might have understood it better. Lest there should be any doubt in your own minds as to what it is I have asked you to do as Local Secretaries of the Association, I will make an extract from the letter and print it in italics. Perhaps it may catch the eye of some who have refused, and induce them to write and tell Miss CHAMBERS HODGETTS that they have come to a better mind--for I certainly expected no refusals. I am anxious not to lay a heavier burden on you than you are able to bear, and I wish you to understand that your acceptance of the post of Local Secretary involves no obligation and only such work as you like to do. The work you have to do is briefly to ask your friends to pray for the Foreign Missions of the Church, especially the Mission to Korea, and to promote the interests of the Mission to Korea in any way they can. The Association having no subscription, I have carefully refrained from putting on you the duty of begging for money. You will have noticed that the letter is suggestively silent on this point. If you insist on begging for money, I cannot help it, but it is no part of your duty as Local Secretary. I want you to beg for prayers, but from your friends--not from strangers. And if any of those who pray for us are led by God to give of their earthly substance to the Mission, I want you to be good enough to let them know that you are willing to receive such help and to transmit it to Miss CHAMBERS HODGETTS, Rowancroft, Heavitree, Exeter. In asking for their prayers, I want you also to be careful to impress on them the necessity of praying for all Foreign Missions. I cannot willingly accept the prayers of those whose interest in Foreign Missions begins and ends in Korea. Now I do hope that all who have declined to serve as Local Secretaries will read my letter once more and see how sadly they have misunderstood it. For I cannot believe that they really decline to procure for me who want them so badly the daily prayers of their relations and intimate friends, their acquaintances, their servants, their messmates, their schoolfellows, their pupils, their parishioners, and so forth. I should like to have a Local Secretary in every house in England and in every mess in the Navy. And now I pray God to help you to direct your efforts and to enlarge your hearts, that your work for Him may be increas. ingly better done. Your affectionate, C. J. CORFE.

April 1890. - DEAR FRIENDS, At last I am able to tell you that a doctor has been found who has promised to join the Mission for two years. As a surgeon, he has had much experience, and has scen service in nearly every part of the world. I have had no hesitation, therefore, in asking him to take charge of the N. F. H. under my direction, and hope that when his two years' connection with us ceases he may have the satisfaction of knowing that he has been instrumental in the foundation of hospitals in Chemulpo, Fusan, Gensan, and Seoul. This is what we are now aiming at, and I want you to pray for God's blessing on him and on my friends in the Navy, through whose instrumentality this work will be done --if it is done at all. It is delightful, too, for me to think that limi@the united service will have the doing of it. I am glad to be able to tell you also that the Community of St. Peter's, Kilburn, is interesting itself on behalf of the Mission. An association has been formed by the Community and its friends, which, I trust, will be of the greatest value to us. In the first place, we shall have the benefit of their regular united prayers-a great matter when they are offered by people who spend so much time in prayer. Then they will work for us in other ways, and, perhaps-who knows ?-someone may be led to offer herself for nursing work in Korea, and, after careful training, bring out with her a staff of nurses. I am assured by these good sisters that they will gladly assist in the training of any who are thus called. I want you to thank God for the door which He seems to be opening for us in this direction, During the past month I have been preaching at St. John the Divine, Brixton, and at Holy Trinity, Weymouth-at the latter place for S.P.G. I have also visited my old schools at St. Michael's College, Tenbury, and Elizabeth College, Guernsey. Of my visit to Guernsey I must speak more at length next month. At Tenbury I preached in the parish church, and after service made the acquaintance of the members of the Vicar's Bible class-all poor men who had been putting aside a halfpenny for the Mission every week. The sum of money thus collected gladdened me, both on account of the sustained interest involved in the giving, and the spontaneous nature of the gift from men who are strangers to me. The prospectus of the proposed magazine has been printed, and, I hope, will soon be in your hands. From it you will see how much the Mission has already grown, how much, too, I want to accomplish for the Church of God through the instrumentality of the magazine. Please notice that my monthly letter is always

to form an item in its contents. I shall look, therefore, to you to take it in yourselves. But more than this-I want you to get your friends to take it in. Yes; I want each of you 500 subscribers to the monthly letter to get ten people to subscribe three halfpence a month for this magazine. Then when we leave England I shall feel that, though "out of sight," we shall not be "out of mind." I shall feel also that the Mission to Korea, even before it reaches Korea, will have fulfilled one of the purposes of its existence in having been the means of giving an impetus to all the Home and Foreign Missions of the Church, in whatsoever part of the world they may be established. This is what it should be with every Mission. Its appearance within the body of the Church should at once be felt to be a blessing to the whole body. And then the blessing which it thus confers will be returned to it with an increase proportioned to its weakness and its wants. I hope this year's Festival of the Resurrection has been blessed to you in giving you greater vitality as members of the mystical Body of Christ. Your affectionate friend, C. J. CORFE. XI.

May 1, 1890. DEAR FRIENDS, Six months have now elapsed since my Consecration. The interval between the Feast of All Saints and to-day's festival, SS. Philip and James, has seen the planting of the seed of the Mission and, thank God, some signs that the seed is growing. I propose devoting this letter to a summary of the results which God has brought about quite as much by your instrumentality as by mine. During this time I have been constantly occupied in speaking and preaching on behalf of Foreign Missions, always in answer to invitations. And now at the end of six months I see the following foundations laid: (i.) The N. F.H. (Korea)- an entirely spontaneous movement on the part of my old messmates and shipmates-is managed by a large representative committee of naval officers which aim at having subscribers to the fund in every ship and barrack. I am spared all expenses, and am allowed to spend in any way I please the money which these good friends of mine are providing for our hospital work in Korea. (ii.) Akin to this is the Association in aid of the Mission started by the Community of St. Peter's, Kilburn. In this case, as in the last, I am simply the recipient of bounty, and can lay no claim to having brought the Association into existence. It is the outcome of the generosity of those sisters and their com

panions who, having given up all for the service of God's poor, are, therefore, so well able to help me. By means of this Community I hope, ere long, to be provided with nursing sisters, and I have already received a promise to train any women who may feel themselves called of God to extend His kingdon of love to Korea. The Secretary of the St. Peter's Association is Miss GRAHAM, 48 Port Street, S.W., whose name I print without her permission, because I know how glad she will be to give you and your friends every inforınation on this most important branch of our work. (ii.) As you know, I have obtained the voluntary services of my first colleague in the person of Deputy Surgeon-General J. Wiles, who comes with me for two years, and whose long and varied experience specially fits him to take charge of the N. F.H. (Korea). Already a plan of action has been formulated, and before this letter is in your hands I hope Dr. Wiles will have concluded his preparations and be ready to start. He will begin operations in Seoul, and then-as opportunity offers and medical men present themselves-in the other three treaty ports in the following order of their importance: Chemulpo, Fusan, Gensan. (iv.) Through the accustomed liberality of the S.P.C.K., I am able to offer to Dr. Wiles £100 for drugs and surgical instruments. I know of nothing, therefore, which will prevent us from opening a public dispensary as soon as we have landed. (v.) But the S.P.C.K. have also granted me £80 a year, for two years, towards the maintenance of a doctor whom I want to have living with me in the Mission House in Seoul—that doctor of whom I have spoken to you so often, and by whose skill and patience the suspicions of the people will, I hope, be removed, and their confidence gained-an incalculable benefit to us, who will be powerless to speak and to preach for two or three years. I believe I have found such a man, who, if his offer is accepted, will be permanently attached to the Mission. (vi.) Passing from the medical work, which seems somehow to have all grown out of my mention of the N. F.H., I go on to speak of a movement which, however tiny in its outward appearance, is full of life and promise, and has been more helpful and encouraging to me than I can say—the prayers and pennies of your children. I can reckon by hundreds those who by means of Korea have been led to pray daily for Foreign Missions as well as for me, whilst their pence, so precious in the sight of God, already form in the hands of Mrs. GOODENOUGH (Hampton Court Palace) a fund which will be devoted to the first orphanage I am able to build in Korea. I should like to say a great deal more about my dear children friends-many of them poor orphans themselves--but must pass on to

(vii.) The fund for providing Korean boys and girls with schools. The opening of the country to intercourse with Western nations has naturally given an impetus to the study of Western literature and Western methods of thought. If we may believe what we read, the king has already done much to encourage his subjects to learn English. It is possible, therefore, that an opening for secular education may be afforded me before anything else, If so, I want to take advantage of it immediately, and to secure as teachers those who shall be Church people, for there will be no difficulty in finding those who are not when the demand for English education does come. During my recent visit to Guernsey a suggestion was made which seemed to meet with general approval-namely, that a fund for this purpose might very fitly be commenced in the place where I myself was educated, and with which my dear uncle, the Principal of Elizabeth College, was for over a quarter of a century connected. But the suggestion made there is capable of development, and already boys and girls of the school age, who are working for the Mission in two different parishes in London, have devoted their money to this fund. I delight to think that we are able to find work for so many kinds of workers. The Secretary of the Education Fund is, for the present, Miss WILSON, Ackworth House, Salisbury. (viii.) I now come to the Association of Prayer and Work for Korea, which in some form or other has existed since last November, but which took the definite shape of an organisation at the beginning of last month. The Local Secretaries already number over sixty, and I hope that many more of my friends will consent to join the Association as Local Secretaries when they understand that it is a prayer-getting and not a money-getting association, and that it is an association of prayer for all missions and not for Korea alone. I do not ask my Local Secretaries to beg for money, not because the Mission does not want money, but because I do not want to put such a burden on their shoulders. People will give their money to this Mission as they can and as they ought if the foreign Missionary work of the Church finds a place in their daily prayers. Should the Local Secretaries have any money sent them, I shall be glad if they will transmit it every quarter to the General Secretary, Miss CHAMBERS HODGETTS, Rowancroft, Heavitree, Exeter. (ix.) The latest development of the Mission is the establishment of the Monthly Magazine. This is intended to interest people (who, as a rule, are not interested) in the whole of the foreign Missionary work of the Church. Although the magazine will be small in size, only twelve pages, and in price only one penny, the work which it is intended to do is very

great, so great, indeed, that Korea appears but a speck. I appeal especially to my naval friends to write frequently to the editor and tell him what they know, from their orun experience, of the foreign Missionary work of the Church of England. From ships on the Australian Station, from the East and West Indies and Canada, from China and the Pacific, from Japan and the Cape of Good Hope, there is no lack of interesting and even exciting news of the Church's Missionary work to be had, whilst naval men are naturally fitted to be the best special correspondents of Missionaries and their work. This will save the magazine from being devoted exclusively to Korea, and will afford every month a practical illustration of the sermon which I have been preaching every day for the last six months--namely, that our work on behalf of any one mission in which we are specially interested can never be healthy, either for that mission or for ourselves, unless it is based on the conviction that the Church's home and foreign Missionary work throughout the world is but one, and so has a pressing claim on the daily prayers and continuous interest of everyone who professes to be a Christian. With the appearance of the first number of the magazine, my monthly letter will cease as a separate publication, but will, I hope, always occupy the first place in each issue. (x.) Last in order of time, first in order of importance, I speak of my staff of clergy. Mr. L. 0. Warner, late a student of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, having passed the necessary examinations, is to be ordained Deacon at Trinity by the Bishop of Lincoln. Mr. Warner returned last year invalided from the Universities' Mission in Central Africa, and long before his health was re-established volunteered to come to Korea, because he feared he could not be allowed to return to Africa. His offer was one of the first-fruits of my appeal for men, and I am thankful that a former member of the Central African Mission is to be the first clerical member of the Korean. Two more students at Missionary colleges are pursuing their studies with a view of coming to me as soon as they are ordained. And I am glad to conclude this letter with the news that three or four clergy in Priest's Orders are asking questions with a view of ascertaining whether their future sphere of work is to be in Korea or in some other portion of the mission field. My next letter will, I hope, be found in the first number of the magazine, and in it you must expect to hear that I either have left or am on the point of leaving for Korea. Believe me always, Yours affectionately,

• C. J. CORFE,