Morning Calm v.13 no.92(1902 May.)

THE MORNING CALM. No. 92, VOL. XIII.] MAY 1902. [PRICE 3d.

The Bishop's Letters.Ⅰ.

CHEMULPÓ: December 1901. DEAR FRIENDS,

The Clerical Conference, which was imminent when I last wrote, was most successful. All the clergy were present, the Mission Stations in Kang Hoa having been left in the temporary charge of Brother Pearson and Mr. Laws. Chemulpó being only two hours by train from Seoul, Mr. Steenbuch was able to come backwards and forwards each day. The Conference opened on Tuesday with evensong at the Advent, at which I preached from Psalm cxxvii. i. The sessions were from 9 A.M. to 12.45, and from 2 to 4 P.M., and the Conference lasted just two days. Mr. Steenbuch made an excellent secretary. The subjects for discussion were brought forward by the pro-posers, after which each of the clergy, in turn, said all that he wished to say. The plan proved an admirable one, giving every one an opportunity both of talking and of listening. You may imagine how valuable an experience this was to me, who have always been accustomed to consult my clergy individually on all subjects of importance to the diocese. Now I had for the first time the opportunity of hearing them discuss, freely and together in my presence, matters touching their own practical experience. That no resolutions were proposed did not detract from the value of the Conference. In my opinion the Conference was the more valuable on this account. For this was not a synod of Bishop and clergy met together for the purpose of legislation. We are not yet in a position to form a synod. But how helpful to the Bishop it was to have his clergy expressing themselves freely on subjects important to us all, growing out of their own experience as missionaries, the Bishop only, perhaps, can judge. The temper of the Conference was excellent. On many points it was evident that there were differences of opinion ; but this fact did not once disturb the harmony, the unity of purpose which had brought us together.

I send home a copy of the Agenda Paper, in case the Editor may be able to find room to print an abstract of it in Morning Calm. I am sure it will prove of great interest to you. And if it should do nothing more it will show you some of the directions in which we need your prayers. The Conference ended, we adjourned to the Church and said the Te Deum. The circular sent round to the members of the Association by the General Secretary before December 6 is before me. I can imagine nothing better--nothing more practical. We owe her a debt of gratitude; and not only to her, but to the many good friends throughout England who on that day offered up their heartfelt prayers on our behalf. I must have mentioned in my last letter that Father Drake returned to us from Niu Chwang in November. He has taken up his residence at Mapó, from whence he goes into Seoul to provide for the English services at the Church of the Advent. This relieves Mr. Bridle from a burden which was too heavy for him, and enables him to give an undivided attention to the Corean work in Seoul, which shows signs of evident, if small, growth. Winter is upon us, and during the latter half of this month the cold has been severe even for Corea We hear from Kang Hoa at intervals by means of a courier. All is well, both in the City and at On Syou Tong, though Mr. Badcock has had trouble in the Boarding School--a bad case of theft on the part of one of the older boys.

Christmas passed off very happily. Our friends in Seoul tell me they have never had such a happy Christmas. One feature of the Corean services was the singing by the little orphans of Christmas carols in church. Having been in Chemulpó I heard but little of all this. In the Octave of Christmas, however, I was at the Church of the Advent and heard them sing “The First Nowell” (of course in Corean) with great sweetness and accuracy of tone. The dear Sister in charge of them takes infinite pains with these little ones, whose intelligence and behaviour in church is quite beautiful. And at Kang Hoa they have had their carols too. One of the Sisters writing to me says that they were sung by the boys as well as they could have been sung by the choir of the Cathedral at Oxford. High praise, indeed! Dr. Harwood must look to his laurels. At Chemulpó we spent the Festival very quietly. Though the congregations were, of course, small, there were, between English and Corean, seven services through-out the day, beginning of course with the Holy Eucharist in Corean. Here, too, we were not without our attempt at music: we managed Adeste Fideles as an Introit accompanied, on one finger, by one of the Christians--a Corean policeman. But I dare not say that we came anywhere near Christ Church Cathedral. Still all was very hearty and wholesome-each one singing with “the best member” that he had. Mr. and Mrs. Steenbuch entertained Nurse Helena and myself at the Parsonage in the evening. Thus, there is nothing startling and certainly nothing depressing to record during this month. The first year of the new century has ended quietly and given us all much ground for thankfulness to Almighty God for the many mercies which He has vouchsafed to the Diocese and to every member of the Mission Staff. We ought to begin the new year with fresh vigour, for we shall begin it with certainly increased knowledge both of our past failures and of God's gracious forbearance. How many of our blessings we owe to your prayers! May your patient goodness be blessed to each one of you a hundredfold ! Prays ever your affectionate friend, C. J. CORFE.

SEOUL CLERICAL MEETING.--NOVEMBER 26, 1901.

Tuesday, November 26: Evensong and Sermon by the Bishop in the Church of the Advent at 6 P.M. Wednesday, November 27, and following days:--7 A.M., Mattins and Holy Eucharist at Nak Tong; 8 A.M., Breakfast ; 9 A.M., Terce ; 9.10 A.M. to 12 noon, Conference; 12 noon, Sext and Intercession : 1 P.M., Tiffin ; 2 P.M., Nones; 2.10 P.M. to 4 P.M., Conference : 4 P.M., Tea ; 7 P.M., Evensong, Nak Tong; 7.30 P.M., Dinner.

AGENDA. 1. President's Address. 2. “On the training and employment of Native Agents.” Introduced by Rev. F. R. Hillary. 3. “Two practical difficulties encountered during a six months' ministry in Seoul--(a) The refusal of Christians to come to church on the ground that the Mission does not employ them; (b) A Catechumen of long standing who refuses Baptism as being useless.” Introduced by Rev. G. A. Bridle. 4. “Is it possible to have any form of marriage ceremony for marriage when one of the contracting parties is a Christian and the other a Catechumen or Enquirer?” Introduced by Rev. J. S. Badcock. 5. “The question of Village Schools--(a) their present management ; (b) the existing curriculum.” Introduced by Rev G. A. Bridle. 6. “Of the best means of helping Coreans during the time of famine.” Introduced by Rev. F, R. Hillary. 7. “On the need of simplicity in native Christian worship.” Introduced by Rev. J. S. Badcock. 8. “On the need of a small Manual of Private Prayers for Christians.” Introduced by Rev. G. A. Bridle.

II.

CHEMULPÓ: January 1902. DEAR FRIENDS,

I have just been sending off to the S.P.G. the annual returns of the Mission for 1901. You will like to see some of them and compare them with those of 1900, which are to be found in the Society's Annual Report. In 1901 there were sixty-four Corean communicants as against fifty-two in 1900. During the past year there have been twenty-one adults baptized and fifteen children, making a total of thirty-six, which total, curiously, coincides with the number of baptisms in 1900. Of our Corean Christians sixty-one are adults, and fifty-nine are children. Of these 120 baptized persons sixty-four are communicants--twenty-four having been confirmed during the past year. Passing from the Christians to the catechumens and enquirers, there were 117 in 1901 as against 100 in 1900. The native offerings at the Holy Eucharist in 1901 were nearly double those in 1900—the figures being $138 and $73 respectively. Scattered through five of the Treaty Ports are twenty-three Japanese Christians, of whom only five are children, the number of the communicants being seventeen. Exclusive of the very few Europeans (apart from the Mission Staff) who are members of the Church of England, there were, therefore, at the end of last year 143 members of the Church of England and nearly as many catechumens in Corea. I make no comment on these figures except to ask you to pray that as we increase in numbers we may grow in Grace, with our feet fixed more securely on the One Foundation, and our hearts and minds more anxious to be “watchful and strengthen the things that remain” than to multiply quickly.

With regard to our schools we are still in the days of very small things and of experiments which do not yet yield satis-factory results. Not only have we to feel our way carefully, since of the seventy-four boys in our village day-schools round about Kang Hoa only four are Christians, but the very desire for education (as you would understand the word) scarcely exists amongst the parents, whose only idea is to get for their children the teaching which is given in nearly all the schools in the Empire--that is to say, a knowledge of reading and writing in the vernacular with a smattering of Chinese script. It is by offering the parents these advantages free of charge that they consent--rather, I am afraid, as doing us a favour--to send their children to our day-schools. The schoolmasters, too, are of the old-fashioned type, good scholars, but innocent of any knowledge beyond what is gained from the Chinese classics. These masters are nearly all Christians; but being poor men, and withal men who are looked up to by their neighbours chiefly because they are teachers, they are not satisfactory either from an educational point of view, as We understand education, or always from a Christian point of view. Two of the schools have already had to be closed owing to the repeated misconduct of the masters, whilst one school has ceased to exist for want of pupils. In 1901 there were seven of these village schools, having a roll, as I said, of seventy-four scholars.

The Boarding School in the city of Kang Hoa is limited to twenty boys, some of whom are at length too old for school and are being drafted off into service in the Mission houses; whilst two are already assisting in the Mission Printing Press, which, under Brother Pearson, has been established for now more than a year in Kang Hoa. A request made recently by me for help mom our ever-ready friend S.P.C.K. has resulted in a grant which enables us to feed, clothe, and almost to educate five of these boys in the Boarding School--thus relieving very materially the pressure upon the Education Fund and S.P.G. I do not often give you a statistical letter, and I will make amends for all these figures by making my letter for this month commendably short. Yet I know that these figures will deeply interest many of those who are in the habit of reading Morning Calm.

We are all well and still enjoying a fine but rather severe winter. The distress in the country is great, as was predicted. You will be glad to hear that only to-day I had a letter from Mr. Badcock telling me that he had had a special offertory last Sunday in Kang Hoa for the relief of the prevailing distress. It is good to see that our Christians not only recognise their privileges in this matter but exercise them in the Church's way. Work at all the stations is going on satisfactorily. All the clergy are hard at work and the people are responding. But I hope that others besides myself will write and tell you what is being done. Meanwhile be assured that the new year has opened hopefully. May God give an abundant blessing in answer to your prayers. I am, your affectionate friend, C. J. CORFE.

III.

SHANGHAI : February 1902. DEAR FRIENDS,

The Pan-Anglican Conference of Bishops in China and Corea, which was fixed for the spring of this year, has been definitely postponed until 1903. Some of the Bishops, however, hoped that it might have been possible to combine the Conference with another event of great importance--the consecration of the first American Bishop of Hankow, a new diocese just formed by the American Church out of the large diocese of the Bishop of Shanghai and the valley of the Yang Tsze River. The new diocese comprises the two provinces of Hupeh and An Hwei, with Hankow (nearly 700 miles west of Shanghai) for the see city. The presiding American Bishop Graves had sent a cordial invitation to all the English Bishops in China and Corea to take part with him and the other two consecrating Bishops, McKim and Partridge of Japan, in the ceremony, which was fixed for the Feast of St. Matthias (February 24) in Hankow. You know how closely the Church of England and the Church of America are associated. This association is nowhere so close or so helpful to the missionary work of the Church as it is in the Far East. From the earliness of the season I knew that some of our English Bishops would be unable to accept the invitation. I determined therefore to make every effort to be present, and, finding that I could get to Hankow and back without disarranging the work in Corea, I accordingly set out at the beginning of Lent, and write this on my way back to Chemulpó at the end of February. A brief description of the consecration service, therefore, will naturally form the material for this month's letter. Arrived at Hankow, where the Bishop-elect, the Rev. J. Addison Ingle, has laboured for eleven years, I found an assemblage of thirty clergy--Chinese, Japanese, American and English--with myself as the representative of the Church of England in Corea. In the new diocese there are already over 2,000 native Christians, several churches, good schools for boys and girls, besides several hospitals and dispensaries worked by American doctors with native assistants, all ministered to by twelve native clergy, as many American, and nearly twenty native catechists. Thus the newly-consecrated Bishop entered at once upon a goodly heritage—the labour of thirty years, under the supervision (for the last ten years) of our friend Bishop Graves of Shanghai. It was a wonderful service. The large church (now Cathedral) of St. Paul--a well-appointed, cruciform building of red brick, was filled with nearly 1,000 Chinese and some 100 of the European residents of Hankow. The surpliced choir--all Chinese--and the clergy found only just room enough in the spacious Sanctuary. The four Bishops with the Bishop-elect and their chaplains met the choir and clergy at the west door, and entered the church singing (to the well-known tune in “Hymns A. and M.”) the hymn “All glory, laud and honour.” With the exception of the examination and the actual consecra-tion the whole service, which is identical with the service in the English Ordinal, was in Chinese. The sermon, an impassioned discourse delivered without notes, was preached by Bishop Part-ridge, who before he was transferred, two years ago, to Japan as Bishop of Kyoto, had laboured for seventeen years in Hankow and the neighbouring city Wuchang. The vast congregation, which throughout the whole service was most reverent, followed the preacher's words with rapt attention. The Bishop-elect did me the honour to request me to be one of the presenting Bishops, Bishop Mckim of S. Tokyo being the other. Only the clergy communicated with the newly-consecrated Bishop. And yet the service took nearly three hours. Afterwards Bishop Ingle, enthroned in his Cathedral, received addresses of greeting which had been sent to the new diocese from the Dioceses of S. Tokyo, Kyoto, and Shanghai, thus bringing worthily to an end a service which from first to last made a very deep impression, not only on the Chinese, but on the European Christians, to all of whom It came like a revelation. Indeed, the importance of such a ceremony performed in the heart of China cannot be over-rated.

I know that you will join with us in praying for the new Bishop and this young diocese, that the splendid enthusiasm and unani-mity which are already one of its marked characteristics may be continued and deepened to the glory of God and the salvation of souls. In my next letter I hope to tell you how things have fared in Corea during my brief absence. Yours affectionately, C. J. CORFE.   Church Missions in the Far East. CHINA-COREA-JAPAN.

MEETING AT THE CHURCH HOUSE, WESTMINSTER, AT 5 P.M., MONDAY; MAY 5, 1902.

The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND in the Chair.

INSTEAD of a purely Corean meeting, such as it was proposed to hold in London this spring, it has seemed desirable, in view of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and other recent developments, to unite with the Japan and North China Missions in holding a joint meeting, with the view of bringing the Church's work in the Far East as a connected whole before the public. We have been fortunate enough to secure Mrs. Bishop as one of our speakers. For further details see notices in the Church papers. All the friends of Bishop Corfe's Mission are urged to do their utmost to aid in making the meeting a success, by coming themselves and bringing their friends with them.

C. E. BROOKE, Commissary. A. G. DEEDES, V.-P. Assoc. P. &. W. M. N. TROLLOPE, Bishop's Chaplain. W. STUART HARRIS, Chaplain of the Fleet, President of the H.N.F.

Hospital Naval Fund.

THE quarterly meeting was held on Wednesday, April 9. The Rev. M. N. Trollope was present by invitation, and the members were very pleased to give him a hearty welcome, and to learn from him again that the Hospital work was much appreciated by the Coreans, and very useful to the Mission workers. It was announced that Admiral Hon. Sir E. R. Fremantle had consented to act on the Executive Committee; that the following local Secretaries had been appointed to fill vacancies : --Queenstown, Rev. R. D. Lewis ; Devonport, Rev. Frank C. Stebbing ; and the names of the following officers were added to the General Committee:--Deputy-Inspector G. Irvine, Rev. Harvey Royse, Rev. J. M. Clarkson, Rev. E. H. Good, Rev. A. W. Plant, Rev. J. W. Longrigg, Rev. W. B. K. Francis, Rev. Dr. Shone.  

Correspondence.

ON SOU TONG, KANGHOA, COREA : January, 1902. DEAR MR. EDITOR, One often notices that when a man is keenly interested in anything he buttonholes everyone he meets and proceeds to tell him all about it. It is the human craving for sympathy, and due, perhaps, also to the fact that no one really enjoys anything unless he shares it with someone else. Now, that is exactly what one feels here. If the work goes well, then one wants to tell everybody about it, and if it goes badly one wants everybody's sympathy, so I am going to ask the readers of Morning Calm to allow me to tell them something more about the work at On Sou Tong. In my last letter to Morning Calm I spoke about the begin-nings of the work, and as it was summer time and people were all busy in their fields we could do nothing else but “mark time.” As the autumn drew on we began to make preparations for the winter campaign, and on account of this I made some alterations in the house in which we live, restricting the dispensary and medical quarters to two small rooms, and the room which was used for in-patients I turned into what is called in Corean a “sarang,” or a room in which the master of the house receives his guests. This I fitted up in the Corean fashion, and I sit there a good part of the day seeing and conversing with those who come along. Sometimes I get a good many visitors and some-times only a few. The room is in the front of the house and next to the dispensary, so that I am often able to see some of the patients who come and sit down in my room, and by that means I get to know them. I find that it is useless to preach the Gospel to a man on first acquaintance : it rarely does any good, so we endeavour to get to know people, and then by degrees they be-come interested and ask to be allowed to attend services. For instance, there was a man here whom Mr. Laws cured nearly two years ago, and although he often called on the doctor, he never showed any inclination towards Christianity. Quite recently he was in my room when I was having a class with some cate- chumens and hearers, and afterwards he expressed a wish to join us, and he has been attending services every Sunday since. He is a very nice man, and one hopes that his motives are sincere ; but it is a famine year with us, and it might possibly be that hunger has had something to do with his coming, but still one hopes that it is not so. Our numbers have increased a little, and we get two well-attended services on Sundays instead of one. In the morning we have Litany, Holy Communion and sermon, the catechumens leaving after the sermon, and Mr. Laws, Mark Kim, the catechist, and myself, being the only Christians, remain for the rest of the service. In the afternoon we have a Mission service at which the catechist or a Christian from the city preaches. Sometimes I preach myself, but it is better for a Corean to preach to beginners, and both in the city and out here this service is becoming very popular, Owing to the physical nature of this part of the island it is very difficult to make any place central enough so that all the people can attend one place of worship, so I am trying what I cal a “blockhouse” plan--that is, I either get the loan of a room or hire one in different parts of the district and go and stay there perhaps for several days at a time, or if there are several followers in the village and it is not far away I start a regular weekly class, and this gets one known. As I was saying above, one does more by getting to know people than by simply preaching to them. Preaching tours as a rule do very little good. The Coreans are too stupid and dense to understand anything at first hand, but they will listen and understand better during what they call a “yeikee”—that is, a chat--than from preaching. Mark Kim, the catechist, is now negotiating for a room in a village which is entirely cut off from the other part of the island by a mountain, and I hope to spend some time there every other week to start Sunday services for the few people who have attached themselves to us. The Sisters in the city kindly volunteered to help me with the women, and they come down every four weeks, staying the night at the house of one of the catechumens, roughing it like the rest of us, being content with the floor for a bed and putting up with the Corean lack of chairs. We are trying to get hold of the wives of those who attend, for the women have such an influence in Corean life that unless we get hold of them our work will be of a very unstable character. The work amongst women is a very difficult one, for according to Corean custom it is not even polite to mention them, nor are we menfolk supposed to see them unless they are of an advanced age. so that we can practically do nothing in an aggressive way. I can always, however, get free access into their houses for the Sisters, and so they are enabled to see and teach them. They are not, as a rule, antagonistic to Christianity, but indifferent, and their indifference comes a good deal from their ignorance. Very few can read and write, and they generally use this as an excuse for not learning the Holy Doctrine. They have other excuses; for instance, one woman told the Sister that it was impossible for her to learn, since she had not any teeth, and others excuse themselves because of their families or household duties. Their husbands, too, are not always willing that they should learn to read, lest, as one said, “they should read novels, have their minds defiled, and neglect their ironing and other household duties.” However, we tell them that they can listen to what is said and learn in that way, and that Christianity is something to be practised as well as learnt, and even if they cannot read they can still become good Christians. We had hoped to do a great deal more this winter, but the severity of the weather and the famine have prevented us doing as much as we would. Owing to the failure of the crops many of the Coreans are not only with very little to eat, but with very little clothing. Many are so badly clothed that they will not stir outside the door if the day is at all cold. The women especially suffer in this way, and so only the more lucky ones can come to church. We shall, I am afraid, have to be content with but a small progress this winter, and hope for better things next year. We are helping the famine-stricken as much as possible, but of course we cannot do a great deal. Our own people have the first call on us, and so I am giving weekly relief to five or six families, and shall increase their number a little later. Luckily, I had by me a few odd sums of money--offertory money, and a gift, and the rent of the land belonging to the house here-- and these will keep us going for a few weeks, and then I shall have to beg. The magistrate of the island has collected a certain amount of money from rich Coreans, and he gives relief every ten days, but it is so small that it is hardly worth the journey into the city to get it. I am afraid that before the spring barley will be fit to cut many of the people will die. Our work goes slowly, but, I hope, surely. As far as one can see, in the East it is the man who can afford to wait who is generally successful. I suppose this is true everywhere, but it is more true here, and if we are going to make any real progress we must be content to do our work in the way an Oriental would do it, and that is, we must first know what we want, and then follow it persistently, and, lastly, be content to wait till we get it. It is this waiting which is so trying to a Westerner. We want our ideals realised at once, and are not content to let them develop gradually, and then we wonder, perhaps, why our work is of such an unstable character. In conclusion, I want to ask the readers of Morning Calm for something. It is not money, nor anything material, but a persistent intercession that God would give to those who come to us a real conviction of sin and a true repentance. I know it is a hard thing to ask, for it is much harder to pray per-sistently than to give a donation or other gifts, but such prayers are of more value to us in the advancement of our work than all the gifts or subscriptions we could possibly receive. Yours sincerely, F. R. HILLARY.

Association of Prayer and work for Corea.

WE hope that all members received through their Secretaries early in April copies of the Quarterly Intercession Paper. It will no longer be issued with Morning Calm, so that members will now receive it punctually instead of a month late. Moreover, although we number 2,500 members, there are only about 1,600 subscribers to Morning Calm ; so that unless each member became a subscriber to Morning Calm, the Intercession Papers would not be generally used. To supply this want many Secretaries have been in the habit of making private arrangements by which they have their own supply of Papers for distribution to members, and they have consequently been deluged with a double set this quarter. We shall be very glad if Secretaries will let the General Secretary know exactly how they stand for the future quarters, and how many copies they would like supplied by A.P.W.C. Of course we are very glad when Secretaries are still willing to make their own arrangements, as the expense to A.P.W.C. will be thus con-siderably lessened. The actual use of the Paper in its entirety must of course be optional, and we must leave it to the discretion of individual Secretaries or corresponding members whether it will be right to distribute it to all members indiscriminately. Any Secretary who does not correspond with the General Secretary on this matter before June I will receive on July 1 as many Intercession Papers as there are members on his or her list. There are several changes to be noticed in the list of Secretaries. Mrs. W. W. Arthur, Local Secretary for Atherington, has kindly consented to become County Secretary for Devonshire. A County Secretary is not only a relief to the General Secre-tary, but a great advantage to the Mission. The organisation of home-work has increased so much of late years that the General Secretary is unable to cope with the details of the various counties, and if fresh interest is to be created, and new centres of work started, the initiation must lie with the County Secretary, who knows the local opportunities and difficulties. New Branches have been started at Balham and Barnsley ; and we are grateful to Miss Kent for undertaking the charge of the eighty members on the General Secretary's list, as we feel this is better to be the work of one person, and not merely a branch of the General Secretary's work. Another useful piece of work is the distribution of the Intercession Paper--no light task--by Miss Merriman, who has kindly relieved the General Secretary of this work; all requests or complaints should, however, be made direct to the General Secretary.

CONSTANCE A. N. TROLLOPE, General Secretary.

St. Peter's Community Foreign Mission Association.

THE first three months of 1902 show a marked increase of Subscriptions and Donations in comparison with former years, and Bishop Corfe's request for the entire support of the two nurses in St. Peter's Hospital has met with a very generous response. Many members have doubled or added to their subscriptions, and the various Branches have sent in a “Special Appeal” increase. The kind help given for the “Trollope” and “Mathias” beds is again forthcoming, and, including the contributions from all sources, there is a sum of £200 to be paid in to S.P.G. for this quarter for the Hospital, Doctor's salary, Nurses, and Orphanage. As will be seen from the Report, there need be no anxiety for 1902, owing to Bishop Corfe's generous donation of £100, which gives time for S.P.F.M.A. to raise the corresponding additional sum for 1903. The members of the Woking Branch were asked to meet the Rev. Mark Napier Trollope on February 27 at St. Peter's Home, Woking. After Evensong at 5 o'clock there was a large meeting, when Mr. Trollope gave a most interesting account of the work at the various centres of the Mission, illus-trated by some new photographs recently mounted as lantern slides. An outcome of a meeting at Halifax has been the dispatch-ing of a letter to Stephen Cho, at Kang Hoa, which it is hoped will be the beginning of a regular correspondence. The Guild of St. Catherine, who have made themselves responsible for the support of Katarina in the Orphanage, were much pleased and interested by a visit and address from Mr. Trollope on January 27. There are again seventeen children under the care of the Sisters in the Orphanage at Seoul, varying in age from fourteen years to two months, but it is impossible to hope that they will all stand the great heat of the summer--naturally it is only the delicate and therefore cast-off children who come to the Orphanage, so it is not surprising that there should be great difficulty in rearing them. The Secretary has a new book of photographs, which will be sent on loan for any meetings of S.P.F.M.A. members on pay-ment of postage, 4d. each way. SISTER HELEN CONSTANCE, Secretary, S.P.F.M.A.

The Spirit of Missions.

SOME of our readers may be acquainted with the Society of Watchers and Workers, one of whose principal objects is to encourage the practice of intercession amongst those who are laid aside from the active business of life. The Editor of the Intercession Paper has lately felt the difficulty of selection from the enormous number of petitions suggested, and has invited opinion as to whether personal or general subjects were pre-ferred. One of the replies may be helpful to us :-- “I look upon the Intercession Paper as an education in prayer and praise, and also in sympathy, hope, and courage. To an invalid so shut in as I am there is naturally everything to limit the thoughts and ideas to the few belonging to me, and to one's self and one's surround-ings, and I consider the intercessions in our paper have quite altered my little world. I now have a King and Parliament, a large Church with special bishops, clergy in high office, priests and deacons scattered about the country, and a very wide Mission field which I should really know nothing about but for the Intercession Paper. Of course these were all there before, but I seemed so far away from them all; but now every morning there is someone to pray for specially, and these suggest others that we may bring to God in prayer.”

A beautiful passage is quoted in the same paper from “Sursum Corda” (arranged by Messrs. W. H. Frere and A. L. Illingworth) :-- “The duty of intercession is also an ever-widening element in each individual life: as a man's interests and experiences widen, so must his prayers. He seizes with new zeal upon this power, hitherto left so woefully dormant, and as he gives himself more and more to the exercise of it, still more his horizon widens and his sympathies extend, until he sets himself at last to do no less a task than to embrace all men and all things within the sphere of his prayers, defying the narrow limits of home and friendship, country and race, time and space, the distinctions of earth and paradise and heaven.”—The Watchword.

A great book on Missions has been published lately, written by E. T. Churton, D.D. (late Bishop of Nassau), a volume in the series known as the “Oxford Library of Practical Theology.” We give a valuable extract from the Appendix :-- “The cause of our most serious shortcomings is lack of sympathy. On all sides this is the complaint against England raised by her subjects of other races. ‘You are just,’ they say to us, ‘you give us good laws and a large amount of liberty, but you despise us. As long as that is So, we can never love you.’ If only missionaries can make their conduct an exception to that rule, they can do almost what they will with the inferior people who surround them.   So long as they despise the natives it is hopeless to think of raising them out of their heathenism. So long as a priest does not love, no matter how zealous he may be, his Mission will make no progress.”

The S.P.C.K. has just published a pamphlet (by G. Long ridge) containing opinions of experts on the value of Foreign Missions. We quote a few. A correspondent in the Morning Post is quoted, who bears testimony to “the extraordinary courage on the part of the native Christians," and adds -- “If there is one thing lacking in Chinese character which makes for enlightenment and happiness, it is the gift of human sympathy. And if there is one doctrine which can supply that want it is Christianity. Only mis-sionaries endeavour honestly to do something for China, and, as a matter of fact, only the missionaries ever do bring about real results.”

A Magistrate of Natal says :-- “There can be no doubt that a change of thought and feeling is coming over the native population of this district. As an instance, what they call a Christian spirit is taking a strong hold upon large numbers of them ; while Mr. H. C. Thompson says of Rhodesia, ‘The reason of the dislike of the missionaries is mainly due to the fact that they stand up for the natives, and insist that justice shall be done for them.’ ” \ In the pamphlet before mentioned the Chief Commissioner of Zululand's words are quoted : -- “All civilization and progress amongst the native people were due in a very large measure to Mission work. There was practically no crime amongst Christian natives in the province of Zululand.” \ The Bishop of Lucknow has just completed his Fourth Visitation Tour. In his charge he commented on the statistics of his diocese : -- “The total number of Indian Christians is 68,841, the number having nearly multiplied by six in the last twenty years. He thanks God for this, but advises a certain self-restraint in building inferences on these figures. The Christians are a minute fraction compared with the vast non-Christian population. There is ground for thankful-ness, but certainly not yet for anything approaching boastfulness. The great mass of the population of India is poor and uneducated, and it is quite right that the larger number of these converts should come from these classes. A large proportion of Missionary effort in the diocese is devoted to the influencing of the middle and upper classes amongst Hindus, chiefly by means of education. In dealing with the educated races of India a new factor has to be reckoned with--a spirit of patriotism, or racial esprit de corps, . which causes them to take pride in their own sacred books, and to be anxious to reform and develop their own religion instead of joining any new one. This must be met by intelligent sympathy. The root idea of the Hindu religion is Pantheism, of our own the personality of God and of our own spirit. The Bishop deplores the fact that Christians have to gather their converts into so many different communities, which, as he says, is so con-trary to the spirit of Christian unity.”—Guardian.

“Ahmednagar is the name both of a town and of a district. The town, often going by the affectionate abbre-viation of Nagar, stands on a table-land 2,000 feet above sea level, 200 miles distant from Bombay to the north. It is the heart of the district from which the life pulses, both civil and evangelistic. The district is about the size of Wales, and is filled with a teeming population living in villages, and chiefly concerned with the cultiva-tion of the soil. All castes are represented amongst these villagers. Outside the village gates live the Mahars, a very low caste, who get their food in return for certain menial village work, Hindu custom not allowing them to trade. It was amongst these poor folk that our Church first made her way, and was received with joy and gladness. Next the Mangs, a yet lower caste, came seeking teachers ; and now the Phils, a robber caste, ranking higher than the Mahars in the social scale, are pressing forward. Indivi-dual members of the highest castes have listened to the Gospel. The Mission, which is one of the largest and most growing of Western India, has from the first been worked on educational lines, large boarding-schools for boys and girls in Nagar being fed from small boarding-schools in the district.” _ Women in the Mission Field.   Father Congreve has just been taking a Mission at Ahmed-nagar, and tells us that he went to see the S.P.G. Mission. He says :-- “ Canon Taylor took me to see the schools and the quarters of the lady workers ; the latter live in two old Mohammedan tombs ; the dome-covered spaces make excellent rooms, and would, I fancy, make a cool dwelling place. All the girls in the schools are Christians, and their faces bore witness to the refining power of Christianity. The day I visited the Mission was the Eve of the Purifica-tion. The church, in which there were no seats, was thronged with a congregation of some 900 native Chris-tians seated on the ground. It was a most impressive sight. Mr. L. showed me over the boys' school and the industrial workshops; they seemed to be on a large scale. Several trades are taught, amongst them the building of tongas; there were several almost completed; one of them was being built for the Bishop. The work of the Church in the Ahmednagar district seems to be growing in every direction; there are Christians living in most of the villages round. Canon Taylor showed me a map with the villages occupied by the S.P.G. Mission, some 200 or more in number. As you know, there is a movement among the Mangs in this district towards Christianity, more than 2,000 of them having expressed themselves as desirous of being placed under instruction for baptism. The sad thing is that it is only lack of workers which at present makes it impossible for the Church to enter this open door.”--Cowley Evangelist.

In view of the pressing necessity of work among women and girls, we are indeed glad to hear that the Women's Association S.P.G. is intending to start a Central Mission-house there, and asks our prayers for “a blessing on the plan for strengthening the work at Ahmednagar.”

In the Year-book of the Guild of St. Paul (Japan) we are told that “intelligent caution has marked the attitude of the Government as to foreign politics. Keenly alive to the danger of Russian predominance in the Far East, and to Russia's need of suitable ports for her trade and fleet, the Japanese have endeavoured to maintain Corea as a buffer state between her and themselves, and to strengthen the hands of China. At the same time, they have maintained an attitude of steady and increasing friendliness towards England. ”

As regards the Church, the Bishop of South Tokyo writes “of a hopeful advance of which the following are indica-tions (1) the sense of hope and encouragement among the missionaries stationed at places far apart and out of connection with each other. (2) Far easier access to students than of late years. Where the teachers formerly tried to keep their pupils away from us, they now invite us to speak on moral subjects -- they cannot do more -- in their schools; and many of them come with large numbers of the boys to our preaching places, where they know that we shall speak without reserve of Jesus Christ. (3) Mission Schools, at all events when continued on the same footing as before, are more popular than ever. Even those which have suddenly thrown up their relation to the State seem to be less injured than one might have expected. What I have supposed all along has become more and more manifest—i.e., that Government means to give Christianity as free a hand as possible, consistently with (1) retaining power to stop anything which is thought dangerous to peace and order, and (2) with not exposing itself to charges of favouritism. We cannot be too thankful for the records of quite hopeful progress given by the Bishop and his band of devoted workers during the past year.”

“ ‘ Japanese Seamen in British Ports.’ Mrs. Bishop, F.R.G.S., relates how in the course of her travels the need for Christianity in the countries of the Far East had been borne in upon her. She bore testimony from her own experience as to the evil impression of Christian civilization which Japanese sailors had in the past too often received in their visits to the ports of this country. They had seen nothing of our religion, and but little of the better side of life, but much of vice and misery. The Church was now fulfilling her duty by providing recreation and reading rooms for these Japanese sailors, and a friend of their own nationality to visit them. The future of Japan as a nation, and also the future of the whole of the Far East, largely depended on Japan's embracing Christianity, and every effort to evangelise her was worthy of hearty support.” -- Guardian.

At the opening of the Reading Exhibition, Bishop Tucker spoke of the work in which the Uganda Church for the last few years had been engaged. It owed its success under God to the enthusiastic spirit which had taken possession of the young men in Uganda. He did not know of any brighter example of enthusiasm than that in the latest sphere of Missionary work opened up to them in the west of Uganda, in the Nkole country. They heard a lot about Busoga, Bunyoro, and Toro, but not many knew about the country of Nkole, which had been opened to them recently in a wonderful way, and, he believed, largely through the enthusiasm to which he had referred. No fewer than three attempts were made during the last four years to enter that part of the country, because no missionary worked in it. Those three attempts failed. Then came the fourth, some two years ago, almost to a day. Just before that day, it was set apart for intercession on behalf of Foreign Missions. With Dr. Cook-- whose name was familiar to many there--he determined to visit Toro, and on the way they had to pass through the country of Nkole. They had two young men who were filled with Missionary ardour and with capacity and enthusiasm in their work, and they were desirous of setting these two young men in the Nkole country, because they felt that, humanly speaking, they would be able to influence the kings and chiefs in a way no European could influence them. They arrived within a day's march of the capital of the country on St. Andrew's Day. Before leaving Uganda he (the speaker) had appointed the day for intercessory prayer in no fewer than 200 centres throughout Uganda, and amongst the subjects, one was that they might be able to enter the country of Nkole. The day after St. Andrew's Day they arrived at the capital, and were kindly received by the king. They told him their errand, and that they were desirous of telling him and his people the good news of the message of God's love, and ask permission for the young men with them to preach and to teach. Then came a time of conflict which was impossible to describe. In the whole of his Missionary experience he never felt such a sense of conflict as at that time. It seemed as if hell and Satan were in battle array against them—medicine men, old chiefs, and all kinds of religious superstition were banded together to resist them. It was a thorough conflict between the powers of light and of darkness. He had no more happy and joyous recollection in his mind than the remembrance of the way in which the two young men combated the objections raised on the part of the king and the chiefs and the medicine men, who disliked them beginning their work of preaching and teaching, They were told that there was little food in the country, but one of the young men said: “ But that does not trouble us at all. We are used to hard living.” Then more serious objections were raised, but one after another they were broken down, until ultimately the assent was won from the king to begin their work. They laboured there some months under the greatest of difficulties, and had to suffer a great deal of hunger. They endured it all, inspired by the spirit of enthusiasm and the love of God and love for their fellow men. The result was that in a little while they were able to get hold of the king and some of the chiefs, who came for religious instruction, with the further result that their belief in charms completely broke down. One day the king went to Mr. Andereya and said, “We don't believe in them any more," and offered to present them to him. He told him that they could not accept them, and that they should burn them. The king had a fire made in the enclosure, and there, in the presence of his chiefs and his people, he cast the charms into the fire. When the people saw what was happening, they came with their charms, and threw them into the fire, which was kept burning all day for the purpose. Now there were no fewer than thirteen Mission stations open in that part of the country, and the king had offered to build a church to accommodate some 400 workers.

The following extracts are taken from a letter of the Bishop of Grahamstown in the April number of the Mission Field. : -- “The year which is just over has been one of excep-tional difficulty and trial to the Church in this diocese. We suffered far more from the war in 1901 than we did in the previous year. People at home hardly realise the extent to which ordinary life has been interfered with throughout the Colony, and efficient ministrations among the natives hindered. But in spite of these grave causes for anxiety, there is much to make us very hopeful. The loyalty of the natives to the British Government cannot be questioned . . . and as soon as peace is restored we shall have a golden opportunity for strengthening our existing Mission Stations, and for aggressive work among those who are still heathen. The Diocesan Mission, to which the Society makes an annual grant, is doing definite Missionary work throughout the diocese. The spiritual needs of the native population which always gathers round our railway camps and stations are receiving the earnest attention of our railway chaplains. “At Queenstown, where Father Pullar has been living with and teaching the Ethiopian elders, an important deputation waited on the Bishop and strongly urged their claims for efficient spiritual ministrations. They expressed their willingness to do all they could for themselves, and furnished ample proof that they were really in earnest in the matter. As regards the future, one cannot but feel that when this weary war is over, and peace once more restored to this troubled land, there will open out to the Church opportunities and possibilities such as she has never had before. It ought to be in our power thoroughly to con-solidate existing Missions, and to enlarge our borders so as to gather in those natives who are still untouched by Christian influence.”-Mission Field.

In our November number we gave an account of the Pioneer Mission to Ungava. The following account is very cheering to those who are interested in Mr. Stewart's noble work. Captain Blandford, who goes annually to Ungava, told Canon Pilot : --

“In the s.s. Diana, we reached Bishop Jones' Village, in Port Burwell, on August 19, and found Mr. Stewart and Mr. Ford in good health and spirits, notwithstanding their long and weary winter. Mr. Stewart has built himself a hut, which he and Mr. Ford occupy . . . He wears Eskimo dress all the week through, but on Sunday he wears over it a white cotton surplice at service. I found that the Eskimo of George's River were going to build their camp halfway between that river and headquarters in order to be near Mr. Stewart's for service. The Eskimo love him, and are very kind to him, doing all in their power to make him comfortable. They are a gentle lot of people, and not the savages they are frequently represented to be. He can speak Eskimo very fluently, and at service on board my steamer, I invited all the tribe to be present. He preached in English to my fishing crew, and then inter-preted the sermon to the Eskimo . . . Since his coming amongst them, he has gained such an influence over them that they have given up working on Sunday, and they know, too, when Sunday comes. "Mr. Stewart is doing a noble work here. His Mission is a hard one; travelling in summer can only be done by boat, chance ones, and in winter he has high mountains to cross, covered with snow and very dangerous. We took him down supplies which he thought would not arrive this season. He was delighted to see us. He had seen no one since we left him in 1900, and he will not be likely to see anyone from the outside world till we go again . . . In case of accident, Mr. Stewart is provisioned for two years. He does not talk of leaving, and says his only desire is to convert these heathen to the faith of Christ. He is full of hope."--Greater Britain Messenger. “ Missionaries in the Extreme North.—The Bishop of Moosonee writes :-- ‘We are well off, and we know it, and feel deeply for those at the outposts. Compare our lot, for Instance, with those two amazingly self-sacrificing men, living with and almost like the Esquimaux at Black Lead Island, with only one possible chance for provisions or letters from the outer world; living in perpetual winter, in the tiniest cabin (except when they exchange it for the foul and nauseating Eskimo iglo), and to a large extent on the flesh (I can hardly call it meat) of the seal, whale or fish. All honour to Peek, Bilby and Greenshield, whom I am proud to number on the staff of Moosonee, though I am unlikely to meet them for many years.” -- C. M. Gleaner.

Children's Corner.

DEAR CHILDREN, You have already seen a picture of all the little Corean orphans in their verandah ; here is a picture of four of them dressed in their winter “nambos,” which is a sort of hood without a top, made of green Corean silk, and trimmed round with fur. Their skirts are red, with white bands and strings, and their jackets are purple. Lena, the tallest, is eight years old, and so has her skirt long and looped up : Marie is sitting down, Emma is behind her, and Nora on her left. You will remember I told you that the verandah was perhaps going to have a stove put in it, and doors made. This was done in the autumn, so that it has made a nice large winter school-room and play-room for the children, and in the summer the framework and doors and windows will be moved, and they will do their lessons and play in the open air again. The orphans have a dog called Tiny for their play-fellow, and he allows them to pull him about as much as they like. Since I wrote to you last I have heard how the little orphans spent their New Year's Day, which was kept this year on February 8. Most of the people who can afford them put on new clothes, but the Christian children are taught that Christmas and Easter are greater festivals than the New Year, so they only put on their Sunday best. The girls wear red skirts and blue jackets, and the boys have long pink coats and full white trousers. They all have bright coloured waist-bands and purses. All of them, even the baby, came to the Mission-house on New Year's morning to bow down to their elders. The boys saluted by raising their hands to their foreheads as if they were going to dive, and then bent to the ground. The girls straightened their arms by their sides, with the thumbs out, and bent till their fingers touched the floor, they then rose, folded one arm across their breast, and bent again till the other fingers touched the ground. It is done very slowly and gracefully, even by children of three or four years old. After this each of the little visitors had some sweet biscuits, dried fruit, and bon-bons, and then they went on to see the doctor, and pay their respects to him. At his house they had their little pockets well filled with good things. The doctor photographed them all in the garden, so I hope we shall be able to see a copy some day.

On New Year's Day in Corea everyone is said to be a year order, even if his birthday is on quite a different day. For instance, directly a baby is born they say it “has eaten one cake,” that means that it is one year old ; then, when New Year's Day comes, they say it has eaten two cakes, meaning that it is two years old, when the baby has perhaps only been born a few months or even a few days! The Corean years, instead of having numbers as ours do, have names; there are sixty names, and when these come to an end they are used again from the beginning. I think it must be very puzzling to find out how old people are in Corea. You will all like to know that your cot in the Hospital is being constantly used. One little patient who has been in it lately was a wait of about two years old. Her parents died, and the woman who promised to take care of her was very poor, and she first half starved her, and then threw her away in the street. Another woman found her and took her to the Orphanage, but She was soon so ill that she had to be moved to the Hospital, where she died in about a fortnight. She was baptized when she was first taken ill, and Marie, who is not five years old, was heard explaining to the other orphans that “the new child will not come back here from the Hospital, for God has called her, and she is going to Him, and to see Lucy and Angela and Hilda" (these are the children who died last summer). Next time I can tell you something about a little boy who has been using the cot. I want all of you who can to put by your pennies to help these children. A few days ago I had a very nice parcel of work sent me from Lympsham. Perhaps some of you helped to do that work; if so you will like to know how glad I was to get it, and that I am going to sell the clothes, and add the money to our Cot Fund. I am, Always your affectionate friend. MAUD T. FALWASSER. Newlands, Liss : April, 1902.

MEMBERS OF ASSOCIATION OF PRAYER AND WORK FOR COREA.

TRANSFERRED FROM CHILDREN'S BRANCH. Stoke-by-Mayland Grimsay, Ada Newman, Agnes Paker, Annie Herbert, Alice Tod, Jane Garrod, Julin Kilburn, Edith CHILDREN'S BRANCH. NEw MEMBERS, FEv.-May, 1902. Pietermaritzburg - Mngadi, Ellen Nkala, Elizabeth Henry, Ruby M. Mngadi, Nozigcaki Webster, Jessie Kuzwayo, Lizzie NEW MEMBERS. Thorganby-- Dixon, Fred Paddison, Daisy Brown, Sarah Hodson, Alice Ranyard, Walter Dixon, Arthur Paddison, Violet Stocks, Stephen Dixon, Frank

Notes from Corea.

SEVERAL letters have been received from Corea during the last few months, extracts from which may be of interest to our readers, and may help them to realise the changes that were necessitated by the return of so many of the staff last year. The work in Seoul is now under the charge of Mr. Drake and Mr. Bridle. The former is living at Mapo, and comes in from there into the city, where he is responsible for the work among the Europeans, e.g, our English Sunday services. Mr. Bridle is living at Nak Tong, where he still has Mr. Hodge's company, and he takes charge of the work among the Coreans. It was a great change for him from the life and work in Kang-hoa, and at first he missed the school work very much, but through a lad, called Yi, who has been living with us for some years, he has managed to get into touch with several of the students in the English School, and they, to the number of ten, come regularly to him for instruction in the doctrine. We sincerely hope some permanent result may come from this work ; it is important in so far as many of the boys are of fairly good social standing and represent some of the more enlightened families in the country. The lad referred to above is getting on very well with English and has been employed on more than one occasion as interpreter by the Bishop, and there has been some talk of his being engaged regularly for that purpose. He is intelligent and well mannered, and would do such work very well. He was baptized last autumn and we hope to give his portrait in the next number of Morning Calm. Mr. Bridle reports that the Christians have been fairly regular in their duties, and many outsiders have been enquiring about the doctrine ; but as he adds, “There is a great lack of food, and everything is very dear. I fear that may be the cause of some enquiries.” That may be so, and yet we know that men who come for bad reasons often stay for good ones, and we may hope that of those who come some at any rate may stay when the prospects of the country are better. Any work in Seoul must be difficult and slow in view of the large stations and churches of other religious bodies, and we can never hope for very large results; but it is very necessary for us to have a locus standi, and frequently an opening comes when least expected. Would that we could open some really good educational work there ! We had good accounts of the Christmas services, which were we attended and heartily entered into. "The weather has been intensely cold, and the price of fuel is enormous. Travel-ling between Nak Tong and Chong Dong is something dread-ful. The hill by the Temple of Heaven is like a sheet of glass. You cannot go up or down that hill without seeing somebody or other making his bow to the sun, so that one has to walk wearily and slowly ; but in spite of the weather the Christians turned up well, and all except one man made their Communion on Christmas Day in the chapel here at Nak Tong. To-day, being Holy Innocents' Day, I celebrated at Chong Dong for the special benefit of the orphans, who formed the choir and sang very well. As an introit they sang ‘While Shepherds watched,’ at the offertory the first two verses of 'Adeste Fideles,’ and the second two verses at the Communion, while after the service they sang the Nunc Dimittis. They are keeping high festival to-day at the Orphanage. There is to be a party and a Christmas-tree. I begged hard to be allowed to go, but all males over eight years old are to be rigorously excluded, so there is no chance for me. During the Christmas Octave we are singing a carol every night after Corean Even-song, "The First Nowell." and the adult Christians like to hear the children singing it, and all join in the refrain with great vigour, quite regardless of time or tune."

  Of course we have as yet had no news of Lenten or Easter services, and our only news of the rest of the work there is that the hospitals have not been so busy as usual, mainly, we fear, from lack of money to pay the necessary expenses of keeping the wards open. They were expecting an increase of work both in the hospitals and dispensaries. One branch of the work seems to be very busy however, namely, the Orphanage at Chong Dong under Sister Barbara's charge." She has eighteen now, but we do not like to count too much upon them, as several of them are little ones, and do not seem very strong. There are five or six little boys, one of them a little lad with only one arm. He was brought to the dispensary very badly burnt, and his people did not wish him to live, so finally he was taken into the hospital, and we knew his people were not likely to claim him. He is a nice, bright little fellow, and so far has got on very well, but it is very seldom that children who are burnt as badly as he was, live very long. Meanwhile Sister Barbara has her hands very full, and is very proud of her two babies of four and six months old.”

For the foreign community, Christmas was saddened by the death of the constable at the Legation, a very willing, helpful man, who died of hydrophobia brought on by a bite from a cat some months before. The hydrophobia came on very suddenly at last, and he died in two or three days. He was buried on Christmas Eve in terrible weather. At the Legation they have gladly welcomed Mr Jordan on his return, though grieved to find he had left Mrs. Jordan at home with the children. In England with so many families around us we hardly realise what a difference one family makes in a country like Corea. The city of Seoul is going ahead fast in modern conveniences. The electric trams are running most success-fully, and have been extended some seventeen miles east from the city to the site of the new tomb that is being prepared for the remains of the late Queen. The present site is supposed to be unpropitious. Then we hear the Japanese railway from Fusan to Seoul has been surveyed and commenced ; and the French line, which is to run from Seoul to the northern boundary, to Wiju on the River Zalu, is said to have also been begun. The line there will no doubt in time be joined to the Siberian line, and then Seoul will be in direct communica-tion with Paris! Our friends will easily be able to run over and pay a visit to Seoul during the Long Vacation! Then, too, the Seoul Water Works Company have got to work, or will shortly get to work, to supply the city with good water from the River Han, drawn from a point many miles east of the city. The river water is excellent (have not I who write tasted it ?), and the only question will be how they will be able to control its use (or abuse) in the city. The electric light is also in working order in the city, but we hear the offices which have just been finished have unfortunately been burnt down ; however, they will no doubt soon be rebuilt. These works are in the hands of an American firm, and the work they have done augurs well for that which is to follow, and they will soon have more modern conveniences in Seoul than in many a town in England. One sad piece of news we receive on every hand, namely, the very bad condition of the whole country owing to the famine. The rainfall failed almost completely last summer, and the con-sequence has been a failure of the rice crops on which everybody depends, rich and poor alike, in the central and southern provinces of Corea. We have helped our own people so far as it has been possible to do so, and the Government and many of the local officials seem to have made a real effort to help, but so widespread has been the distress that we fear many lives will have been lost and many families ruined. One result has been, as always in such cases in the Far East, that there has been a large increase in the number of robbers. Sometimes these men go in a large band and attack a village, killing the inhabitants and plundering every house, or organise a regular party of highwaymen; but in addition to this no house is safe from entry by stray robbers, and we hear the Sister’s house at Kanghoa has been entered. However, one may generally rely on such stray robbers being very much more frightened than those they rob, and they would Probably never do physical injuries. We hope and pray that the spring may bring with it weather which will be a promise of better things ; but the spring crops are only a small matter, it is the rice on which every one depends, and that can only grow if they get a really good summer rain. God grant it may come! As far as our own people are concerned, it is in Kanghoa chiefly that the suffering will be felt, and from there Mr. Badcock writes: "To-morrow is the Corean New Year's day, and to-day everybody is busy making preparations for the holiday, the holiday of the year. I wish you could have seen the New Year Market a few days ago. What a jumble of silks and shirtings, ribbons and grains, shoes and mats, and matches and odds and ends of all kinds ! But I am afraid the poor people will not have much entertainment this year, and will think themselves fortunate if they escape starvation. The magistrate seems to be doing his best to relieve the distress, but I fear that often the most deserving get the least help. I am doing my best to help those of our own people who are badly off, and also a few outsiders. Yesterday the magistrate distributed the annual Government grant to the old people of the island, and I hear that some two or three hundred men and women who had passed 70 came in and made their claim. All our own people are, I am glad to say, keeping well. During the winter we are largely cut off from the outer world, but we send a carrier to Seoul every ten days for our mails and stores.

"You will be glad to hear that Pearson and I have spent a very pleasant Christmas. The weather has been terribly severe, so unlike the mild weather of last year. Our church services have been very bright and helpful. We have had the old hymns again and also a few carols, such as 'Good Christian men, rejoice.' When Christ was born of Mary free,' and 'The First Nowell.' The boys seemed to pick up the tunes quite easily. On Christmas morning we provided breakfast for the Christians and catechumens who came to church, and in the evening we had a treat and a lantern show for the boys. On St. Stephen's Day we gave a treat to over fifty boys from the village schools, and on the following evening the Sisters entertained the Christian and catechumen women.”

“We have had two army officers staying with us from Wei-hai-wei for a few days. They came to shoot, but I fear will find Kanghoa very disappointing. They say all the British soldiers have left Wei-hai-wei, and there are about 1,300 Chinese soldiers left to guard the place, officered, of course, by Britishers. J. H. Brown is in charge of the S.P.G. work there, and is living in the Parsonage Griffith built, and finds the new church very convenient, for some of the Chinese soldiers, whose barracks are close behind, are Christians, so that there is a nucleus of native work. While these officers have been here we have had quite a review of the Corean troops, and the General even put on his uniform. Then a day or two afterwards there was a target practice for the benefit of our visitors. The General had the first five shots, and though nearly every one missed the target (as usual), up went the 5 signal. The next time luckily the soldier who was signalling did not notice it was the General who was firing and so gave the correct result, o!”

Another letter from Kanghoa says: “Indeed Mr. Trollope and Mr. Turner will have a hearty welcome back in Corea. We are terribly short-handed here, and it is a marvel to us to see how much Mr. Badcock manages to do all alone. The strain must be tremendous, and some days he looks very tired and ill. We were hoping to see the Bishop for a Confirmation before Christmas, but he could not come. We have had nice bright services and a great deal of singing. Sister Margaretta and Sister Isabel are helping the boys in their singing practices, and they are doing very nicely. Of course we miss Mr. Trollope's voice, some one to lead them, but still they are keeping up his good grounding. The women are coming very regularly every week, and seem to take more interest in religion and really do care. The difficulty is to get them to come during the week for private teaching. They all flock in on Sundays, but it is so difficult to teach them en masse as they cannot read. Mr. Kim, senior, still helps us to expound the lesson. The midday services on Sundays (which were started for the catechumens and enquirers) are very interesting and they all like them, and a great many baptized women come too.” They are very superstitious and very ignorant these women. We hear of reasons given for not learning the doctrine that they are too old, they cannot read; and one old lady was quite sure she could not be a Christian for she had no teeth!

As regards the other members of the Mission, we hear the Bishop has gone to Shanghai for the consecration of the new Bishop of Wuchang, which is to be made into the centre of a new diocese for the work of the American Church. They have had good work going on there for a long time and capital schools. The Bishop was to be away for some six weeks. Mr. Steinbuch is hard at work at Chemulpó among the Japanese, helping the Bishop in the English services there on one Sunday, and every other Sunday visiting Seoul and the Japanese there and assisting at English Mattins. Dr. Carden is still at Chemulpó, and Dr. and Mrs. Baldock are hard at work in Seoul in the two hospitals. Mr. Pearson is keeping Mr. Badcock company in the city of Kanghoa ; while the nurses are at their usual posts in Seoul, and the Sisters are divided between Seoul and Kanghoa, and in all cases work is growing heavier on their hands.

Mr. Laws gives a very cheerful account of himself and Mr. Hillary at On-sou-tong, in the south of the Island of Kanghoa. One loss he mentions--a box of oranges intended for a little Christmas festivity for themselves and friends was appropriated by some thieves in the city, and they only received their Christmas mails on January 18. As regards the work, he says the dispensary work has been rather slack, and he has had time to help Mr. Hillary and to do some little study, for which there is little time when many patients have to be attended to and talked to, and that is a thing many of them come for and enjoy as much as their medicine. Of the missionary work he says: “It is Hillary's department, and he will tell you about that ; just this, that the work increases—perhaps there are forty people attending here -- that Hillary has a branch at Hun-wang, beyond Mari San (the big hill at the south of the island), where he goes and stays in his own hired room for a few days at a time; that he contemplates a little prayer room in another district near Choji, where a lot of people come to service. Quite a lot of boys attend here and about nine women. The Sisters come down and stay for a night at Sang-kol-im and get in touch with the women-kind. Mark Kim (our catechist, residing a few miles away at Moun-san-tong) flourishes, and his work is slow, but I believe it to be deep and well rooted. One man, a catechumen there, Pak Chusa, whom I always took to be a well-meaning but not very wise man, refused to perform the New Year sacrifices, although beaten with sticks by his relations."

We hear that the Corean representative at the Coronation is to be Prince Zi Chai-sün, one of the Emperor's cousins, a fine, looking man, generally known among foreigners as "the Fat Prince." Note. MR. HUNER, Presbyterian Missionary of Kwang-ning, Manchuria, a town north of Shan-hai-kwan; where our priests in Newchwang have received repeated and most kindly hospitality, writes of the condition of things he finds on his return to his station (he was on furlough in England when the Boxer troubles broke out) as follows: - “Looking round us here, there is not much to make the heart rejoice, rather the reverse. In this one little district in which I am located some seventy have borne the martyr's triumphant death, but far more have preferred life. It is not mine to criticise, but many of those left here have borne terrible things rather than even ‘bow in the house of Rimmon.’ All round a disorganisation, or rather an all-round disorganisation, is plain, a general lawlessness and decadence in the manhood of the nation : even among the Christians the storm and stress of the last twelve months have left their traces. Outsiders are a law unto themselves, not in the sense St. Paul uses the word, but they just do what they wish-rob, rape, and even slaughter each other. Our city was besieged on Saturday by about 1,000 banditti ; the gates were just closed in time to prevent their entrance, and every shop has to send a man to guard the walls at night. Since I came here only two out of the five gates have been open, and no one is allowed out after dark. The Mandarin is a Brave fellow, but is a poor ruler; he does not fear death, and has risked his life several times manfully, but he cannot control others. My wife is with me. I wished. her to stay with the children, but her heart was here. We cannot do much, but we think our presence helpful." The district he speaks of is one of the most unsettled in all Northern China and Manchuria, being on the edge of a mountainous tract where the banditti are not easily exterminated.