Morning Calm v.35 no.180(1924 Aug.)

The Corean Mission.

The Mission to Corea was set on foot in 1889 by the direct action of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, in response to the urgent and repeated request of those best fitted to judge of its necessity, viz, the bishops in the neighbouring countries of China and Japan. From the outset it has been worked in Corea Itself on the most economical lines posible, by a small staff of celibate clergy, assisted by Sisters {of the Community of St. Peter, Kilburn}, a few other lady workers, and one or two doctors—none of the paid more than the barest living wage. In 1922 the American Congregation of the S.S.J.E (Cowley Fathers) accepted the invitation of Bishop Trollope to open a Branch House of the Society in the Diocese of Corea.

Ill-equipped with men and means from the start, constantly embarrassed by political disturbances in Corea, and, of course, especially hampered since 1914 by the war, the Mission has nevertheless succeeded by its patient labours is building up in Corea a compact little Christian community of some 6,000 souls, about wine-tenths of whom are of Cores birth and speech, and the remaining tenth Japanese. The English, or English-speaking, community is small, but the Mission has always regarded the care of their souls also as a first charge on its time and energies.

The “objective” of the Mission—which since its foundation has always been worked on distinctively Catholic lines—is, and always has been, not the mere conversion of individuals, but the setting up in Corea of a fully equipped and synodically governed province of the Catholic Church, self-supporting and capable of managing its own affairs, with an indigenous ministry and vernacular liturgy carefully formed on the best Catholic models. Upon the native Church thus formed will ultimately rest the task of winning their myriads of non-Christian brothers and sisters to the Faith. With this object in view no pains have been spared in impressing on the members of the infant Church the necessity for self-support. Not only are they learning to take keen interest in the affairs of the Church, through their local and diocesan conferences (with the Bishop and Presbyters in Synod as the supreme authority within the Diocese), but Christian congregations are formed, they relieve the Mission of the entire burden of local Churches expenses and the maintenance of the native ministry.

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

The Bishop is convinced that, if once an adequate measure of support is secured, we may look forward to seeing in the not distant future the infant Church in Corea capable of standing on its own feet with only a minimum of support and surpervision from the Church in England.

The League of St. Nicolas (with which is incorporated the Association of Prayer and Work for Corea) is a League of Churches, or Parishes, whose priests and people are pledged to support the Mission by their sympathy, prayer, and alms. Full particulars to be had from the General Secretary (see page iv.). The full list of Churches is printed in July and January Magazines.

Children's Letter.

MY DEAR CHILDREN, You know this picture of the Corean boy selling sweets. I have seen many little and big heathen sweet sellers carrying their trays and clicking their scissors which they use to cut up your 1/2d. and Id. lots of sugar candy. The other day I came across a Christian sweet seller and he owns the nice name of Nicolas. This is his story. Nicolas' real home is in the Province of Whang Hoi Do and he is the son of a potter. He learnt his

A Sweet Seller.

father's trade and hoped to make a fortune. In his village there was no church, only a Methodist chapel, and Nicolas learnt from, and was baptized by the Corean pastor; only he did not receive a Christian name but kept his own name. About two years ago he came to live in the village of Poong-nam-ni, about six miles from Seoul, where we have a number of Christians and a nice little church. Here Nicolas worked as a potter but received no wages, only his clothes and food. He also learnt our Holy Doctrine, was received into the Church, given the name of Nicolas and confirmed.

Nicolas is a good boy, but lately he has not been very happy in his work, and saw no hope of getting any wages. The other day I missed him at the altar, but when I was going to the ferry I saw a boy with a tray of sweets in the midst of a group of dignified old Corean gentlemen who were wearing their quaint top hats and sitting on the sand eating sticks of sugar candy. I too had to wait for the ferry, so thought I would buy a stick of barley sugar and enjoy myself whilst reading The Church Times. Going over to the boy I found he was our Nicolas, and he had lots of money on his tray and seemed very happy. He said how sorry he was that he had been prevented from attending Mass that morning but that he would come over the other side of the river in the evening, make his confession and receive Communion the next morning Nicolas told me that he had great difficulty in getting enough money together to begin his trade; that he only had thirty sen—about 6d.—and had to borrow another thirty sen to enable him to buy 100 pieces of toffee. Before night he had repaid his debt and now takes between three and four yen a day—about 4s. a day. Nicolas has his stand by the side of the river and does a roaring trade.

Isn't it nice to think that the men who work at the ferry are for the most part Christians, that the old woman at the inn is a Christian, and our sweet seller is a Christian too! May the men and women, boys and girls, who buy sweets from our Nicolas leam of that land we sing about in "Jerusalem, my happy home." There cinnamon, there sugar grows, There nard and balm abound ; What tongue can tell or heart conceive The joys that there are found! I want you to think too of another boy who is now in prison because he stole our chalice and paten, candlesticks and vases from the church just after Christmas.

About six weeks after the theft two detectives brought a boy to the church and asked me to see him. The poor boy was a little heathen and looked hungry and ill. The policemen said he was the boy who had stolen the vases, but when I asked them about the chalice and candlesticks they said that they had not heard they had been stolen, and the boy denied to the police that he had stolen the things. I talked as kindly as I could to the boy and told him how we valued the chalice and paten, how we used it every day when we offered our sacrifice to God, and how that it was given in memory of a man who died some few years ago. I said that we had been waiting and praying that it might be returned. Then the boy turned to the policemen and told them to go and dig by a ditch somewhere in Seoul and that they would find the things there. I thanked the boy and told him that I had forgiven him and hoped that the police would be kind to him.

A few days afterwards I took a Japanese policeman, who is one of our Christians, to the police station to help me recover the stolen things. There on the table were our chalice and paten and candlesticks covered in mud, and our little Christian policeman was so pleased to see them, but wept when he thought of the boy. I asked to be allowed to take the boy home with me, but the officials would not let me do so; they said that the boy had stolen from various places and that he must be punished.

Every Friday during Lent, when we did the stations of the Cross and thought of our Lord before Pilate, we prayed for the boy, and I hope when he is released from prison I shall be able to bring him here to work in our house and garden. You see when he knew a better way he followed it. That is why we are here in Corea, and you must help us to stay here. Yours affectionately, CHARLES HUNT.

To all children, parents, secretaries. We have been able to arrange for the production of a coloured card of St. Nicolas holding three children in his arms, which though meant principally for the *Children of St. Nicolas" will probably appeal also to older "Associates of St. Nicolas." We have had additional colouring added to some, as it was pointed out that with a brown, a yellow, and a pink cheeked child, the all embracing love of the Saint would be more evident. These cards are priced 3d. for grown-ups, but may be had at the rate of 2s. a dozen for distribution, or resale to children. We have also some, cut out and mounted on a little wooden foot, price (single copies) 4d. for elders and 3d. for children. At this price we have to ask for postage, and though they weigh light, it is quite obvious that they must go in a closed-up envelope, and so postage cannot be less than 1 1/2d.

The Secretary for Schools and Hostels reports the following contributions since last quarter :—Catechism Box, Hayes, 10s, 4d.; Missionary Sewing Party, Barnsley, 7s 6d. ; St. Anne's School, Duddesdon, 11s. how a mission hospital Starts.

DR. NANCY BORROW writes :— "On Easter Tuesday morning at 8.30 the Bishop and I, two Coreans, and a puppy, and as much luggage as we could squeeze in, in the shape of pots and pans, charcoal stove, brush and pan, bedding, &c., got into a car and started off for Yo-Ju. It was a lovely spring morning, fruit blossom showing everywhere, and the hills dotted all over with pink azalea. The air was keen, stimulating, and refreshing after Seoul air, which is thick nowadays with the smoke belched out from the big banks and other places of business.

"We got to Yo-Ju at 1 o'clock and found the late owner just moving his last possessions, so we entered at once into our new Mission centre. It was Mission centre only in hope at that moment, as there was a spirit house in the large room where we were having picnic meals, and obvious signs of spirit worship in the garden. The owner said he must wait for a propitious day before removing these things, but with a little pressure from us, he found that the next day was very favourable, and came at 10 o'clock at night with eight or nine other men and carried off everything. The next morning, very early, we had our first Mass (on Thursday in Easter week) in the same room where the spirit house had been, my two travelling cases serving as altar. The Bishop had gone back to Seoul, so there were only the two Coreans, the Corean priest, and myself. I felt our work was indeed begun when the Holy Sacrifice was offered for the first time in this heathen village. After this I had a busy time going round the hospital and house with the Corean priest (Kim Barnabas), discussing the various alterations and repairs that must needs be done to make the place usable as a hospital. Barnabas then went back to Su-Won to make an agreement with the carpenter who was coming out to do the work for us.

"I had bought a good supply of seeds for the garden, as we are dependent entirely, except for potatoes, on what we raise ourselves, and was rather looking forward to a week of gardening, but some Christians from an out-lying village came along and insisted on doing it all for us. So I had nothing to do—for it wonder—for four days, except take a complete rest. We had hardly any luggage with us and no implements, so could not do very much. There were no chairs, so I lay on the floor in the little room which is now transformed into an oratory for the house, and read there and slept and tried to pray for our work and for the people of Yo-Ju. We kept very early hours, as the water-carrier banged on the gate every morning before 5 o'clock and after that everyone was soon astir. We had morning prayers before 6, my breakfast appeared about 6.30, dinner at 11.30, and supper at 6 p.m.; bed at dark, about 8, as we only had candles. "On Monday in Low Week my chief hospital assistant suddenly appeared, which meant that the luggage had come. We hurried down to the little jetty about two minutes from the house, and there was a big flat-bottomed boat full of our things and a curious crowd of Coreans already gathering to see all that was to be seen. This was the end of our holiday. Since then we have been, and still are, very busy unpacking and furnishing and setting up housekeeping, Corean and English.

"I am now up in Seoul for ten days while the papering and plastering is going on, and while the women folk of our staff are making their supply of pickles for the summer. Pickles absorb the Corean woman's mind entirely while they are in process of being made, so I knew it would be a kindness to remove myself temporarily."

Special Gifts.

We are glad to say that we have received gifts of £100, £50, £10, and £2 10s. towards the appeal of last quarter. We should like to be able to find the £2,000 which represents the cost of the new start at Ping-Yang by St. Martin's Day (November 11th) when the Mission House of St. Martin will be observing its first anniversary. We commend also to our readers the suggestion in the Organizing Secretary's Letter that someone might like to identify themselves with the new venture at Yo-Ju as a memorial. A gift of a Mission hospital—in this case the cost has been £500—has before now been an act of thanksgiving.

The Bishop's Letter.

MY DEAR FRIENDS, First let me "welcome the coming, speed the parting, guest," in recording the return to Corea just before Easter of Fr. Cecil Cooper, followed, shortly after the Festival, by the departure to England of Fr. Cecil Hodges, for his well-earned rest.

Fr. Cooper reached us at the beginning of Holy Week, and, after spending Good Friday with us, went straight off to our new Mission centre in Ping-Yang, of which I had so much to tell you in my last letter, in order to provide Miss Grosjean, and our tiny knot of faithful there with the Easter Sacraments, and also to make his acquaintance with the promising field in that neighbourhood. To this he is for the future, I hope, going to devote those great missionary energies so profitably devoted during the past decade to his old district of Chunan, now in the charge of Fr. Mark Kim. He has been to visit us in Seoul once since—at the time of the Diocesan Conference and Synod—and has now returned to Ping-Yang with a Corean assistant of some experience, who will help him much with his work in Ping-Yang City, while Kim Paul (of whom Fr. Hunt wrote at length in the Children's Letter of the last Morning Calm), will ably second his efforts in the country district round Mal-kol-ri, some fifty miles from the city itself..

Long ere this is in your hands, I hope that Fr. Hodges will be with you—in time possibly to carry our greetings to his (and our) old friend, Fr. Carpenter Garnier, on the occasion of his consecration to the Bishopric of Columbo.

During the years which have elapsed since Fr. Hodges' return from war service, he has worked hard at his special task of testing and training Corean candidates for Holy Orders and for the work of lay readers, catechists, and the like. It was he who provided us at Easter, 1923, with our six sub-deacons, of whom two have since been raised to the diaconate. He then devoted himself to another small class of six students, of whom three had been studying under

St. Michael's College, formerly St. Luke's Hospital

him for a year with the sub-deacons, and three had been acting for some years past as probationer catechists. And, ere he left, he handed over these six to us for employment in the Church. As I am anxious to give those thus trained a special position and to prevent their being merely absorbed into the ranks of catechists—a term which is rather vague and not wholly satisfactory in its connotation—I hope to ordain them to the minor order of acolyte, as this will put them in the definite position of aspirants to the subdiaconate, from whose ranks in turn I hope that in future our deacons will always be chosen. It is an interesting fact worth putting on record that Fr. Arnold, with his ready command of the Japanese language (though knowing but little Corean), has been able to give effective help to Fr. Hodges in the training of those two last classes—owing to the fact that the rising generation of Coreans are nearly as proficient in Japanese as they are in their native tongue. And as in ancient days, the fellows of All Souls' College, Oxford, were required to be bene nati, bene vestiti, et mediocriter docti in plano canto, so, too, our recent students in St. Michael's Training College have bad the advantage of some training in singing and voice production at the hands of Sister Helen Constance, C.S.P. And those who realize the prominent part played by the hymn-book in all modern missionary effort, will understand the importance of that !

l am glad to say that Fr. Hodges, after nearly three years’ experience, thinks well of the old hospital buildings at Chemulpo as a suitable habitat for the Training College, and he has gone home with his head full of schemes for perfecting our present inchoate system of training, which I hope that on his return, refreshed by his furlough, next year, he will put into practice. Meanwhile, although St. Michael's Training School proper will be closed during his absence, I have asked Fr. Drake, S.S.M., to take up his residence at Chemulpo and to add to his "archidiaconal" cares as Vicar-General, and to his responsibility as priest-in-charge of the Church of St. Michael there, the task of training for the sub-diaconate during the next twelve months a few picked men from the ranks of our older catechists, whose ability and past services seem to point them out as possible candidates for Holy Orders in the future.

We are also now in process of making the other great move to which I briefly referred in my last letter, namely, the opening of work in Yo-Ju, by establishing Dr. Borrow there. We have already, thanks to the kindly loan of £500 referred to in my last letter, succeeded in getting hold of a suitable old Corean house, standing in spacious grounds in the heart of the town—the buildings of which Dr. Borrow is at this moment adapting to the purposes of a simple hospital and dispensary, with quarters for berself and her modest staff, as well as a small chapel and room for Corean catechist attached. Not least in importance (and troublesomeness) is the digging of a well for the hospital—the former inmates of the house, like most of the inhabitants of the famous old town, having been in the main content to draw their water straight from the glorious old river Han, which flows past the town from its mountain sources, some 200 miles distant, down past Seoul (about 100 miles distant) to the sea near Kanghwa and Chemulpo. However, we are hoping that the repairs and alterations—well and all—will be finished by the end of this month, so that I shall be able to bless the premises and start Dr. Borrow on active work in the first week in June. You must not forget to give her the very Special support of your prayers, as she will be rather isolated in her pioneer post and dependent for the means of grace for the present upon such visits as priests can pay her from Seoul or Su-Won, both from eighty to one hundred miles distant.

The Corean Diocesan Conference, with English and Corean Clergy and thirty-five lay representatives in front of the Bishop's “Palace”

You see, therefore, that the Church in Chosen is once again, after a period of quiet "strengthening her stakes," also “lengthening her cords." Nor do Ya-Ju and Ping-Yang exhaust the list of new openings. Fr. Hewlett has moved out from Chin-Chun (now rejoicing in its new church and under the charge of Fr. Peter Kang), to Eum-Song, some twenty odd miles further east, where he is building up a strong work, with Dr. O. Key Taik, in his hospital at Chung-Ju as a substantial output. And Fr. Lee is now moving twenty miles to the south of Chin-Chun to make a long-demanded opening in the old provincial city of Ch'ong Ju, where we have already some forty or fifty Christians resident. Nor must 1 omit to mention the important move made by Fr. Barnabas Kou (now priest in charge of SS. Peter and Paul, Kanghwa) in opening work in the picturesque and historically famous island of Kyo Tong, which (with its population of eight to ten thousand souls) lies across a narrow strait to the west of the great island of Kanghwa. His flock in Kyo Tong are now, with a little help from us, building themselves what promises to be a very comely little church, which I hope to dedicate early in July, and of which I shall probably be able to tell you something in my next letter. Since Easter the most important events have been the Diocesan Conferences and Synod, which occupied the first week in May. Beginning with the Corean Diocesan Conference (of which photos have been sent home) on May 1st and 2nd, following on with the Japanese Conference on May 3rd, we then passed, after an intervening Sunday, to the Diocesan Synod (Bishop and Presbyters only) which lasted from May 5th to May 8th. In both the Corean and Japanese Conferences there were some very useful discussions and some valuable spade work was done. But the hardest work is done in Synod, which is the legislating body, and in which (as English, Corean, and Japanese priests are all present) business has to be conducted in three different languages at once! I hope ere long to send home a copy of the Acta of this year's Synod, which included valuable steps taken to expedite the preparation and publication of Church literature, to regularize the catechumenate and standardize the course of preparation for holy baptism, and, last but not least, the enactment of a canon or “constitution" on holy matrimony, which will help to smooth out some of the tangles in a matter which is always intricate enough, but whose puzzles are multiplied a hundred-fold in a non-Christian country, where one is forever up against the difficulties created by what the canon lawyers call imparitas cultus.

At both Conference and Synod proposals for dividing the diocese were briefly discussed and all but unanimously approved ; subject, of course, to the willingness of the home authorities to act. Another most important subject broached was the possibility of founding a religious order for Corean women, under the aegis of C.S.P.—a subject which Sister Helen Constance is now, we hope, discussing with the Reverend Mother. It is, however, too early to speak in detail of that here.

Meanwhile, the Fusan Christians are at last taking in hand, with Mr. Brooks' help, the long desired building of their permanent church. And all the time there is the under-current of satifaction at the gradual growth of the Pro-Cathedral, not unmixed with anxiety, as one realizes that in such cases it is le DERNIER pas qui coûter and wonders where on earth the money is to come from for the furniture and fittings, without which the mere shell, beautiful as it is, can hardly become a “place of worship.” You will, I am sure, agree that I have given you in this letter plenty of food for thought, as well as subjects for prayer and thanksgiving, and generous giving of alms.

Yours affectionately in our Lord, + MARK, Bishop in Corea,

Our mission hospitals.

WE are fortunate in being able to give our readers news of all medical centres this quarter. Dr. Laws' report, kindly shared with us by S.P.G., tells us of a busy year and of steady growth. As he points out at the end, we have now a chain of Mission hospitals across an untouched belt of country. The next link in the chain is the hospital at Chung-ju, thirty miles off, under our Corean Doctor O. Key Taik. He has not sent us a report, but the Bishop writes :—"He has so opened the way for Mission work that we are establishing a catechist there at his request. He says of himself that he has no special gift for evangelizing, but can only tell his patients and friends of his own faith and hope, and also that the hospital and all that it contains (including his own professional knowledge and skill) is the free gift of the Church of Christ. I think he is doing well and that the Church will profit by it greatly. His wife has just presented him with girl twin—she has already a boy and a girl."

Our third hospital, under Dr. Nancy Borrow at Yo-Ju, has probably been dedicated by this time. In the Children's Letter will be found an account of the beginnings of this last venture. Old friends of the Mission will be glad to see what a large part medical work is likely once more to play in the life of the Mission, and we hope it will mean a rally of old supporters who used to contribute generously to the medical work which was so dear to Bishop Corfe's heart, and which only force of circumstances has driven into the background in these later years. But such work as is to be carried on by Dr. Borrow should receive a welcome from new supporters also, and we commend to our readers the suggestion that for this work they can enlist the affection of those who at present know little of ordinary Mission work, but perhaps in war service made their first acquaintance with medical work.

Ds. LAW writes in his annual report to S.P.G. :— “The hospital has been kept open for eleven months out of the twelve under European supervision. Under the new laws it is not allowable to delegate work to unqualified assistants even if such an expedient was necessary. This means that the doctor has to be in residence all the time. This isolates him very much, and also prevents him attending any professional conferences which are arranged by the Nonconformist doctors in the capital half-yearly. Every hospital should be staffed by two qualified medical men, and an end made to these one-man hospitals. But only such millionaires as Rockefeller can do it. The outstanding feature of 1923 was the thorough overhauling of the fabric of the hospital, together with the provision of additional accommodation for in-patients, now twenty-two, i.e., eleven kan with two cases to the kan.* The number of cases admitted is less than in previous years, due to the fact that the floors were all torn up and relaid. The operating room was taken down and re-erected on a 6-ft. deep concrete foundation. All Chin-Chun is water-logged. This causes the building to rise and fall with the intense frost and subsequent thaw. The whole was done out in white enamel paint. The flo is only cement, but it is hoped to lay down white tiles, which are obtainable in the capital. The addition to the main building was joined on so well that it was difficult to detect the old from the new. "At the same time the doctor's modest bungalow, which for years has been out of the perpendicular, was rased to the ground and a new bungalow erected of the same size. This is now habitable and draught and fly proof. "All these alterations were met by a grant from the General Fund. The Bishop went over the renovated hospital and expressed himself satisfied, and wondered how so much had been effected on 50 reasonable a sum. "At no time in its existence has the hospital been so well found, so that with the additional staff it is well able to cope with most classes of work, which an 'old-time' hospital ought and could undertake. "From time to time a patient may be induced to occupy one of the four iron bedsteads in the hospital. Such treatment leads to the enquiry as to why the patient is being 'punished' by being made to sleep on that thing instead of a nice warm floor. The patient is safely in bed on the night round, only to be found snugly on the floor with the bedding on top of him in the morning.

* Any Corean building is ~ in kan, a kan being a cube of keen sis on eight isn’t and you make your church or hospital or house one, two, five, of any another of ken.  

These country people have to be dealt with gently and allowances made for their prejudice. However, this idea will pass, just as others have passed. The sleeping on hot floors is not ideal, any more than the term 'old-time hospital. We are not without ideals, but we are without the funds to carry out such ideals. "This much for the fabric of the hospital. The staff bus been augmented, and besides the unqualified assistant (who is smarter than I at giving intravenous 606), there is one nurse legally unqualified, one probationer, and three ward boys (six in all). This is as much as the money allowed by the Bishop (2,000 yen, say £222 sterling) will run to, and is practically all used in wages. The cost of drugs, dressings, and upkeep has to come out of dispensary receipts, since the in-patients pay practically nothing and have to be fed and clothed. "The tubercular joint is still with us. Major surgery was not prominent in 1923. Cases range from attempted suicide (caustic poison), rat poison, to chewing a small stick of dynamite found on the hills inside a bait for wolves. Wolves have been very prevalent in this country. No less than seven children have been carried off and eaten in the last twelve months. Generally only the head remains. The other day a skeleton was found on the hills. Three cases were treated here and did all right, People are afraid to come to church in one village at night. The Government give 30 yen to all who kill a wolf. The infant mortality is high, due to measles and its sequelae pneumonia. Most of the deaths of in-patients arose from hepatic cirrhosis; they were old, homeless, ex-drunkards. Several children were made happy and presentable before marriage by plastic operations for hare-lip. Coreans still carry a small mirror in their purses and use it. One never sees the old-time flint and steel which used to go with the mirror in the same purse. "The hospital adjoins the Church, so it is easy to get patients from one to the other. "With the opening of medical work by Dr. O. Key Taik at Chung-Ju (thirty miles off) and Dr. Anne Borrow at Yo-Ju (another thirty miles off), all our medical work will be in the province of North Chung Chang. A chain of hospitals all right ‘off the track’ and working in virgin soil. Organizing Secretary's Letter.

THE festival on May 7th last went off very well, and I was encouraged by the number of people who came to the masses and the evening meeting. Mass was said at St. Paul's Cathedral at 8.30 by Fr. Montgomery-Campbell, and I was assisted at the High Mass at St. Matthew's, Westminster, by Frs. de Vere and Meade, of St. Mary's, Paddington, and St. Mary's, Graham Street, respectively. I am also much obliged to Mr. Ridgard, of the latter church, who has turned out regularly to act as M.C. on these occasions. Fr. Jenks preached and was listened to very appreciatively by the large congregation. It was cheering to receive, the first thing in the morning, an anonymous cheque for £100, the collections for the remainder of the day reaching about £30. The £100 has been earmarked for the new work at Ping-Yang, to which I am proposing to add another anonymous £50 received at the time of writing this letter. Our best thanks to the generous donors of these sums. The evening meeting was held at Sion College, when the Bishop of London took the chair. This His Lordship had promised our Bishop to do each year. The Chairman read a letter from the Bishop in Corea very similar to our own Bishop's Letter (see page 37), so I need not refer to it here, beyond asking your prayers for guidance in regard to more Bishops in Corea when the time is ripe, or rather when it may be possible to consecrate them, for the harvest is over-ripe and is calling for the husbandmen. Miss Elrington gave an interesting talk about the Japanese work in Corea, and we were glad to see her safe back home again. Prince Ocherrin, of Corea, also spoke about the effect of the Faith on the Corean character, and was listened to with much interest. I read my usual report of conditions during the past twelve months. The following night Christ Church, Isle of Dogs, presented the new Corean play, "The Pak Family and the Way," at St. John's Institute, Tufton Street—its first appearance in London. I think everybody was much impressed and interested. The actors, most of whom were quite small, threw themselves into the spirit of the thing, especially one little fellow from one of the training ships. This play has since been acted with much success at the Missionary Exhibition at the People's Palace, and I can warmly recommend it to anybody who wants to put on something new and strange in the way of missionary propaganda. Let us know at the office if you want help in producing, as we can supply both costumes and expert advice from Corea direct.

I have been pretty active since last writing this letter for Morning Calm, having preached at —amongst other places—Southampton; St. John's, Red Lion Square; St. George's, Muswell Hill; St. Martin's, Edmonton; St. Gabriel's, Poplar; as well as speaking at the People's Palace in the Mile End Road. My engagements for the immediate future include sermons or talks at the College, Bromley: Fr. Grosjean's church at Southfields; St. John's, Vassall Road; Berkhamsted; St. Barnahas', Tunbridge Wells; and Chester Cathedral. I am beginning to book up the autumn months, so it will be well for anybody wanting me later on to let me know as soon as possible. I want to be away on holiday if I can for the last two weeks in August and the first two of September, as this is usually our slackest time. We have lately received several gifts of jewellery which have been sold for the benefit of the Mission, realizing a sum of about £70. The proceeds will be devoted to the furnishing of the Pro-Cathedral, probably the furniture of the High Altar, to which we further expect to devote a sum of £24 7s., sent to us by St. John's, Red Lion Square, as a memorial to the late Fr. Cowan.

The Pro Cathedral, Seoul, from east to west. showing nave incomplete and transepts unbuilt.

I have written to the Bishop asking him what he would like us to get, and have meanwhile banked the money, but when we have purchased whatever may be directed I hope the object—crucifix, lamp, or whatever it may be—will be placed for inspection in St. John's church. I imagine we shall need a good deal more money than the above for the furnishing of the High Altar, and, of course, for other parts of the great church as well, and this is a good use to which old jewellery which is out of fashion may be put. People have often pieces lying about in store chests. Several years ago, the little chapel of St. Francis at Taik-yu was erected as a memorial to a husband. There is tbe £500 which we so desperately require for Dr. Nancy Borrow's hospital, and I suppose there would be no reason why such a little building should not be some such similar memorial with a special dedication. But whatever we do, we must remember that such gifts should be in addition to the routine gifts,* if I may style them so, on which we depend and on which we to a great extent reckon and estimate our income. Somebody wrote in an old Morning Calm that he was prepared to give an extra £10 and not rob Peter to pay Paul.

The National Missionary Council has sent out papers containing proposals to start “schools" for training people in a definite understanding of what Missions mean and their duties in respect to them. No doubt you have seen something of these proposals, and I hope our good friends will watch closely the plans for the missionary “schools” and attend any that may be held in their neighbourhood. If this effort is appreciated as it ought to be, and the “schools” are properly supported and acted upon, we ought, in the course of a few years' time, to see all the money we streaming in, without an Organizing Secretary having to go round England and Wales with a collecting box. But until that happy time arrives, I am here to come and talk to you, and to hope that these “schools” will fill the halls with new audiences, in whose hearts by this means our Lord's last command will be brought home, to help to carry the good news to all the nations of the world. These schools are not to be about any particular Mission, but about Missions in general, and to train leaders to interest their own organizations. It makes no difference whether such are diocesan, ruridecanal, C.M.S., S.P.G., or U.M.C.A.; it is all an instruction in method which any “scholar" can apply to the Mission in which he is particularly interested. I sincerely hope this scheme can be carried through successfully, as it seems to me to be one of the most useful things which could be proposed.

This letter is turning out to be longer than I anticipated, and I shall have the Editor on my track if I go on to write about our Japanese work, as I proposed to do this time. So that must wait until the next. Remember the work in your prayers, not forgetting the work at home. God bless you all. GRAHAM MARTYR.

• One more ~ the benefit of odd and now ~, we repeat that S.P.G glace the Mission about £4,000 a year, watch pays for the English ~, doctrine, and lady worker ; the Certain pay for their own priests ; is addition we have no ~ about another £4,000 for support of the Sisters, for all the training and educational work, for ~ and ~ experience of the Mission, ~ additions to our ~ expenses.

Extracts from Fr. Hunt's Annual Report for 1925 to S.P.G. (Please remember that in addition to the work described here Fr. Hont acts as Diocesan Treasurer and keeps the whole accounts of the Mission). THE Catechism in Seoul has grown splendidly. We have now three classes which meet in the church and a class of heathen children which meets in the little schoolroom. I have lost one of my best teachers, who has gone to work under the Bishop of Honolulu among the Corean people. He is our first missionary to another country, and every mail we get letters of enthusiasm from him about the Church in Honolulu. Cho Noah was baptized as a child by Fr. Hillary at On-Sou-Tong, Kanghwa. Educated in Our school at On-Sou-Tong, he afterwards lived in our Hostel at Chemulpo while attending the commercial school. After leaving school he became a bank clerk in Seoul. His wife came to Seoul with his little boy Job. Noah became churchwarden in Seoul, never missed his Sunday Communion, and became a keen teacher in the Sunday school. His place is taken by another young Corean whose daily occupation is in the Government office.

Yi Phoebe is the teacher of the heathen children. She also has a little kindergarten school here during the week. About twenty children attend the school, and each year as the children are passed on to the Government school we get a fresh batch of children. I have twenty-nine students lodged in the Hostel. They are Christian boys from our country districts who have passed the high school examinations and are attending the Government high school in Seoul. They pay a considerable amount towards their keep, although some are entirely supported by our scholarships—chiefly by the Lancing College scholarships. Last year the boys paid towards expenses about £175, whereas a few years ago it was difficult to get £20 a year from them.

Kwang Naru and Poong-nam-ni are on the banks of the River Han, about ten miles from Seoul. In each station we have a school of about forty children and two energetic teachers, Daniel at Kwang Naru and Son Matthew at Poong-nam-ni. The people at the latter place are potters, and at Kwang Naru they are boatmen who trade up the river. There have been baptisms in each place during the year and candidates for confirmation who have come up to Seoul to be confirmed by the Bishop. On my last visit a few days ago I was able to walk across the frozen river. It is a wide deep river, but motors and carts were going over the ice. The river was late in freezing this year.

Keum Chun is a new station about sixty miles from Seoul on the main line north. Here again the work is slow but progressive. There were six adult baptisms this year and there are twenty-two catechumens on the books. I was there this morning and last night. The morning Communicants numbered twenty-two out of a possible twenty-three. Everyone to-day looked very smart and picturesque in their new clothes, it being the New Year of Old Calendar.

The people of the village are not farmers but merchants, and the tone of the village is bad. Most of the men have concubines and it is difficult to make headway.

The most encouraging work has been that which was begun in the village of Mal Tong Ri, about three years ago, by one of our Hostel boys named Kim Bernard. In October we sent a young Corean, who was one of the brighter students at St. Michael's College, and who had been at the University in Tokyo. He has done splendidly, and apart from teaching a school of thirty-five boys be has large Catechism classes. I visited the village, which was about 150 miles from Seoul and fifty from Ping-Yang. I baptized four men, and one woman who was examined answered better than any candidates I have yet baptized. I admitted twenty-four to the catechumenate, bringing up the number of catechumens to seventy-six. I shall be paying another visit there during this month. In the meanwhile, the courageous little Corean worker is holding the fort alone. Please ask the prayers of your readers for the work in this district and for the young teacher whose name is Kim Paul. He was once a server at Chin-Chun. He was top boy in the Government school in his own village and afterwards came up to our Hostel in Seoul. From there he went to St. Michael's College, as I have said, and then on to St. Paul's College in Tokyo.

New Publications.

PHOTOS have been received from Corea of the Central Church, Seoul, on the same scale as the picture in the April Morning Calm, with instructions that they must not be sold for less than 1s. apiece. There is also a consignment of postcards on a smaller scale, priced 4d. The photos specially look well in passe-partout frames. We are sure many will like to have one or other of these to look at and specially to show to friends who are more interested in the Anglo-Catholic movement at home than abroad, as a practical reminder of the fact that in 1920 the First Congress thought well to give ₤4,000 to the Corean Mission, without which, as the Bishop says in a recent letter, "we should never have dared to start building.” A letter of thanks from the Bishop to the 1923 Congress was amongst those which were unread, presumably owing to the lack of time to read all messages sent.

Please read also in the Children's leaflet about the new St. Nicolas cards. All these novelties will be attractive for bookstalls or sales of work, and apart from individual orders now, we shall look for a large sale in our autumn and winter campaign.

Associates of St. Nicolas. WE are anxious to draw the attention of all our readers, and especially of those who have thrown in their lot with the Corean Mission in recent years, to the following statement which was put out by Bishop Trollope just before he left England at the beginning of 1921. Fr. Cooper told us last year that in going about speaking for the Mission he came across the secretaries and new supporters who knew nothing of the need for Associates.

The League of St. Nicolas is composed of churches or parishes (arranged is diceses and, where necessary, in ~ ), the priests and people of which are willing to let Corea have a share in (and by no means necessarily an exclusive claim to) their rympathy, their prayers, and their aims.

ASSOCIATES OF ST. NICOLAS Within the League—at least in some, but almost certainly not in all the associated purishes— there will be groups of supporters of the Mission, called Associates of St. Nicolas, bound— (a) To pray daily (in any words that seem suitable) for the Foreign Mission work of the Church and especially for the Mission in Corea . (b) To do some practical work for the Mission as an earned of the sincerity of the prayers offered. The Associates of St. Nicolas, bound together by the rule of daily prayer for Foreign Missions, and specially devoted to the interests of Corea and to the task of keeping the claims of the Mission to Corea before the attention of the purish in which they live or the church where they worship, will regard it as a first duty to join any general missionary guild or association established in their church or parish and to endeavour to secure for Corea a share in its sympathy, its prayers, and its alms. The role of prayer (daily) for Foreign Missions is binding on all Associates, but it goes without saying that adherence to this rule need in no way militate against their joining a parochial guild or association with a less exacting rule, as the greater would naturally include association the less. Moreover, the Manual of the League provides help towards making the rule of prayer more effective without in the least interfering with that freedom from any obligation to recite a particular collect or formula, which not a few of our friends claim as one of the most valuable features of the rule. The following are suggested as some of the ways in which the rule of work may be made of practical value for the Associates of St. Nicolas :— (a) Taking in the magazine and reading it ; circulating it among others and discussing it with them. (b) Organizing bands of intercessors who will constantly plead Corea's need at the altar, and where the Blessed Sacraments reserved, before the tabernacle; and, it priests, offering the Holy Eucharist for the Mission not less than once a month. (c) Contributing to the funds of the Mission, either by subscribing an annual sum, or by holding a missionary box for one's own or other people's contribution (d) Organizing study circles, working parties, or social gatherings for the benefit of the Mission. (c) Speaking for the Mission when opportunity offers. It would be a great strength to the Mission if in more parishes there were such groups, though we hope readers of the statement will realize that the Bishop was anxious not to lay fresh burdens, of necessity, on parishes including Corea in their interests. Perhaps by our next issue in October we may hear of such additions to our bund of supporters. We should also be glad if any old Associates who have been living unattached to any parish would report themselves to the General Secretary, and so once more re-enter the circle of the Mission Home Notes. THE "Pink list" issued with this number shows some welcome additions, and great efforts have been made to get it correct. Altogether we feel there are encouraging signs of life, which is what would be expected as the result of the Organizing Secretary's zealous campaign of these last two years. If last year was a year of congresses this year seems to be a year of exhibitions. Miss Bourne has written most delighted with the enthusiasm she has met at the Corean Courts at exhibitions at Shrewsbury and the People's Palace. As we write, other exhibitions are being held, and we hope soon to have bookings for the autumn. Stewards seem to have become keen over Corea as the result of their Study Circles, and we should like to say here that we hope S.P.G., which bears the brunt of the arrangements for the exhibitions, is getting at share in the keenness. After all, even if they do not give us all we ask for in the way of money, they at least supply the funds for the maintenance of the eleven English and American priests and the doctors, to the tune of about ₤4,000 a year, so keep up the support to the General Fund please from which this money is drawn ! Before we allow our friends and supporters to think of summer holidays we should like to make a few practical suggestions :— 1. We have a large supply of unused Local Secretary's registers. We should be glad to send one to anyone who will send their address and a penny stamp. We do not mind even if entries ————————————————————————————————————————— Please cut off here for private use.

Thanksgivings and Intercessions.

THANKSGIVINGS. That the way has been made plain for extending the work from several centres. For the revival of the medical work of the Mission. For special gifts of money in answer to prayer. For real and enthusiasm roused through missionary exhibitions

SUPPLICATIONS AND INTERCESSIONS. That guidance may be given to those who are planning for the division of the diocese. That wisdom, Insight, and wide vision may be granted to all to whom is entrusted the privilege of fostering vocations to, and developing plans for, the religious life among Corean and Japanese women.

referring to other Missions are made in it, provided there is a record contained of all that is done for Corea. So often we find a secretary leaves, or there is a change in the parish priest or the assistant priest who looked after Missions, and there seems confusion (ending sometimes in loss) because no one quite knows who subscribed, or how they subscribed, or whether the money came from collections or grants, or who took in magazines. If every secretary could keep a "log book," not only to record money matters, but also the missionary activities of the parish, we feel sure all the Missions concerned would appreciate it. 2. Would all parishes which offered their Lenten Savings for Corea remit the money now if it has not yet been sent in. Once given for Corea it is of more use to the Mission in the coffers of the Mission than in the coffers of the parish. 3. A large bundle of Bishop Corfe's book showing the working of the Mission and its foundation policy in early days has been sent to the office. It has long ceased to sell at its original price. But we are offering copies now at 6d. (plus 3d. postage) as we are very anxious it should be studied by the more recent supporters of the Mission. 4. Will anyone who wishes to help our Stall at the Winter Sale by making the special Corea articles on similar lines to those which sold out so quickly last year apply to Miss Seaton, 61 York Street Chambers, W., for a list. A specimen of each article has now been made, and as there are about fourteen different articles we ought to have a most attractive stall if workers will help us. 5. In one last paragraph we plead for (a) more subscribers to Morning Calm; (b) more readers of "On, to the City of God" (which is selling well, but we want it sold out, so that we can start on a second volume); (c) more performances of the play, "The Pak Family" (please read it so that you can ask for it if you hear of performances of Mission plays); (d) more financial support sent earlier in the year; (e) above all, more prayer for those in Corea and for those working for it at home.

————————————————————————————————————————— For Stephen Nakamura, heper in Fusan, seriously ill with paralysis. That those who are starting new ventures for God in loneliness: Cecil Cooper (Ping-Yung), Albert Lee (Chong-ju), Nancy Borrow (Yo-ju), may be kept in safety of body and soul. That the money needed for St. Martin's Mission House, Ping Yang, may be given by St. Martin’s Day (November 11th). That there may be a special gift to free the new hospital at Yo-Ju from debt. That the Central Church at Seoul may be furnished to the glory of God and be worthy for His worship. That all who have taken part in recent Exhibitions or attended meetings may consecrate their lives afresh to God's service. For our Associates and Children of St. Nicolas that they may be zealous in prayer. ————— A limited number of extra copies of these Thanksgiving and interconnection may be obtained ~ the Office at the following races : ~ per copy.