Morning Calm v.14 no.95(1903 Feb.)

THE MORNING CALM. No. 95, VOL. XIV.] FEBRUARY 1903. [PRICE 3d. The Bishop's Letters. Ⅰ. MAPÓ: September 1902. DEAR FRIENDS, The great event of this month has been the departure from Corea of Dr. Carden, which has resulted in the total Cessation of the medical work of the Mission in Chemulpó, after nearly twelve years of uninterrupted labor. I have striven hard to avert this blow. From the time when I knew that Dr. Carden was leaving-that is to say, from the beginning of last year-I have tried to get a medical man to replace him: first by Personal efforts when I was in England, and since my return by correspondence with the Committee of the Hospital Naval Fund. In the spring of this year I hoped to secure a man by offering a considerably increased stipend, and am sure that the Committee are doing their best to get him, but up to the present date I have had no reply. When I knew that Dr. Carden wished to leave the country at the beginning of this month, I endeavored to give the Committee at home a longer time to prosecute their inquiries by great efforts to obtain a locum tenens for three months from September 1. I wrote to North China, Mid-China -even to the United States. I offered for these three months a stipend at the rate of nearly £1,000 a year. But all was to no purpose. The large hospital stands closed, and, moreover, I have to find a caretaker for it, which in the present paucity of our numbers means closing other work. When I knew that the blow must fall I wrote and telegraphed to the Committee. No answer will be possible until the middle of next month unless a doctor is already on his way, which would be the best answer of all. In the meanwhile I must consider what steps to take if, unhappily, the Committee assure me that they can find no one. To have broken the thread of this work at all is a serious thing for the Mission. Independently of the loss to the Coreans, people out here at least are apt to argue more from such a circumstance (of which they understand very little) than they ought. The next thing, therefore, is to heal the breach as soon as possible, and you may be sure that I shall spare no effort to do this, even if I have to return to England for the purpose. It is, indeed, gradually dawning upon me that I am putting a greater burden on my dear friends in Whitehall than they can bear. I must be prepared to take my share of it, and am now considering very carefully what that share ought to be. The Mission has been moulded by the Hospital Naval Fund as much as by the many other organisations which were created more than twelve years ago for the purpose of assisting the newly formed diocese. I have said enough, however, to assure you that the medical work of the Mission needs -and I am certain it will obtain -a foremost place in your daily prayers. Nor by adding to this letter shall I say anything which will divert your thoughts from a matter which is just now very much in the thoughts of those of us who are in Corea. Although there are many cases of cholera in the country, the health of the Mission is all that could be desired. Believe me, your affectionate C. J. CORFE

II. SEOUL: November 1902. DEAR FRIENDS, Hearing nothing of a doctor to replace Dr. Carden in Chemulpó, I have succeeded in letting the quarters in St. Luke's Hospital to the Russian Vice-Consul on a short lease, thus providing the building with a guardian, and so relieving me of a great anxiety. But I shall be very glad to see the familiar Genevan Cross flag flying from the staff again, in place of the Russian Consular flag which now decorates our hill. During this month I have been paying an extended visit to our two stations in Kang Hoa. At On Syou Tong everything is going on well. Mr. Hillary and Mr. Laws seem to share between them the goodwill of all the old catechumens, and of new enquirers not a few. We hope to begin Christian work there in the spring of next year, and have arranged, tentatively, a list of some twenty-five people to be baptized, including amongst them a few families consisting of husbands, wives and children. This will make a great change in the work-in what particular ways it is not easy yet to say. At present the whole of the enthusiasm-and there is a great deal of it-is of necessity spent on a Church- or Kyo, as they call it-in which the two sacraments of the Gospel have never been administered. It remains to be seen how the enthusiasm and (so to speak) the family life of the Church will be distributed when the cleavage is made between these twenty-five baptized and confirmed communicants and the remainder of the twenty-five catechumens and fifty enquirers. Mr. Hillary has wisely prepared for the change by calling for volunteers for baptism ; and it is, in my opinion, a sign of good and careful teaching that so few, comparatively, have volunteered. From what one knows of Coreans, I should not have been surprised at the round hundred of them volunteering in a body. This approaching development of the On Syou Tong station into a parish is, accordingly, a subject on behalf of which I bespeak your special prayers. The Sisters, who make periodical visits to On Syou Tong, have greatly assisted Mr. Hillary. We decline now always-except in special cases-to receive husbands as candidates for baptism unless their wives accompany them; and the influence of the Sisters amongst these latter has become a very important feature in the district, where they are always well received and in some cases heartily welcomed. Nor is the direct influence of Mr. Laws' self-denying labors upon the evangelistic work of this Mission station to be overlooked. He is the best-known man in the island, and during my short stay four or five people, some of them old patients, came from great distances to be treated for various disorders. Mr. Hillary informs me that in several instances he can trace a connection between his enquirers and Mr. Laws' patients. This is as it should be. Mr. Laws is not only their doctor; he is their friend, ready to give help in all ways, and specially in the best of all ways. Thus for a long time he has been practically, a lay reader, and during my stay at On Syou Tong last week I had the pleasure of formally licensing him as a lay reader in the diocese. I reached Kang Hoa City the day before the vigil of the Dedication Festival. There were a few boys to be confirmed and a few adults to be baptized and confirmed. The services took place on the morning of the vigil, in the presence of a considerable number of our Christians-both men and women. As on a previous occasion, the boys said the Church Catechism before me and the rest of the congregation, thus renewing their baptismal vows. Very faultlessly they performed their task, without hesitation, without mumbling, and with reverence The Festival of the Dedication was observed with every token of Joy, I celebrated and took particular note of the great improvement in the singing. With the festival was combined a thanksgiving for the late abundant harvest, which accounted for the hymn “We plough the fields and scatter"-a hymn but just translated, and therefore newly learnt, but which had unmistakably “caught on." Evidently the bold, diatonic melody suits the Corean ear. There were some forty communicants, a number scarcely exceeded on the following (Sunday) morning. Practically, therefore, all our communicants made their communion on one or other of these days. An old, disused house on our property at Kapkotchi, on the river-side, has been removed to the city and is now nearly ready-on its re-erection in the Mission compound - to receive the printing press, &c., which had quite outgrown the old quarters. Brother Hugh was accordingly in unusually good spirits-but when is he not ?

During the previous week Mr. Badcock had paid a visit to a place on the mainland to the north of the island to see for himself the value of several requests which have lately been made that we should begin work amongst a small band of men who wish to become Christians. I have told him that he must go very carefully to work here, using his own lay folk for the development of the work as much as possible. For, indeed, it is not possible, in the present single-handed condition of our parishes everywhere, to think of developments far away from our centres. The work then in this part of the diocese is full of promise and encouragement. Join with us, dear friends, in thanking God and praying for a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the two hard-working priests and their congregations. 

But the event of the month has been the return of Mr. Turner. I left Kang Hoa for Chemulpó, on the Monday, and had the good fortune to arrive almost at the same time as the steamer which brought him and the two new nurses. How glad we were to see him again - and to see him in such good health and spirits—I cannot say, but I think you, who know us, can imagine. We came to Seoul at once, and on the following day he paid me a visit at Mapó. I have been enjoying a great treat in hearing about you all-but even a greater in seeing the delight with which his old Corean friends greet him. In spite of his long absence in England, I find that he is a better Corean speaker than I. He drops naturally into the old familiar phrases, and has lost nothing either of his old enthusiasm or of the “grip” which he has always had on all matters connected with the diocese. He is going to celebrate in Corean next Sunday at Nak Tong, and then I am sending him on a month visit to Kang Hoa and Chemulpó, that he may imbibe as much information as possible as to the state and condition of the diocese before I settle him down to work in Seoul, where we hope to have him by Christmas. I will not in this letter indulge in any more "forecasts”; but you, who have so recently had him amongst you, will be glad to hear both how he has fared since his departure and how he at once began to "shape his course" when he reached terra firma. Our colleagues, especially of the clergy, will give him an unusually hearty welcome. It is for this reason, amongst others, that I am anxious for him to see and be seen by all before the winter closes in and makes our communication difficult. I regret to say that Nurse Hudson developed some trouble during the voyage which compelled her to arrive as an invalid. She is better, but will have to be nursed carefully for some weeks before she is fit for work. During this winter and continuously, I hope, henceforth some of us will be engaged in the work of translation. The MS. hymns which have been in use at our various Mission stations are now gathered together. They have been carefully edited, and form a good-sized volume, which is ready for the press. This will be followed by a selection from the Psalms which is how under revision, and which, when printed, will greatly enrich the Matins and Evensong offices. Hitherto we have been compelled to ring the changes on one or two Psalms, jubilant or penitential, according to the season. When we get the new book we shall have some of the special Psalms for all the great festivals and a good number to choose from on ordinary days. Mr. Badcock hopes to complete very soon the Collects for the Church's year. Many of them have already been translated for us by Mr. Trollope, but it will be a great advantage to have the whole of them printed in a volume and bound up with the Office for the Holy Communion. The Old Testament selections have been printed up to the end of the history of Joseph. A volume bringing the history up to the passage of the Red Sea is complete and is now undergoing revision; whilst preparations have been made to finish the Pentateuch in one or more volumes. Simultaneously with these we are hoping to print shortly the Office for the Baptism of Infants, the Marriage and Burial Services. Please give this translation work a special place in Your daily prayers. And now, hoping that this letter will be in time for insertion in the February number, I send you our best wishes for the New Year, and am Your affectionate,

• C. J. CORFE.

Correspondence. NAK TONG, SEOUL, COREA : November 24, 1902. MY DEAR MR. EDITOR, I don't think that before leaving England I entered into any fresh agreement, but I imagine that you will be expecting me to take up my work again as local editor for Morning Calm. I am writing you this month only a short letter to tell you that I have arrived safely, and that in the future I will try and procure for you some local contributions for the information of your readers. I need not say much about our journey out. Journeys to the Far East are all very much alike, and many of your readers will have read eloquent accounts of such journeys. with their varying interests, the wretchedness of Port Said, the heat of the Canal and the Red Sea-not that we suffered over much from the latter-the beauty of Colombo and Singapore, the interest of Hong Kong the pleasure of a stay in Nagasaki, and the joy of the final arrival in Corea, all magnified by the fact that in each port one is able to land and stretch one's legs and get a change from the diet on board ship, and even spend a night with friends, in a bed in a room by yourself, and not in a narrow bunk with three others in a small cabin. I don't wish in any way to complain of our accommodation or food, for they were both very fair, and both the foreign officers and Japanese crew and stewards did everything in their power to make the journey a pleasant one for us. I found the time pass very quickly, with plenty of books to read, and letters to write, and friends to talk to, and cricket and other games for recreation, with something occasionally in the way of sports or a concert to vary the monotony. And we were also very fortunate in the matter of services, for the captain gave me leave practically to do as liked, so long as I did not interfere with the work of the ship, and we were able to have a celebration of the Holy Communion early, Morning Prayer at eleven, and in the evening we had some quiet reading or hymn-singing. One sad event darkened the journey through the Indian Ocean, for a little baby fell very ill and died as we passed Socotra, and we had to bury him at sea. It was a solemn event, and cast a gloom over us all for some days. Then, towards the end of our journey, Miss Hudson was not well, and we were very glad to hand her over to the care of Mrs. Baldock on our arrival ; for when travelling on one of these local steamers it is a good thing to be very well, for they are often, as in our case, crowded, and they are also very lively

when there is any wind, and we had quite a strong wind coming over from Nagasaki to Corea and part of the way up the Corean coast. We were on board this small ship, the Genkai Maru, on Sunday, and were able to have a morning service ; but in the afternoon an address on missionary work in Corea, which was to have been given by a Presbyterian missionary of eighteen years standing, had to be postponed, as he felt unequal to the task, owing to the ship's up and down motion. We reached Chemulpó at six in the morning, and got ashore about eleven, where we found Mr. Bridle and Mrs. Steenbuch to welcome us-indeed, they came off the ship to meet us ; and I gladly delegated to Mr. Bridle the task of seeing to our luggage and settling with the boatman, coolies and others, a task which is always sufficiently troublesome, but would have been doubly so to me, with my small remaining stock of Corean. On shore I met the Bishop, and very glad I was to find him looking well after a journey to Kang Hoa, where he had been for the Dedication Festival at the church in the city; he was able to give me a very good account of Mr. Badcock and Mr. Pearson in the city, and of Mr. Hillary and Mr. Laws at On Syou Tong. I have not yet seen them, but hope to get to Kang hoa towards the end of this week. Sisters Magaretta and Isabel had come down with them, and both seemed very well and fresh, considering that they had started soon after five o'clock, had been five or six hours in a sampan-i.e. a small open Corean boat-and finally had stuck on a sandbank about two miles from Chemulpó, from which point they had had to walk through sand and mud to the port itself. They might have waited till the tide rose, but knew that would prevent them getting back again by the same boat that night after greeting us and doing some shopping. They would hardly reach the city until nine clock at night, with a dark, cold walk of three miles from the river to the city across narrow paths between the rice-fields. However, they say they are accustomed to it, and they could not leave Sister Rosalie all alone in their big town house. The Bishop went up to Seoul by the 12 train, and we followed by the 2.25. How strange it seemed to be running up in under two hours in comfort and ease, instead of the eight or nine hours' journey by steamer or road of a few years ago! The romance on a first arrival is less, but the comfort is certainly greater. Sister Alma and Mr. Drake met us, and the ladies were immediately carried off to Chong Dong, while I had to dangle my legs on the sides of our packing-cases until Mr. Drake could fetch - two carts from the city to carry them all to our houses. Everything seemed much the same, though of course there have been considerable changes in the city, but of them I shall see more before long, and tell you more in my next letter if there is anything of interest. I found all our people very well and busy, Sister Nora seems better than when I went away, and Sister Barbara is fully occupied with her twenty orphans (I have just seen them in Mr. Hodge's store buying dolls and toys for those same orphans for Christmas with some money Sister Barbara has been earning for the Orphanage), while Sister Alma is very busy with her Church duties and among the Corean women in the city. Of the others I have seen little or nothing. Nurse Robinson is hard at work in the Chong Dong Hospital for Women, with Nurse Helena's assistance, but the Nak Tong Hospital has been closed for a time, awaiting Nurse Hudson's arrival, and Nurse Mills has been so set free, fortunately, as it happens, to nurse some cases of typhoid among the European families in Seoul. There seems to be quite an epidemic of typhoid, and there have been two very sad deaths. Both Dr. and Mrs. Baldock are kept busy by their patients; and though I say Nak Tong Hospital is closed, I ought to explain that it is only the foreign wards, and that there are some ten cases in the Corean wards under the care of the Corean attendants, who manage very well under Dr. Baldock constant supervision. Mr. Drake has been for some months in charge of the Corean work here, and the Bishop of the English work, the latter living at Mapó; and Mr. Hodge, though he has severed his connection with the Mission, is still, I am glad to find, a boarder in his old rooms. Mr. Bridle is down at Chemulpó, and I hope to see something of him to-morrow on my way to Kang Hoa Miss Nevile I have not yet seen, but I have heard she is well and hard at work with the dispensary, at Chong Dong and assisting Sister Alma. I have been so far very busy settling into my old quarters and in talking over matters with the Bishop, with whom I have been staying at Mapó. How my back did ache the first two nights on the floor! And when I gave as an excuse for a return to the city for a night, letters and calls, and business generally he said: “No, it's the bed you're after !” But familiarity breeds contempt, and the third night I slept quite comfortably and found the stones no longer hard. When I have paid my visit to Kang Hoa I shall be able to give you some account of matters there, supplementing the Bishop's letters. Now I must stop, or I shall miss the post. You can imagine how glad I am to be back again. Pray for us, for we indeed need your prayers for bodily health, but more for all the fruits of the Spirit. We need them all out here. I am, yours sincerely, A. B TURNER. Association of Prayer and Work for Corea. THERE are a few changes this quarter in our Branches; the Rev. A. W. Plant has started work at Malta for the Association as well as for H.N.F.; a new Branch is to be started at Tandridge by Mr. Charlesworth before he leaves England, and Mrs. Thompson has kindly consented to act as Secretary for Swindon. On the other hand, the Branch at N. Witham, in Lincolnshire, is to be closed, and I have to announce with great regret Miss Fraser's resignation as Secretary at Bromley, where she has worked so long and successfully. It is to be hoped that someone will come forward to carry on the work; in this connection I should like to mention the welcome £25 proceeds of the Sale of Work at Bromley in November. The past quarter has been a busy one for meetings, and the lantern slides have made many journeys; from some of these there are no present results in the shape of collections or money in any form, but nevertheless, when not wanted for distinctly Corean work, I am very glad to lend them when an S.P.G. speaker is making Corea his subject. The winter's work has made demands on our Literature Store, and I am getting the Leaflet reprinted for future use ; but I can still supply the pamphlet and in a limited number) back numbers of the Magazine for meetings, new work-parties, &c. I must take this opportunity of thanking Miss Merriman and Miss Bertha Atkins, who have practically relieved me of all work in connection with the distribution of Intercession Papers and Magazines. Though I mention their names here, it seems Simpler certainly for the present to ask for all correspondence on these subjects to come direct to me, to save correspondents the trouble of remembering different names and addresses for the different departments of work. If there are any other members who would like odd jobs to do, I shall be very glad to provide them with work. There is always plenty to do, although the Work is materially lightened when our County Secretaries, who lave of necessity to commence as “Receiving Officers," merge gradually into Organising Secretaries for their own particular county. CONSTANCE A. N. TROLLOPE.

St. Peter's Community Foreign Mission Association. The Corean Stall at the Bazaar annually held by the Associates of the Community of St. Peter has become so well known and so largely supported that it is quite a recognised source of income to the Association ; but even the large results of former years have been far exceeded by the recent Sale in November, which, through the indefatigable efforts of the Misses Trollope, realised the unprecedented sum of £111. 4s. 9d. This was of course largely owing to the curios, which were exceedingly good and interesting, with charming novelties in brass-work; but special thanks are also due for the number of really good contributions of work which poured in from all sides, and were most gratefully received. A full list of the kind senders will be published in the Report, and the acknowledgment of so much generous help is made with the gratitude that is "a sense of favors to come," and also with suggestions to those who organise working-parties, who are always glad to know what are really wanted. There is practically no sale for children's garments in flannelette as compared with flannel, and the demand for full-sized women's garments far exceeded the supply. The small collection of curios remaining from the Stall was exhibited on December 27 at St. Peter's Grange, St. Leonards-on-Sea, and was much appreciated by the local members of Association for Prayer and Work and S.P.F.M.A., and there was a further sale to the extent of £4. 10s. There is now a Branch of the Association at St. Leonards, of which Miss Tufnell has kindly undertaken the Secretaryship, thus continuing in a new locality the good work she has so long carried on at Fryerning. Another new name appears in the list of Branches for 1903. Bath has long been felt to be a misnomer for a Branch of which the Secretary lives in Edinburgh, and as with the departure of Miss S. Robertson-Macdonald for work in South Africa her sister has taken her place, henceforth Miss Frances Robertson Macdonald will be Secretary of St. Andrew's branch. There was a large gathering of members of both Associations and friends of the Mission at St. Peter's House, Kilburn, on December 2 for the Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving. Dean Randall's beautiful address at the intercessory service at noon was deeply spiritual, and has been written out once more by the kind Secretary of St. Luke's Branch. A copy of the Notes, with those of the other addresses during the day, will be sent by the General Secretary to anyone sending a stamped envelope. The Annual Meeting of S.P.F.M.A. was held at 3 P.M., Canon Brooke taking the chair. The Rev. A. G. Deedes was also present. A short report of the year's work, and an appeal for continued support of prayers and alms to maintain efficiently the various undertakings of the Association, were read by the Sub-Warden of the Community of St. Peter, after which the Rev. Mark Napier Trollope in an excellent and interesting speech detailed the reasons for his prolonged stay in England, and proceeded to draw a vivid picture of life in Seoul, and of the work at Kang Hoa, with its increasing claims on the prayers of the members. Votes of thanks were proposed by Mr. Charles worth and the Chaplain of St. Peter's Home, Woking, and the day ended with Evensong, at which the sermon was preached by the Rev. R. C. Kirkpatrick, Vicar of St. Augustine's, Kilburn, who spoke of the joyful privilege of helping on Mission work by intercession and offerings, and ended with an earnest appeal for the loving self-sacrifice which should characterise all efforts whether of prayer or personal service. The offerings amounted to £9. 11s., and at St. Peter's Grange, where the day was similarly observed, there was an offertory of £3. 14s. 7d. SISTER HELEN CONSTANCE, Secretary, S.P.F.M.A.

What the Postmaster Did not know. By the Reverend LAURENCE B. RIDGELY. RECENTLY the assistant postal officer in the Chinese imperial Post-office at Hankow was talking with his superior. The latter, Scotchman, was expressing himself on the subject of Chinese Christians, as tradespeople, foreign officials, tourists, and others who know little about the subject generally do. "The minute you tell me a Chinaman is a Christian," said he, “I want nothing more to do with him. He's no good." Now the assistant postal officer happened to be not only a Christian (a Wesleyan, and an Englishman), but also well acquainted with the facts. So he asked the postmaster a question : “What do you think of Mr. Liu, our shroff?” " He's a good man," said the postmaster, "a very capable man. We couldn't do without him.” (In fact, every cent of the post-office money passes through his hands.) “Well,” said the assistant," he's a Christian--a Roman Catholic." “H'm !” was the postmaster's only comment. “What do you think of Yang?" “ Thomas Yang in the registry department?” “Yes." "He's good. We've just promoted him to entire charge there!" "He's another," said the assistant. “What do you think of Tsang ?” "You mean John Tsang, that big fellow in the registry department ?" "Yes." "He's a first-rate fellow, very trustworthy." "He's another Christian. He and Yang are both Boone School boys and communicants in the American Church Mission." "Oh!" said the postmaster. " What about Joseph Tsai, at Han Yang?" "Well, we've given him entire charge at the Han Yang office," said the postmaster. “He's another Christian-belongs to the American Episcopal Mission." " Indeed!" said the postmaster. “How about Tsen ? " “ You mean Tsen Hua-P’u, whom we've just sent to Hunan, to take charge of the new office at Hsiang-t'an? There's nothing the matter with him!” "Well, he's another Boone School boy and a communicant in the American Episcopal Mission." "Oh, keep still !” said the postmaster. “That'll do!”. The facts are even better than this incident indicates. Of eight Chinese employees in the Hankow office, four are Chris. tians, and these four are the ones who have steadily earned promotion, and now occupy the highest positions-they are the best men in the office. The men chosen from this office to send to responsible positions in other places have all been the Christians. In the Wuchang office, of four carriers, two are Christians. The four Chinese employees are all heathen, but the chief clerk has recently asked for a copy of the New Testament and begun to study it. This incident is a fair illustration of the complete ignorance of what Missions are doing which characterises a large proportion of the foreigners who live in China outside of missionary circles. They not only do not know what Missions are doing, nor how they do it, but they do not even know the facts about their own employees. Many of them pride themselves on understanding no Chinese, and knowing nothing about the people. It is well to remember this when “people who have lived in China" tell us that Missions are doing harm rather than good, and that "there is no such thing as a real Chinese Christian." This incident is an encouragement to us missionaries. We know, too well, how hard it is to make good Christians, how often our hard work amounts to nothing, and it is almost a revelation to some of us to find that so large a proportion of the men most available for effective work are Christians, and that they are found satisfactory, not only intellectually, but morally.—New York Spirit of Missions. The Spirit of Missions. "THERE is one holy time when we feel most of all bound or privileged to unite in intercessory prayer-when we keep the Memorial of the Love of Christ. It was from a Memorial Service, held by the Church of Antioch, ... that the great Mission to the Gentile world was inaugurated. Then and there Paul and Barnabas received their Missionary calling.... If but rarely results like these attend our Holy Convocations, it is because we do not realise or believe in the real presence of our Saviour in our midst."—" Steps towards Christian Unity." By A. C. Turberville. Revised by the Dean of Westminster in the “Commonwealth." " What else can the dimensions of the Heavenly City, seen in St. John's vision, mean but 'a place’ for all who have ever been born into the world? It is not an Anglo-Saxon mansion, nor is the banquet spread therein, for white races alone. When the whole world has come in, there will be no more overcrowding. By the mercy and goodness of God we all hope to come at length to that door, behind which the Lord stands awaiting His people. He pauses before He admits us. He looks behinds us and says, 'Are you come alone? ... Where are your own flesh and blood scattered throughout the world, but without your advantages? Where are those who have never heard of Me, but whom I know among the nations ruled by you, or with whom you trade?' ... Let us humbly pray that we do not come to Him unattended.” -Mission Field. “At the request of the C.M.S., Sept. 31 was observed as a day of intercession by their friends. Two striking instances have come under their notice. At Sydney, in New South Wales, the whole day was kept as a day of prayer. At Kabarole, in Toro, the King and the Katikoro were present in the large new church built last year by the people. Among those who spoke was a young chief who had been spending six months in Nkolo as a missionary, and who begged his brethren to have ‘compassion on those who were scattered abroad.’ The church was full, and several chiefs and others offered earnest supplications.... These examples from the capital of the Southern Continent, and from the slopes of Ruvenzori in the heart of the Dark Continent, are doubtless samples of many other gatherings over the wide world. ... As an American writer has said, ‘We have on our side the spiritual dynamics of the universe.' "-C.M. Intelligencer. “Mrs. Durrant writes from Dalhousie, in the Punjab, 'The number of lady candidates offering last year was fourteen less ; and in spite of crowded attendances and fervent meetings and increased contributions, the men and women are lacking, without whom the work cannot be carried on. May it not, in a measure, be traced to the supineness, the self-indulgence of some of those at home, who might go out, and do not, that missionaries of both sexes are so constantly overworked? Have you realised that the cases are exceptional in the Mission-field in which health is not more or less permanently injured from the pressure of work ? Perhaps you ask why? Because it is not in a woman's heart to see souls being swept along to ruin on the empty current of heathenism without stretching out a hand to save. Therefore it is that to their power, aye, and far beyond their physical power, they struggle on till they drop. By the capacity for love and devotion existing at this moment in many a heart which has nothing specially to call it out, I beseech you to come forward to the help of the Lord.'”-C.M. Intelligencer. We have received the Annual Report of the House of Training for Women Missionaries at Upton Park, and note with great pleasure the development of their work in Mashonaland, Three of their number have opened the first branch house of the Society in Salisbury. The South African Society have generously lent them a house for three years to fulfil the combined purpose of Mission House and Hostel, but this is already too small for its work, and the Treasurers of the Rhodes, Bequest have undertaken not only to add a wing, but to build outhouses and a small laundry. St. Mary's Hostel is under the care of the Bishop of the Diocese. Besides work for our English colonists, there are a large native night school for men and boys, and a morning school for colored children. The question of industrial work for native women and girls, in order to fit them to be useful wives for Christian men, is a pressing one. The Training Home wishes to keep free " from the entanglement of endowment,” and aims at a life of simplicity and freedom from external cares and possessions, so as to be free to carry out its Missionary work more fully. On St. Andrew's Day, 1901, just when the need of funds was very great, an anonymous donation of £100 arrived, and, as the community believe, their needs have been always supplied in answer to prayer. PLAGUE, PESTILENCE, AND FAMINE. (a) Palestine is suffering from a very severe visitation of cholera, and many of the towns are surrounded by a cordon, so that it is almost impossible to get any news. The native pastor (who has been in the service of the C.M.S. for nearly forty years) has just died at Lydd. (b) At Cawnpore the plague is rampant already. The figures have not sunk below 1,000 deaths any week in the last year. (c) From Mid-China we hear that last summer was an awful time. Cholera was rampant in the city, slaying thousands of people. There were 11,000 deaths inside the city of Hangchow. (d) The Rockhampton Diocese is suffering from the long continued drought, and ask for prayers that abundant rain may be sent next February, and that the many who are suffering ruin through the drought may be kept faithful. -C.M. Intelligencer and Private Letter. "The Rev. G. Westcott (one of the four sons of Bishop Westcott, who went out to work in the Cambridge Mission), speaking at a great meeting at Stratford, quoted a paper by an educated Hindoo, published at Allahabad, in which were these words : ‘It is a fact which nobody can deny that the students of Mission colleges are more conscientious, more regardful of the demands of truth and honesty in their dealings, and in every respect better behaved men than the students of other institutions.... I am not a Christian, but I think that the more Christ-like we become, the better for us and our land. Towards securing this happy end, nothing can be better than the practice of placing before the minds of our students daily and repeatedly the ideal of love, self-abnegation and suffering for their sakes, that is presented to us in the pages of the Gospels. . . . Half an hour's study of the Bible will do more to remodel a man than a whole day spent in repeating [extracts] from the Puranas or the Rig Veda.'”—Church Times. “Father Nicholson has been spending some days with the Cambridge Brotherhood in Delhi, and writes : 'It is delightful to see this Mission and to find what an important place it occupies in the life of Delhi.' There are now more than 1,000 Christians connected with the Mission, and this year they have been keeping its Jubilee. The centre of the Mission is a large compound near the station, where there is a big Mission House, Boarding School for Boys, the Memorial Church of St. Stephen's, and houses for the native Christians all around the compound. In the chief street of the city there is a hospital for purdah women, with four lady doctors at work. Opposite the hospital there is St. Stephen's High School; in another part of the city St. Stephen's College ; the latter prepares students for the Lahore University. Then there is the ladies' work, with boarding school for girls, a house in which the ladies engaged in zenana work reside, convalescent home and orphanage, and the Bickersteth Hall, where public lectures are given. There are also four native congregations which gather in small churches in different parts of the city.' "- Cowley Evangelist. In the new magazine, East and West, just published by S.P.G., we have an excellent letter from Mr. Clement Allen (formerly H.M.'s Consul at Foochow) in which he expresses his hopes that “Missionaries may start a fresh campaign, and that their countrymen at home will send them the necessary reinforcements.” He does not hesitate to say that the establishment of the S.P.G. in North China is under-manned and under womanned. “He mentions several stations where Lady Missionaries could work in safety, where there is room for many workers, and where their services to their oppressed sisters would be of incalculable value." He thinks that in time they could extend their work into the interior. At present the lady members of the S.P.G. in North China “may be counted on the fingers of one hand.” Mr. Allen acknowledges with deep gratitude the services of members of the S.P.G. at the Treaty Ports, and says that “the opening up of China will bring them increased work and responsibilities." He knows that they will hold out a helping hand "to the young man fresh from home, who does not wish to drop his religious duties and moral responsibilities into the Suez Canal on the way out.” “The Rev. Douglas Ellison writes to S.P.G., describing the unrivalled opportunity now before the Church in S. Africa. He says: 'It would be hard to exaggerate the developments of the existing system which are now impending. ... I learn, for instance,... on the authority of Sir Charles Metcalfe (Engineer-in-Chief of the Cape-to-Cairo Line), that within two years the mileage of those Northern Railways will exceed that of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. He thinks our efforts have necessarily been confined mainly to the white population, but the door is standing wide open for the evangelising of the tens of thousands of natives living along the line. We already have two men wholly devoted to their service. The way is at this moment lying open for us throughout the Orange River Colony, the Transvaal, and the whole of Rhodesia right up to the Zambesi.'... Bishop Carter says: 'I really cannot imagine any work of greater importance at the present time in the Transvaal.... I should be thankful if you would help me to organise the railway work and to make a start, which should extend in many directions and be of enormous value.' We are glad to notice these words in the monthly Report of the S.P.G. ‘The Railway Mission is one of the most spirited ventures of the day and means spiritual ministrations over nearly 5,000 miles of railway extending into Rhodesia. The Rev. Douglas Ellison, together with his band of seventeen, deserves all the aid you can give him.'”—Mission Field. A Missionary, just returned from a furlough in England, reports that the work in Blacklead Island is progressing greatly. The average daily attendance in church is between forty and fifty, out of a population of 200, half of whom are away out hunting every day. There are now thirteen baptized Christians, Some of whom have been married according to Christian law, and are, as far as can be seen, proving themselves worthy of the new life. A revival has been going on amongst the Eskimo; meetings have been held (quite unknown to Mr. Peck) in which questions were discussed by the people, the verdict arrived at being in favor of Christianity. Prominent among the new Party were two of the chief conjurors. One of these, who has since died, welcomed the visits of the missionaries in his last illness, and refused to have heathen rites performed over him. In other parts of the Arctic regions people are ready and anxious to be taught. Up to the present time, Missionary work has been confined to the threshold of the Arctics, but Mr. Peck is now hoping to extend it and establish a chain of Missions, joining hands finally with the station of Herschell Island. We are asked to pray that this new development may be successful, and the Gospel of Christ preached to all the tribes scattered about the Arctic region.—Private Letter. “South America has been called 'the neglected continent.' Captain Allen Gardiner (the founder of the South American Mission) was one of the heroes of the Mission-field. He and a band of devoted companions died in 1851 at Tierra del Fuego, of disease and starvation, after repeated attempts to bring the Gospel of Christ to the natives. In his last dying words he said: I trust poor Fuego and South America will not be abandoned.' Missionary seed has been sown here, and the Gospel message ought to follow. If I have a wish for the good of my fellow-men, it is that the Tierra del Fuego Mission may be prosecuted with vigor, and the work in South America commenced.' We all know that Darwin, who began by considering the Fuegians the lowest and most degraded of any of the nations of the earth, ended by becoming an annual subscriber to the Mission. It is indeed encouraging to hear that in Tierra del Fuego there is now a Christian church, with school, orphan age, &c., and some of the Indian aborigines living round it in cottages with gardens attached, and following the various occupations of a civilised life. Captain Allen Gardiner's ardent desire to carry the Gospel to the Indians of the Chaco is being effected by the important Mission to the Lengua and other aboriginal tribes west of the Paraguay. The society also carries on ministerial work among the many British subjects settled in South America-merchants, miners, artificers of all kinds in the ports and country districts, who would otherwise be left as sheep without a shepherd."-Notes of the South American Mission, 1902. THE FAR WEST. British Columbia is to many people very little more than a mere name, and the same remark may be held to apply to the two Dioceses of New Westminster and Kootenay. And yet it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that here lies the great Colony of the future. To get to British Columbia it is necessary first of all to go by sea to Montreal. When you have arrived at this point you learn that in order to reach the extreme confines of the mainland of British Columbia it will be necessary for you to traverse by rail a distance of no less than that which at Montreal previously separated you from Liverpool. For hundreds and hundreds of miles after your departure from Montreal your route will lie through a vast succession of rolling prairies and agricultural lands of the highest fertility. Then at length the railroad commences to ascend and pierces its way right through the heart of the gigantic Rocky Mountains. Now at length you have reached British Columbia, and you will find yourself in a huge region (even though you only confine your travels to that portion of the Colony comprised within the limits of the two Dioceses of New Westminster and Kootenay) as large, if not larger, than France. Some people have gone so far as to say that this wonderful country is a modern Garden of Eden, and indeed the extra Ordinary luxuriance of the soil would tend almost to bear out that statement. In no part of the world has Nature been so prodigal, as it were, with her favors. Along the great mountain ranges for mile after mile you can see enormous seams of coal lying along the mountain side. Gold, silver, copper, and Iron may here be found in a no less exhaustless degree. Needless to say, you will perceive in British Columbia scenery of a character so magnificent and so stupendous as to rival the grandest views to be found in the Alps. Penetrate further Westward, and you will find yourself in the heart of an enormous fruit-growing and agriculture-producing region, where (just to mention one instance only) apples are grown of a weight no less than thirty-nine ounces. Here, too, you are in the immediate neighborhood of gigantic rivers, the Fraser, the Thompson, the Columbia, and the Kootenay. If you follow the two first mentioned to the point where they discharge their waters into the Pacific Ocean, you will reach the furthermost western limit of our two dioceses, the populous and thriving town of Vancouver, with its grand natural harbor, where you will see the great Australian and Japanese liners moored just as though you were standing upon the landing-stage at Liverpool. And now what is the Church doing in this almost enchanted land ? Ever since the mainland of British Columbia was formed into the Diocese of New Westminster and placed under the Loving care of the late Bishop Sillitoe, brave and noble work has been going on, and to-day the clergy have increased in numbers to something like forty-five. But yet what are they among so many ? Day by day, and year by year, the English, American, and Canadian immigrants push their way across the Rockies and the Selkirks, very few of them with much money in their possession, all of them bent upon the same quest-namely, that of making it. If we do not care for the struggling colonists, who will ? An imperative duty has been laid upon all English Church-people to win this great region from the power of Satan to that of God. Life moves very quickly indeed in the Far West, and it is impossible to forecast what the next thirty years may bring forth. This much, however, may confidently be stated. A grand opportunity, and one which will never come again, has been vouchsafed to the Mother Church to build up all waste places, to strengthen the hands of that meagre body of clergy who are struggling in the teeth of such fearful odds, and who, when all is said and done, are waging to-day very much the same kind of warfare as that which was carried on with such wonderful devotion in our own country centuries and centuries ago, by St. Cuthbert, the Apostle of the Lowlands, by St. Etheldreda, the Queen Foundress of Ely Minster, and by St. Birinus and St. Chad, the two Apostles of the Midlands. What, then, is needed to-day ? Almost everything, we might reply. There is a small English organisation which loyally pledged itself some years back to send out to the Far West annually the sum of £300. In spite of enormous difficulties (for the supporters of New Westminster and Kootenay are at present few and far between), this pledge has been redeemed every year, but when all is said and done that £300 ought to be doubled, trebled and even quadrupled, so terrible is the spiritual destitution out there. This £300 goes to what is known as the Pioneer Fund-namely, the work of opening up new and untrodden districts, so to speak, by placing some clergyman in charge over a wide area, who will do what he can to build up the faithful in his scattered parish. Then we have said nothing so far with reference to the work among the Indians and Chinese, of whom there are in all probability nearly twenty thousand up and down the two dioceses. The Indians, of course, are the original possessors of the soil, so that we who have deprived them of their country owe to them an almost incalculable spiritual debt. The Chinese, again, are for the most part emigrants from their own land, who act the part of “hewers of wood and drawers of water” to the English and Canadian colonists. The opportunity bestowed upon the Church for dealing with this large body of market gardeners, laundrymen, salmon-canners and servants away from the heathen associations of the land of their birth is one of simply boundless extent.

CHURCH BUILDING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. In a letter received from the Rev. F. B. Mathews, S.P.G. missionary, in Andros Island (one of the Bahamas), the following description of Church work is given : “You are kind enough to inquire about the new churches. I am glad to say that four out of the seven are completed and ready for consecration as soon as the new Bishop arrives. But the strain and the worry of it all, involving, as it does, the travelling in a sail boat along the coast, backwards and forwards for 110 miles, has greatly exhausted me. You see, out here one has to attend to every detail, from the burning of lime to the fixing of locks and hinges, and then the furnishing of the churches. Besides being architect, there is also the estimating of expenses, the payment of laborers, materials, and the keeping of accounts separately for each building. The specification in all its details of one church is something ; but when multiplied by seven, plus again the fatigue of travelling from place to place for over 100 miles to watch and direct every inch of the work, it becomes gigantic. We have no skilled mechanics, So the whole scheme depends upon the brain, health and exertion of one individual. Of course you have read of the awful catastrophe of Martinique and St. Vincent. I am glad to say that we have had no such terrible visitation. But we have been affected atmospherically, and in its way it is having a direful effect upon us. All our people depend entirely for food upon their plantations, and in May we should have abundance of rain to secure our summer crops. Well, since last November we have had no rain. All the crops are burnt up and lost, and We are face to face with actual starvation. Then, to add to our distress, the heat this year has been beyond anything I ever recollect. Our usual summer temperature is about 86 to 88 degrees, tempered with breezes from the sea. "This year from May - after the eruptions at Martinique-the thermometer went up to 92 degrees, and there it hovers, some days 96-94, and you cannot imagine how exhausting it is, and it continues calm and no fresh breezes from the sea. I have just turned from a voyage to the southern half of the parish, but I came back sooner than I expected, as I really could not (seasoned though I am) endure the 104 daily temperature in my cabin. To be on deck was out of the question, as one could scarcely bear to put the foot upon the deck. My crew complained loud and long! “But worse than this were the evidences everywhere of suffer

Children's Corner. MY DEAR CHILDREN, I am afraid you will all be rather disappointed to hear that I am not able to tell you anything about the little children in Corea in this letter, as I have not had any news of them since I wrote to you last. But though we have not heard anything of our little Corean friends, there is one thing we can all feel quite sure of, and that is, that if we have been praying for them every day with all our hearts, God has answered our prayers and has watched over them and blessed them. I have one very good piece of news for you, and I think you will be as glad as I was to hear it. Some kind friends in Southsea who have heard about little Mark have promised to adopt him, which means that they will pay for his support all the time he is in the Orphanage. I hope to be able to tell you how he is next time I write. There is another Mark that I want to tell you something about now; he is a much older boy, who does not live in the Orphanage, but in his own home in the island of Kang Hoa. This boy is a Christian too; he has been baptized and confirmed, but his parents are still heathens, so you can fancy how hard it is for him to keep the promises he has made and "fight manfully under Christ's banner against sin, the world, and the devil.” I want you to pray with all your hearts for him, as well as for three other boys who were confirmed at the same time as he was last November-Stephen, Philip, and Simeon. These boys, too, though they have Christian Parents, will find it very difficult in a heathen country to be good Christians, and will want all the help we can give them. I feel we shall be able to give much more help now than We have ever given before, with thirty new members added to our Association ; for every single boy or girl who joins is able to do a very great deal to help on the work of Foreign Missions, not only in Corea but all over the world. Thank you all again for the money you have sent for the Mission since I wrote last; the pennies as well as the pounds Will be very welcome in Corea. I am, Always your affectionate friend, MAUD I. FALWASSER. Newlands, East Liss: January 1903.