Morning Calm v.5 no.44(1894 Feb.)

THE MORNING CALM. No. 44, Vol. V.] FEBRUARY 1894. [PRICE 1d.

The Bishop's Letter. CHEHULPÓ: October 1893. DEAR FRIENDS, My last letter will have prepared you to hear more of Mr. Pownall's illness and of Mr. Trollope's visit to Niu Chwang on his account. He returned to Chemulpó on the 6th with the good news that he had taken Mr. Pownall to Chefoo for change of air, and had left him much better. But Mr. Pownall having had a weakness of chest even before he left England, I had grave doubts as to whether I ought to allow him, after this attack of pleurisy, to face the coming winter in Niu Chwang. Considering that all my clergy are working without stipend, they deserve-though they do not ask for-a generous treatment at my hands. And when there is a possi-bility of the work which they came here to do being too much for their health, it behoves me to remember that, although they have had food, warmth, and clothing in abundance, they have received no funds from the Church which they could fall back upon in the event of a failure of health compelling them to be removed, not merely froin this diocese, but from active work for the Church anywhere else. You know, too, that, as yet, we have no mission work to drop because we have none begun. Our work lies before us now as much as it did three years ago, with the important exception that those of my clergy who are in Corea are now on the eve of begin-ning that ministerial activity for which they have been pre-paring. But this is not so with Mr. Pownall. He was transferred to Niu Chwang last autumn in order to continue the ministrations begun by me the previous Easter amongst the English Church folk in the Port. He went willingly, but he would not have been sent had Mr. Small, whose return from Canada I was reckoning upon, been able to leave his Indian flock in Lytton. And on my visit to Niu Chwang this summer I was not surprised to find that Mr. Pownall was eager then to remain where this (so-called) accident had placed him, and to devote his life henceforth to the Chinese of the Manchuria. In other words, he had ceased to study   18 THE MORNING CALM. Corean and was desirous of learning Chinese. Not that he was unhappy with his English flock in Niu Chwang, nor they with him. On the contrary, I found that he was universally beloved and respected. I think many of us would have been tempted to forget our missionary aspirations, and to throw in our lot with our kind, sympathetic countrymen in that Port. But Mr. Pownall had come out to be a missionary, and a missionary he desired to remain. With these thoughts in my mind, I determined to go over to Chefoo for a week and see whether he was justified in returning, or I in sending him, to Niu Chwang, with a view of preparing for missionary work in the province. The day before I started, H.M.S. Mercury arrived in Chemulpó, and gave me a brief but delightful opportunity of renewing old acquaint-ances and making a few new ones. Captain Fawkes, the Chap-lain, and one or two more of the officers went to Seoul. I could only commend them to Mr. Trollope and our friends up there and hope that they would receive all the comfort and attention which it was my desire they should receive. To my delight, I found Bishop and Mrs. Scott also on a short visit to Chefoo, and the day after leaving Chemulpó I was welcomed by them in St. Peter's Mission-house on that lovely beach. Mr. Pownall was staying with Mr. Greenwood in a small house close by, so that we were all together. I had much serious talk with Mr. Pownall, who was better, but not yet his former self, and determined to get an opinion from the doctor of the Port on his condition and fitness for missionary work in Manchuria. The doctor says :--"He is unfit for work in these latitudes if it involves his doing without the ordinary comforts of European civilisation.” Comforts, I may add, which are not attainable in the wilds of Manchuria. Given his permission to leave when he liked, he wisely determined not to face this winter, but to go home at once and, whilst he is well and strong, offer himself for work in a climate free from the extreme variations of temperature which belong to Corea and Manchuria. He has, I hope and believe, a useful and happy future before him. He takes with him the regrets of those who had learned to appreciate his work in Niu Chwang, and the hearty prayers of every one of us that God will pour a full blessing on his ministry. He left at once for Niu Chwang to pack up and make arrangements for leaving, whilst I lost no time in returning to Corea to tell our friends, and to decide on his successor in the Port. There was not much time. In three weeks the mail steamer was to leave Chemulpó on her last trip for   THE MORNING CALM. 19 this year. It has become increasingly difficult for me to divert any of those whom I must call my Corean clergy from the tasks which are now more than ever occupying their time and atten-tion. On the other hand, Mr. Doxat is fully and happily occupied in work which the others cannot do, taking from me all anxiety on account of the services at the Advent and in St. Peter's Chapel, besides teaching English to Japanese pupils, in which work Mrs. Doxat is associated with him. I had very nearly come to the conclusion that I ought to go myself, but the thought that Mr. Davies' ordination must then be postponed to next summer, and that the forthcoming Corean Tract must be issued without my final supervision, or its issue postponed indefinitely, made me finally decide to ask Mr. Doxat to go. Without any hesitation (though with great regret, I can see, at having to leave work which he has learned to love) he consented, and, accompanied by Mrs. Doxat, he will leave his little parsonage for Niu Chwang at the beginning of november. It is too soon yet for me to be able to tell you what other changes this will involve I propose, however, to make myself responsible for the services both at the Advent and in St. Peter's. I am writing this on the eve of the anniversary of my consecration. How very much I have to thank God for during these past four years ! On All Saints' Day, 1889, I stood alone. Now the men and women who surround me are as intrepid and devoted as they were when they first gave them-selves to the work, with no abatement of enthusiasm, no desire but to hear the welcome words, “Go forward." When by the grace of God we can go forward, we shall remember the great debt of gratitude we owe to you, our friends ashore and afloat, whose prayers will have been the lever to move Him Who moves the world. Believe me always in Him, Yours affectionately,

• C. J. CORFE.

Association of Prayer and Work for Corea. THE first matter which many of our readers will expect to hear about in the record of our home work this month is the West-minster Town Hall Sale of Work, held on December 13th and 14th-just too late for any account of it to appear in January. It is a subject for great satisfaction that this, which is, we believe, the first experiment on a large scale of a joint sale for   THE MORNING CALM. various parts of the mission field, may be pronounced a decided success. The expenses were paid, as was hoped, by the entrance money and the refreshment stall, except for the small extra sum of 11s, 9d. charged to each mission. The results were as follows: stalls of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, £155 ; stalls of the Oxford Mission to Calcutta, £101; stalls of the St. Paul's Guild (Japan), £72; stalls of the Association of Prayer and Work for Corea, £58. That Corea should stand at the bottom of the list is natural, as we have, no doubt, many fewer friends in London than have the other missions, and, more-over, as the youngest of the four, it is only becoming that it should be so. Our stalls were taken by Mrs. Campbell Jones, Miss Trollope, and Miss J. M. Trollope. Mrs. Campbell Jones desires hearty thanks to be given to all the members of the Association and others, in various parts of England, who sent contributions. Some of the remaining articles have been sold at Beckenham by Miss Trollope, making £3. 10s. in addition. There are still a store of things which were not sold waiting to be sent to the next locality that has the courage to get up a sale for the Mission. Miss Trollope sends also the goodly sum of £24. 10s. as the half-profits (given annually to Corea) of the sale held at Beckenham, in December, by the Parochial Foreign Mission Working Party. On December 5th a sale took place at Basset, got up by Mrs. Rudge and her Corea Working Party, and to the success of which Miss Tarver's Working Party at Newport Pagnel largely contributed by sending the work they had done. £13. 4s. 3d. was the excellent result. Amongst the meetings held during the last month of the year the one held at Heavitree on St. Thomas' Day, December 21st, at 3.30 P.M., claims to stand first, on account of the celebrity of the speaker, no less a person than Dr. Wiles, who most kindly accepted the Vicar's (the Rev. S. H. Berkeley) invitation to come and give an account of the medical and general missionary work in Corea at the Parochial Quarterly Missionary Meeting, which fell on December 21st. Exeter members of the Associa-tion were, of course, invited to be present, and, notwithstanding the many occupations of that season of the year, there was a very fairly good attendance. After a short address by the Vicar on the “Interest of Lay People in Foreign Mission Work," came Dr. Wiles' only too quickly finished speech, which, drawn as it was from his unlimited store of information and experience, delighted his audience by the fresh and vivid picture which it set before them. In order to make the most of the pleasure of his visit, all the secretaries of the Association in Devonshire   THE MORNING CALM. 21 were invited to meet Dr. Wiles at luncheon at Rowancroft before the meeting, and the General Secretary had the great pleasure of welcoming the secretaries for Atherington, Barnstaple, Exeter, and Torquay, and only extremely regretted that, for various reasons, all the other Devonshire secretaries were not able to come too. On the second Sunday in Advent sermons were preached in the Church of the Good Shepherd, at Colwall, by the Rev. Prebendary Ayscough and the Rev. D. Proctor. A Corea meeting was held in the same locality, and a concert was given by seven boys at the house of one of them. The monthly meetings at St. Martin's Worcester, have been well attended. We have been asked to state that a Quiet Day for those interested in Foreign Missions will be taken by Bishop Selwyn in London on April 17th. All particulars may be had on applica-tion (enclosing stamp for reply) to Miss E. Jameson, 9 Ladbroke Square, London. The Rev. C. F. Newton, who recently started work for us in his parish, has left Brentwood, and is succeeded on our lists by Miss Hayman. Miss Gould ceases to be our secretary at Honiton Clyst, as another mission is now being worked for in that small parish, and Miss Sulivan, at Dover, wishes to leave the work for Corea entirely in the hands of our first secretary there, Miss S. M. Stert. The General Secretary is glad to report that she has heard of the completion of the Association set of magic-lantern slides, and, though she has not yet received them, she hopes that they will be in her possession and ready for all applicants by the time this number is issued. She has received during the past quarter-greatly thanks to the sales which have taken place-a larger sum of money than ever before in one quarter-about £217. This will not, however, make our total receipts for the year much in excess of those of last year. She wishes to repeat one request made in the January number, in case any secretary did not happen to notice it. Will the Secretaries please look over the names and accounts belonging to their localities in the four fly-leaves, from which the Annual Report is compiled, i.e., those sent out with the May, August, November 1893, and February 1894 Morning Calms, in order to make sure that all are correct, or to inform the General Secretary of any inaccuracies or omissions, that there may be no possibility of errors-which cannot be corrected after the Annual Report is published-passing into it unnoticed? She hopes to receive all information for the Annual Report by the end of the first week in February. M. M. CHAMBERS HODGETTS, Rowancroft, Exeter: Jan, 11th. General Secretary.   22 THE MORNING CALM. St. Peter's Community Foreign Mission Association. THE members will be pleased to hear that £29 was made at the Corean Stall, in the Bazaar held by the Associates of St. Peter's Community, in Kensington Town Hall, on December 18th and 19th. The Sisters have kindly added £1 to our £29, making our total gain from the Bazaar £30. We take this opportunity of heartily thanking all who kindly sent parcels of work for the Stall. We are most grateful for their assistance, as, had we not had this timely help, our funds would have been much below what they were in January 1893. The Secretary wants members to know that more could have been made at the Stall if there had been more warm clothing to sell. She hopes friends will kindly set to work at once to prepare a large supply of useful articles for the Sale, which we hope to have early in next December, for the Association Fund. The special wants are cross-overs, large comforters, knitted shawls, and night-socks. Men and boys' well-made flannel and calico shirts and flannel waistcoats. For women and girls - flannelette and calico night-dresses, flannel vests and bodices, flannel and serge petticoats, calico night-dresses and chemises, flannel and serge petticoats, servants' linen aprons (a good size) and muslin aprons. For children—serge and flannelette well-cut dresses to fit children from one year old to ten, petticoats of various sizes, knitted socks and stockings. Of infants' jackets and knitted boots there is a large supply from this last Sale, and no more are wanted at present. We wish members to know that the Stove and Rug Fund is closed. The Tientsin rugs came to less than we expected. We have therefore paid for six pair of snow boots for the Sisters out of the Fund, and we have transferred the balance of 9s. 6d. to the General Fund. STOVE AND RUG FUND.

RECEIPT's. EXPENDITURE. £ s. d. Donations . 16 8 6 Poore for Stove . . . 10 8 6 Rugs 2 15 0 Cording for Snow-boots. . 2 15 6 Balance to General Fund . 096 416 8 6 £16 8 6 € 5. d. 1

We are daily expecting to hear of the arrival of the stove in Seoul. ANNA GRAHAM.   THE MORNING CALM. 23

From Seoul to Peking.

If the candid reader of Morning Calm has not yet exhausted all his or her stock of that much-desired virtue, patience, and already become tired of reading so much about our “weary journeyings," may I venture to write a few lines respecting a visit to Bishop Scott's Mission in Peking? Perhaps I ought to mention, by way of preface, how it is I find myself here, and what my business is in this interesting city, Peking. Mr. Scott's (H.B.M.'s Vice-Consul, Shanghai) "Corean Grammar" you have heard so much of, and which occupied so much time passing through our tiny press in Seoul (we are slow printers !), is now finished, and, what is more, all the copies have been sent to the bookbinder in Shanghai. Some time ago a splendid printing-press was presented to the North China Mission, and now that I am well able to be absent from our work in Seoul, the Bishop has lent me to Bishop Scott, thinking I may be of some little use in helping to start the press work in Peking. My stay of six or seven weeks here will, I fear, be much too short for the kind of work I have been commissioned to do. Probably the two natives in the office here have never seen a press or "composing stick" before in their lives, so they have much to learn ; but I think they will learn in time—they seem very enthusiastic! I left Seoul on Thursday, September 21st, in company with the Bishop-walked down to the Mission House at Mapu, near the river (about four miles from the city), and there spent the night. During that same evening it was decided that we should both walk to Chemulpó next day—a journey of twenty-five miles. Luckily next moming, as we were about to cross the river, one of the small river-steamers arrived at Mapu. As the boat was about to leave for the return trip to Chemulpó almost at once, circumstances altered the case, and we stepped on board-intending to go by water. We only stuck on a sandbank once the whole way, and safely reached Chemulpó in the evening. The Japanese mail steamer, Gankai Maru, on her way to Tientsin, did not leave Chemulpó until the following Tuesday morning. Mr. Smart saw me safely on board on the Monday night. We had a very comfortable time all the way to Tientsin. We called at Chefoo on the road. The harbour was very rough the morning we entered, and passengers had some difficulty in getting ashore. I had to land, in order to deliver some letters to Rev. H. J. Brown, for Mr. Trollope, who was   24 THE MORNING CALM. expected to call there on his return from Niu Chwang-our small Chinese boat was knocked about almost like a shuttle-cock! My best thanks are due to Mr. Brown for his kind reception. Tientsin was reached the following Friday morning, 11.30 A.M. - Fortunately I was met at the landing-stage by the Rev. F. L. Norris, and therefore had no difficulty in finding the Mission-house and the Rev. W. Brereton. Mr. Norris, who happened to be in Tientsin on business, and was about to return to Peking, had very kindly awaited the arrival of the Genkai in order that he might escort me to the capital. The journey to Peking by river usually occupies three or four days, by land it only takes one or two days. We were to go by water, in a "house-boat." This kind of boat is fairly comfortable, and, though the river journey lasts so long, such a mode of conveyance is pre-ferable to that of the “ Peking cart"-one does not run so much risk of getting one's head knocked about. The roads are much the same as in Corea-abominable! We slept in our "house-boat” that Friday night, intending to start early next day. By the time I awoke I found we were well under way, and being towed along by three or four men on the bank. The river, I think, is a very curious one. There are no beautiful hills, such as we have in Corea, to break the monotony of the lowland scenery—the country is perfectly fat, and the river turns and twists in almost every possible direction. Both masts and sails are plainly visible for miles ahead, and one can easily ascertain the next bend or turn of the river. Owing to so much rain this year, the river rose considerably --so much so that it had burst its banks and flooded parts of the country. This was very unfortunate for us. Most of the water had gone inland and left the river dangerously shallow. The further up we went the more serious it became. Some-times we were in only six or eight inches of water, and the men had to get overboard and put their “shoulders to the stern." However, we made fairly good progress until the morning of the third day-then our troubles began. The bread ran short, and the contents of the "grocery box” looked somewhat diminished. We found ourselves stuck in the mud with about a hundred other boats and junks ; it was absolutely impossible to get any further. We stayed here two days and nights, during which time it seemed as if we were all holding a great fair. Nearly every boat had its peculiar flag hoisted, and the few hundred boatmen and native passengers were very loqua-cious as well as busy. A large number of soldiers were supposed to be repairing all the breaks along the banks, so we   THE MORNING CALM. 25 were expecting the water to rise daily and then proceed in peace. It appears the soldiers were waiting for a " lucky day" to arrive on which to make the repairs. We became weary of the situation. So far as the "house-boat" was concerned we were fairly comfortable. The boat is generally divided into three or four compartments. Our foremost cabin was, to a certain extent, furnished-i.e., we were supplied with a small table, two home-made-very much so--stools, a most extraordinarily-shaped candlestick, and, finally, one European tea-cup! Of course it is

COURTYARD OF COREAN INN. the business of passengers to find their own cooking utensils, knives, forks, spoons, &c., so the above is all that can possibly be expected. This front compartment, with the aforesaid table and stools, is used as sitting-room and dining-saloon. The second or middle compartment has a raised deck-on this you spread your bed and sleep. The third compartment is generally a small one, and used by the servant or native cook-it answers the purpose of a “cooking galley." Therefore we had no fault to find with our boat as regards comfort. We had been quite long enough on the river now, and Mr.   26 THE MORNING CALM. Norris wanted very much to get to Peking that week; so we resolved to abandon the boat and leave the luggage in charge of the cook, to be brought on to Peking later. Two donkeys were hired before going to bed the Tuesday night (Carts were not available, or, if so, they were too expensive.) Six o'clock Wednesday morning saw us and donkeys on the high-road to the capital. The two donkeys Mr. Norris had so much trouble in getting on the previous night, turned out to be a complete failure-worthless beasts. Mr. Norris's animal had a sore back (probably amounting to "spinal irritation," for our friend had enough to do to keep on the saddle!), whilst mine must have had "St. Vitus's dance" in its fore left leg-it had quite enough to do to keep on its own legs! We were compelled to walk a good way. Later on in the day we were supplied with two more competent beasts. The distance from the boat to the city gates was forty-five miles. We were anxious to reach the gates before they were closed for the night—we did so, thanks to our second supply of donkeys ! I can scarcely say what my first impression was of Peking. Seoul is quite disagreeable enough, but it cannot boast of thick clouds of miserable black dust, such as often is the case in Peking. We reached Bishop Scott's compound just in time to be present at the native Evensong, which is held daily in the extremely pretty church dedicated to Our Saviour. It does one good to hear the hymns and chants rendered in such a hearty style by a Chinese congregation. Two days after my arrival, Bishop and Mrs. Scott left Peking in order to visit other parts of the diocese. I have been here now about three weeks. Meanwhile I have been trying to teach the two native printers how to "make up a forme," "make ready," and handle the press, whilst Rev. Mr. Norman has been struggling to manufacture three " brass galleys" and a “composing stick." (I fancy a smile on your compositor's face, Mr. Editor!) The carpenter was worried a little, and so was the "tinker," but the articles above-mentioned were ultimately produced, and they give great satisfaction. The two native printers here will be greatly indebted to Mr. Norman. Perhaps by the time this reaches the pages of Morning Calm, the little press will be hard at work and the business in full swing. Peking, China, J. W. HODGE. October 22nd, 1893.   THE MORNING CALM. 27 The Spirit of Missions. “You may see some parts of the earth the very lands of which are scorched and seamed by the dry prints of old torrents which once watered the plains daily, and which now, in perfect drought and hardness. Witness only to the change of the heavens above them. Once they were conduits and ducts of gracious showers which made the valleys below gracious and abundant, but the showers have ceased to fall ; they themselves are dry as the bare desert side, and what once were laughing valleys are now themselves dried-up wastes. And is there not in nature a terrible sign of what befalls the Church when, because she is unfaithful to her high vocation, the showers of grace are suffered not to fall, and her sacraments and other means, which once carried those gracious and refreshing gifts of God to ten thousand souls, are become empty of the inward grace which is their only life, and are become barren and fruitless as the land of God's sentence? We have seen in the Church such an instance, and may God avert it from us! We have seen it in the North African Church, which produced St. Augustine, and which once numbered more than two hundred bishoprics, and what is it now? How completely wasted away and perished! und that because, as it seems to me, when Christianity was at its height there, no attempt was made to spread it into Africa below it; no efforts were made to advance it beyond Rome, and the civilisation that then was upon the earth, and boldly and daringly to invade the conterminous heathenism. And so when the awful Moslem power swept over that land, it had no native strength to fall back upon ; it had no outlying civilisations ; no national support to sustain it ; and was swept away by the judgment of God's providence, because in the day of abundance it had been content to have, without imparting, the blessing of Christianity. Spiritual selfishness is the worst form of selfishness, whether it be that of a Church or a man. who contemplates the gift of God in Christ as if meant only for himself, and not for everyone around him, that man turns with the alchemy of selfishness the very gold of God's blessed gift into poison and dross. Yes, so it will be, depend upon it, if we listen to that voice which says, ‘Have for yourselves, but don't think of spending and giving to others.’ It is as we do give to others that our God will give to us. It is as we bear the blessed message to every waiting soul that we shall know, from God's merciful gift to our souls, more of its inward power, more of its superabundant grace. Therefore do we desire for our own welfare, as well as for the glory of our God, that we may be stirred up in every part of our Church, to labour through this chosen instrument for this blessed end." - Bishop Samuel Wilberforce. There is something strangely sad in the news which has just been received from WEST AFRICA at the Church Missionary House that Bishop Hill and his wife had both died in December. The Right Reverend Joseph Stanley Hill was only consecrated about six months ago to be Bishop of Western Equatorial Africa, and already he has been called to his rest. No news has yet been received as to the circumstances of his death and that of his wife, but it was very probably owing to the malarial fever caused by the terrible climate. It had been hoped that the Bishop would be less subject to this because he had already lived up the river Niger; but if it has been otherwise, it is only another sign   28 THE MORNING CALM. of the great danger incurred by Europeans who work there in the cause of our Master. Such danger, of course, necessitates the taking of every possible precaution; it may point clearly to the need for a stronger and more spiritual body of native clergy, who will be able to stand alone. But it has not hitherto, nor will it now, we may be confident, kept back volunteers for the work while they are needed. The following account of the work of the Rev. F. D. Bruce in the island of Exuma, one of the Bahamas, is taken from the Mission Field for January : - "At Exuma I spent sixteen days, which were taken up in visiting six stations, in company with Deacon Floyd. Wher-ever we went we were gladly welcomed. The result of my visit was as follows: 9 celebrations, 3 infant baptisms, 1 burial, I wedding, 3 sermons, 2 children's services with catechising, 27 parochial visits. Besides, I took several evensongs, as well as giving assistance at other services. For nearly a week we had to be riding from place to place, returning at the end to the township after twenty miles in the saddle, going over rough, rocky, and sandy roads, and through dense jumba bushes, completely hiding both rider and horse, whilst at times being careful lest the numerous log-wood thorns should tear us to pieces. On one evening we had a good ducking from a heavy downfall of rain, which wetted us quite to the skin, so that we were glad at the journey's end to dry our wet things before the fire, each house being provided with a small fire-place in time of sickness and any extreme cold. They have outlets, which are slanting chimneys, resembling the spout of a tea-pot. We slept that night in the very rude and plain thatched building which accommodates the Church congregations on a Sunday, and the children of the clay school. It was the holiday season for the latter, so I was not able to see anything of their progress, either at this place, ‘Rolleville’ (chiefly inhabited by families of ‘Rolles,’ who were formerly slaves of Lord Rolle, who gave them leave to squat on his land). The old slave African, ‘Aunt Di,’ at whose house we fully appreciated the fire-place, though we stood in borrowed female button-boots (we could not get any change of clothes but this), said that her name was in England on his books; ‘Hart's,’ with its very kind and orderly guild, full of young people ; the Forest, where we slept at the old farmstead and regaled ourselves on the delicious milk and mutton ; or ‘Great Pond’ Moss Town was unattractive, and needs a decent church to replace the present dilapidated one. The scenery of   THE MORNING CALM. 29 lakes, ponds, hills, and cays was very pretty, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit." Here is an interesting statement, from the pen of the Rev. Eyre Chatterton, of the Dublin Brotherhood in CHOTA NAG-PORE, of the education question as it concerns the missionary in India: - “There are some who would limit the sphere of the mis-sionary abroad as they would at home, entirely to things spiritual. And it is true that the end of all missionary effort is spiritual or it is nothing. But as man is a composite being, there are many things absolutely necessary for his welfare that can hardly be classed as spiritual, unless we give that word a very wide meaning. "It is in the sphere of these matters that the missionary and the earnest official will meet and shake hands. One of the largest of these fields is the field of education. "In the district of Hazaribagh, in which primary education is in a most backward state, and in which our Government is anxious to do all in its power to advance primary education, it seems pretty evident that it is the duty of the missionary to see how far he can assist, as well as be assisted by, Government in this department. With an area of more than 7,000 square miles under his control, the Deputy-Commissioner has found it next to impossible to make even the comparatively few schools which exist in the jungle-villages at all as efficient as they should be ; and for this simple reason-everything in India needs inspection. If you want your horse fed, if you are wise, you will see it done. Wherever work can be scamped you may feel quite certain it will be. And so in this matter of schools. It is heard that the Deputy-Com-missioner is on tour. He is about to visit a certain part of his district and to inspect certain villages. He arrives. A school flourishing in point of numbers awaits him. He begins to ex-amine the children with or without his attendant inspector. Slates are shown-simple mental arithmetic is given, a little reading is experimented. Alas ! for the results. Gradually the truth comes out. All, or nearly all, of these children are utterly ignorant. Most of them have been brought in for the occasion, or a few days previously. Such schools as these cannot be ex-pected to flourish. Of course the one remedy for all this is Inspection, with a very big I. But the difficulty is to get really conscientious inspectors for these jungle schools. "It is in this department that the work of the Christian missionary may be well and wisely directed. He can, at anv   30 THE MORNING CALM. rate for a while, avail himself of the Government grant given to aid such schools. If he is able to place thoroughly capable and conscientious Christian teachers in these villages along

COLEAN GIRI.. with a companion Christian preacher, he will have begun his work by forming a centre from which, with God's blessing, the sound of the Gospel can go forth into the surrounding heathen villages. These schools, if only the Christian teacher be a sin-   THE MORNING CALM. 31 cere and earnest man, will not fail to draw the hearts of the parents. In addition to Government inspection, it will be, of course, necessary for one at least of the European missionaries to inspect these schools periodically, and in this manner the Church and State may, with one united endeavour, advance the cause of God and the welfare of man in this district."

We take the following from the Church Times: -"In the course of a letter which The Standard prints from a trooper belonging to Major Wilson's Victoria column occurs the follow-ing account of an act of heroism on the part of Bishop Knight-Bruce. No wonder the Bishop is popular amongst the settlers: ‘One incident of heroism is worth recording. As the daylight was breaking we heard, about one hundred yards off, yells of pain, and on looking in the direction saw a wounded nigger standing up crying Miaw’ (mother-an exclamation always used by Zulus, in time of distress, and these Matas are proud that they are true Zulus). Immediately every rifle ceased firing, and cries of "Run in” were raised. He seemed undetermined for a long while, till the Bishop of Mashonaland, Dr. Knight-Bruce, went out to him, and helped him into camp, amid con-stant shots from the enemy. A cheer went up, and business (sic) was resumed.’" Society of the Sacred Mission. DEAR MR. EDITOR, I suppose Editors must live, and that to live as Editors (cf. S. Anselm, "De Grammatico") they must have nourish-ment-i.e. "copy," but the suggestion of your intermediary (whose visits are sometimes considered by authors to be described in S. Thos. Aq., “Sum. Theol." I. cxiv. De Impug. Dam) ; that I should describe certain plans we hope to accomplish in the future is too much. I always thought it was part of the distinctive ethics of Missionary magazines that, whereas in politics you always speak of what you are going to do (the past and present being often painful subjects), we never speak of future intentions except when we want money-(please tell your readers I hope to speak of the future next month, they might like to be saving up)-nor of the past, except of suc-cesses-(this however is not distinctive of missionaries). In the main, we missionaries are creatures of a day and talk (in public) only of what we are doing at the moment. Dear Mr. Editor and readers at the present time we are working hard-unless anybody likes to say the Director is play   32 THE MORNING CALM. ing while writing this letter. There are thirteen of us just now, and I think I may say on the whole we are a very industrious tribe. Our youngest-aged 16, commonly believed to be the youngest religious in the English Church and one of the most satisfactory, is doing the pupil-teacher, and very well he does it. Two go up to King's College for medical study, and very well they do it. Eight remain at home and try to find out what exact knowledge means, and very well they do that. And Mr. Smith and I look after them all, and if we don't do it very well, we do it as well as we can, which is next best. As for Mr. Smith, whose energy is unlimited, not content with his work here, he has been ordained deacon and looks after S. John's parish as well-or at any rate, part of it—so he hasn't much time for play. As to the past, we can allow you to hear of successes only. Mr. Peake also has been ordained, and is now a curate in Corn-wall; after two years' experience in England he will return to Corea. During last year, as you know, we sent two men to Central Africa, and they certainly ought to be chronicled as the very biggest kind of success ; one is at, the other near, Magila. Our two seniors went in at the beginning of the year for the formal examination, which sits on each candidate-not, let us hope, in the metaphorical sense.-every two years, and came out with flying colours, as we hope our two candidates of this year may also do. Our festival at Michaelmas was another great success, as you have already duly chronicled. In regard to the future, it would not be fair to speak of plans which are as yet suggestions, and involve others than ourselves : it must be sufficient to say that we hope soon to welcome one of the priests of the Central African Mission as our brother; that Bishop Smythics has interested himself deeply in our plans, and that before another twelve months are passed, we may have in Africa, not merely more men at work, but a house of our own, under a leader whose very name is a charm. So far we have taken in no new men this year. Although many have offered, we have decided to begin our "academic year" in September instead of January, as more convenient all round. Before then we shall have to consider how the means are to be found to maintain them: but there are no real anxieties when one is content with God's will. The future will be all clear-when it comes. Nevertheless, “brethren, pray for us.” Yours sincerely in Christ, HERBERT KELLY, Director S.S.M. 97 Vassall Road, S.W., January, 1894.