Morning Calm v.14 no.97(1903 Aug.)

THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ No. 97, VOL. XIV.] AUGUST 1903 [PRICE 3d. ________________________________________ The Bishop's Letters. Ⅰ. LONDON: April, 1903. DEAR FRIENDS, By invitation of the Committee of H.N.F. I was present at their usual Quarterly Meeting, when, as might have been expected, an unanimous expression of regret was recorded for the trouble occasioned by the recent appointment to St. Luke's, Chemulpó--an appointment which the Committee had by this time discovered ought never to have been made. Asked to address the meeting, I drew its attention from the trouble which is now passed to the more serious trouble which is impending--namely, the immediate future of the medical work of the Mission. That work, having been made possible for fourteen years by the kind efforts of the Committee, is in danger of coming to an end with the lives of the original donors and of the Bishop to whom this generous gift has been annually presented. I had with me a record of St. Matthew's Hospital, Seoul, for the last ten years, provided by the kindness of Dr. Baldock, from which it appears that the attendance of out-patients has been 137,981, of in-patients 1,597, whilst the number of major operations performed has been 628. These figures, from one hospital alone, do not look as if the time had come for closing the work. And yet I had to tell the meeting that before I left Seoul I had received from two of the most experienced of my clergy a strong expression of opinion that this hospital ought to be closed if adequate funds are not forth-coming to support it without entailing anxiety upon the Bishop and his successor. My naval friends had, I knew, come to the end of their tether. The H.N.F. might not die with me; but as the original founders of the Fund get more and more out of touch with the contemporary Navy there is no reason to expect   62 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ that the number of the subscribers or the amount of the sub-scriptions will increase. I told the Committee, therefore, that unless I could get an endowment yielding at least £500 per annum I must face the possibility of closing this excellent work at no distant date. I obtained leave from the Committee to make use of their names if I should be so fortunate as to meet with some wealthy person who, on a review of the whole circum-stances, should feel disposed to give me £12,000 for the purpose of maintaining in perpetuity at least one of the two hospitals, which have been at work almost continuously since 1890. I will forward to the Editor a copy of a paper which I have drawn up in case he can find room for it. There are not many millionaires amongst the readers of Morning Calm, but it may thus come to the notice of someone who will be disposed to give this sum for so laudable an object. You will understand that I desire to receive this from one person, or at least from a very few, rather than to raise it in small sums from many, because, having come to England for a very different purpose, and having to return to Corea as soon as possible, I cannot contemplate such a long stay as would be necessary to raise so large a sum of money by means of sermons, meetings, &c. Encouraged by this cordial welcome from my old naval friends, I proceeded at once to report myself in Delahay Street, and then began my search for clergy--three in number--to supply the places of Mr. Trollope, Mr. Peake, and Bro. Firkins. I do not think that the Editor will be prepared to print an account of all my wanderings during this month. Perhaps it will suffice to say that in my double quest for clergy and this £12,000 for the hospitals I visited Cardiff, Clifton, Norfolk, Oxford, Lambeth (the Archbishop), the Dean of Westminster, and Salisbury. Through the kind-ness of Bishop Montgomery I was able to lay before him a more detailed description of our needs--out of office hours--at his home in Chiswick; and though I am not as a rule holding meetings (for which indeed I have now no time), I had one delightful meeting of members of the A.P.W. and friends of the Mission in Charlton, where the people were all eager to hear the very latest news of Mr. Turner. I stole one afternoon to spend at Poplar with Mr. Trollope, who looked very well and was, rejoiced to hear, happy in his work now that he has found three clergy to help him. Yours affectionately, *C. J. CORFE.   THE MORNING CALM. 63________________________________________ II. LONDON: May, 1903. DEAR FRIENDS, In the early part of this month I made a diversion to Portland for the purpose of holding a Confirmation on board H.M.S. Boscawen for the Bishop of Salisbury. During the month I have visited Bournemouth, Winchester, Bexhill-on-Sea, St. Leonards (where I had a talk with the Rev. Mother of St. Peter's and Sister Helen Constance), Wanstead, Greenwich, Oxford, Barnsley, Wakefield, Mirfield (both the Community of the Resurrection and the Theological College), Manchester, New Brighton, Liverpool, Southport, Chester, Delamere, Cradley, Hopton, Coreley, and Tenbury. There have been no meetings this month and only two sermons, one at the request of the County Secretary for Yorkshire and one for S.P.G. on Whit-sunday. I omitted to say last month that I attended a meeting of the Standing Committee of S.P.G., and was invited a fortnight later to address the Incorporated Members of the Society. You will be glad to know that as the result of my wanderings I have heard of a possible doctor and a probable priest, of whom I shall have more to say next month. Yours affectionately, *C. J. CORFE. ________________________________________ III. LONDON : June, 1903. DEAR FRIENDS, My visits this month have taken me to Hereford, to St. Michael's, Aberdare, where I addressed the students ; to Llwynypia, in South Wales, where I gave a magic lantern lecture; to Ely, for the Festival of the Theological College on Trinity Monday ; to Cambridge, Worplesdon, Woking, where I had again a long interview with the Rev. Mother of St. Peter's ; to Lennox Gardens, to see the General Secretary A.P.W.; to Derby, Malvern, where, under the auspices of the County and Local Secretaries, a very successful meeting was held, to which our old and kind friend Mrs. Bishop was so good as to come all the way from London ; to Cheltenham, Yiewsley, where the King's Messengers who support our boy Ricardo Chang demanded an account of my stewardship at a delightful meet-ing which was organised by our old and faithful friend Rev. L. Mitchell ; to Winchester, where I spoke for the S.P.G. at a Meeting in the Deanery; to King's Somborne and Salisbury,   64 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ where I was asked to preach in the Cathedral for H.N.F. ; to Copythorne, where again everyone knows and loves Mr. Turner ; and finally to Catisfield, to see some of the oldest, truest, and kindest friends of the Mission. Besides the sermon above mentioned, I preached for the London Hospitals at St. Michael's, North Islington. After mature consideration the Rev. W: N. Gurney, of Merton College, Oxford, has offered himself to S.P.G. for work in Corea. He has passed the doctor and will sail as soon as he can make the necessary arrangements. Do not fail to offer up your thanksgivings for this answer to many prayers, and to redouble your prayers that two more clergy may speedily be found to relieve the heavy strain upon the small remnant who are left. My letters from Corea are not very cheerful reading, except that Mr. Turner's health still continues to be good—“ fairly good” he calls it. Mrs. Steenbuch has been very ill--at one time she was thought to be dying--but is now slowly recovering. Nurse Ada Hudson does not regain her health, or at least her strength, and I shall not be surprised to hear that she is too weak to remain in Corea. Mr. Hodge writes to tell me that he is engaged to another of our nurses, which means, I suppose, that in a short time we shall be deprived of her valuable services--a great loss. Finally, Dr. Baldock has signified his wish to terminate his engagement with the Mission next May. But I hope that the Editor may have some direct news from Mr. Turner for insertion in this number of the Magazine; the letters I have received from him having been necessarily very short, and dealing only with the most important facts. I shall continue my search during the next quarter, and have not yet seen my way to fixing a date for my return. My perplexity, indeed, is great. But as long as Mr. Turner's health remains good it seems right that I should continue for the present to make known in England the serious straits into which the Mission has come for want of clergy. At the same time I hold myself ready to return to Corea at a day's notice. The receipt of telegraphic news may any day recall me. Do not, therefore, be surprised if when the November number of Morning Calm is published you find that I have gone. Begging very earnestly your most earnest prayers for us all, I am, : Yours affectionately, *C. J. CORFE.   THE MORNING CALM. 65________________________________________ The medical Mission of the Church of England in Corea. Founded in 1890, and consisting of two Hospitals and two Dispensaries.

IN 1890 some Officers of the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines formed themselves into a Committee, under the patron-age of Admiral of the Fleet H.R.H. the late Duke of Edinburgh and Capt. H.R.H. the Duke of York, for the purpose of begin-ning medical work amongst the people of Corea--of which country the Rev. C. J. Corfe, after 22 years' service as a chaplain in the Royal Navy, had, in 1889, been appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be the first Missionary Bishop. Through the efforts of this Committee a sum averaging over ￡300 has for fourteen years been given annually to the Bishop for this purpose. This sum has sufficed for the purchase of drugs, in part for stipends of two qualified medical men, and in part for the maintenance of the two hospitals--in Seoul, the capital, and Chemulpó, the neighbouring and principal treaty port—which have been open and at work almost continuously since 1890. If the hospitals of St. Matthew, in Seoul, and St. Luke, in Chemulpó (both founded in 1890), are to be effectively maintained, the cost will be as follows: --

I. (a) ST. MATTHEW's. (b) ST. LUKE's. Stipend of Doctor £250 per an. £250 per an. Maintenance of 2 Nurses £150 ,, £150 ,, Maintenance of hospital (including £200 ,, £200 ,, drugs and all repairs to buildings) ----- ----- £600 per an. £600 per an.

Of these sums, there are secured permanently for (a) ST. MATTHEW's. Towards Doctor's Stipend, from the British F.O., abouts } £100 per an. (b) ST. LUKE's. Towards Doctor's Stipend, from S.P.C.K. } £50 per an.

This reduces the cost of the two hospitals respectively to, (a) ST. MATTHEWS, £500 per an. (b) St. Luke's, £550 per an.

So long as the Corean Government employ the Mission Doctors as Medical Officers of the Imperial Customs (i.e.   66 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ probably so long as the Chief Commissioner is a British subject), there are further secured locally for (a) ST. MATTHEW's. (b) St. Luke's. Towards Doctor's Stipend ... about £ 100 per an. ... about £100 per an.

thus reducing the cost of

(a) ST. MATTHEW's to £400 per an. (b) St. Luke's to £450 per an.

These posts in the Customs Service and British Legation at Seoul are held at the pleasure of the Chief Commissioner and the British Minister, who are at liberty at any time to select their Medical Officers from doctors of other nationalities. It is also evident that if the possession of these fees by the Mission doctors reduces the cost, the work entailed by the corresponding duties (especially in Chemulpó) involves a heavy charge on the Mission doctors' time. But, assuming the most favourable conditions, the expenses which in future have to be met for

(a) St. Matthew's are £400 per an. (6) St. Luke's, £450 per an.

This total sum of £850 per annum may perhaps be diminished by obtaining the services of missionary doctors who would be content with a smaller stipend than £250--an improbable, though by no means impossible, contingency, since the first doctor of St. Matthew's was a volunteer who accepted no money from the Mission, while the first doctor of St. Luke's received no more than £100 per annum, and gave all his fees to the Mission. Estimating the income of the Hospital Naval Fund at £300, there will remain therefore a deficiency of between £500 and £600 to be supplied annually for the effective maintenance of these two hospitals. This deficiency can only be provided for by a capital sum of (say) £12,000, which, carefully invested, might produce the required amount. And if this annual income of (say) £500 can thus be secured, at least one of these hospitals would be maintained effectively supposing all the above favourable conditions to fail—that is to say, supposing

(I) The Corean Government Grant to both hospitals is withdrawn or declined ... i.e. £200 per an. (2) The British F.O. Grant is withdrawn i.e. £100 ,, (3) The Income of H.N.F. dwindles to nil i.e. £300 ,, ------- £600 per an.

The original total cost of the two hospitals (I.), £1,200 per an., is thus halved, and the expenses of either of them would   THE MORNING CALM. 67________________________________________be met by the Endowment and the Yearly Grant from S.P.C.K., so long as the Society continued it to the Mission. The above estimate of the expenses of the two hospitals does not at all represent the expenses which have been incurred : for (i.) the stipend of the Doctor of St. Matthew's (from the above sources) is ￡300; (ii.) that of the Doctor of St. Luke's has, in recent years, been £150, whilst St. Luke's has no nurses, and has had less than £100 per an. for maintenance. Table I., therefore, to represent the actual cost, must be written thus : --

II. (a) ST. MATTHEW's. (b) ST. LUKE's. Stipend of Doctor £300 per an. £150 per an. Maintenance of two Nurses £150 ,, Maintenance of hospital (say) £200 ,, £100 ,, ----- ----- £650 per an. £250 per an.

This total sum of £900 has been met thus :

H.N.F. (say) ... … … … £300 per an. S.P.C.K. ... … … … £50 ,, Corean Customs (say) ... … … £150 ,, Foreign Office (say) … … … £100 ,, From General or Special Mission Funds £300 ,, This last asset is very precarious and unreliable.

With regard to the fabrics. (a) The buildings occupied by St. Matthew's Hospital in Seoul belong to the Mission, having been bought, or built, or adapted by S.P.G., or by individuals who have given them to the Mission. The repairs have been a charge on S.P.G. In all cases they are Corean houses, and will soon have to be removed as being no longer sanitary. The question of the future main-tenance of St. Matthew's, therefore, cannot be considered apart from the necessity of providing, in the immediate future, a new building suitable for a work of these modest dimensions. It would not, perhaps, be difficult to raise the block sum of (say) ￡3,000 wherewith to erect and equip such a building. (b) The Hospital of St. Luke's in Chemulpó, on the other hand, is practically a new building of brick, on granite foundations, European in form and construction. It contains quarters for a doctor, for two nurses, and—besides two large wards for Corean patients, operating room, waiting rooms, and dispensary--it has a ward for European (i.e. for paying) patients. The construction of this building cost about £800, of which £500 was provided from the Marriott Bequest; the remainder   68 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ (including additional ground) having been given by individuals for this purpose and, in great part, as a memorial to the doctor who died, after seven years' service, in the Corean building which preceded the present structure.

ST. MATTHEW'S HOSPITAL. RECORD FOR THE IO YEARS FROM 1893-1902 INCLUSIVE. Number of Beds, 12. Small Wards for infectious cases. Year 1893 214 1894 1895 1896 100 1897 1898 Out-Patient 2 In- Major Expenditure Attendance 2 Patients Operations Surgeon ... £100 *4,924 *I12 Nurses (2) ... 150 Patients 12,815 271 102 19,275 113 15,214 1104 129 Surgeon 17,210 *208 *95 Patients 166 4416 Nurses (2) 150 Surgeon 100) 12,891 161 41 Patients 179 429 Nurses (2)... 150 Surgeon .. (100) 17,469 Patients 162 6412 Nurses (2) ... 150) Surgeon 4100 12,606 156 Patients .. 98 6348 Nurses (2) ... 150 Surgeon 12,118 Patients Nurses (2) 150) Surgeon ... 6100 DE 13,459 60 Patients 179 (354 Nurses (2) $75 Total expense of the 137,981 1 ,597 628 Hospital in all branches 142,37 Si Sterling for 6 years GMTEN 1899 1900 ... 410. ! £411 1901 1902 138 Totals

________________________________________ Association of Prayer and work for Corea.

WILL Secretaries and Members please study carefully the changes of names and addresses on the covers of Morning Calm? The General Secretary has left 7 Lennox Gardens,

• Numbers for 7 months only. The Hospital (In-Patient Department) was closed during August in 1900.
• Numbers for 9 months only. 1901 and 1902.
• Numbers for 6 months only. No record is kept of minor surgical operations.
• No Nurses for 5 months.

  THE MORNING CALM. 69________________________________________and all communications should be sent to her new address, 184 Ashley Gardens, S.W.; but, as she will probably be abroad between August 15 and October 15, she hopes to receive as few letters as possible during that period. All necessary communica-tions should be addressed to Miss Trollope, 29 Woodstock Road, Bedford Park, Chiswick, W., who will also send out and receive the September-October Reports, supply literature, &c. Miss B. Seccombe, our Needlework Secretary, has under-taken work in Kaffraria. We are very grateful for her manage-ment of this Branch for many years, and are glad to announce she has provided a successor, Miss M. Newman, whom we hope to keep busily occupied next winter, when the work parties recommence. As the publication of our Annual Report was unexpected, there was no time to find out the wants of individual Secretaries as usual ; copies may still be had from the General Secretary, and in the new form they are very useful to distribute at meetings. The General Secretary will be glad to arrange for copies of the large type Intercession Paper to be supplied to those who care to pay for them, but she cannot undertake that the Mission should present these gratis. Will Members who are taking holidays ascertain if anything can be done or is being done for Corea in the different churches or parishes they may visit ? We often feel hopeless about doing much more in our own circle, but the summer holidays are an excellent opportunity if our 3,000 members become an army of aggression during that period. We have to acknowledge the usual very satisfactory cheque for proceeds of Sale of Work from Basset, and also for the first time a share from a Sale at Bicton, Shrewsbury. A very successful meeting was held at Malvern, with Lord Beauchamp in the chair, at which Bishop Corfe spoke. Mrs. Bishop once more showed her kindness to the Mission by travelling a distance to give her evidence on our behalf. Bishop Corfe was also able to be present at Yiewsley to meet the members and also the new Vicar, who will continue to support our Mission. Will members who would like to send on Morning Calm when read communicate with the General Secretary? We want to provide Naval Institutes, &c., with the Magazine, and probably many people would be willing to send on their copy regularly if provided with an address. The Magazine now goes regularly to all Theological and Missionary Colleges. Will any of our readers help us to bring the needs of Corea before medical students,   70 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ nurses, schoolmasters, and public school boys? We badly want “Agents” for these different departments--a doctor to teach us how to interest the medical world, a nurse to teach us how to reach the nursing world, and a schoolmaster to help us in the scholastic world. We do not necessarily expect these busy people to do the work, but to teach us how best to do it. In many of these spheres the year commences in the autumn. The General Secretary, therefore, hopes to receive many letters of advice on this subject in October CONSTANCE A. N. TROLLOPE, 184 Ashley Gardens, S.W. ________________________________________ St. Peter's Community Foreign Mission Association. THE three spring months are naturally the least active time for S.P.F.M.A., and there is very little to report beyond the welcome facts that funds come steadily in and new members bring fresh interest. The attention of members is drawn to the two events which have now become an integral part of the working of the Association. 1. The Day of Intercession and Thanksgiving will be held at St. Peter's Home, Kilburn, on Tuesday, December 1. 2. The Corean Stall will again be kindly taken by the Misses Trollope at the Annual Associates' Bazaar, which will take place at the end of November at Kensington Town Hall. All contributions will be gladly welcomed, and should be sent to Sister Helen Constance, St. Peter's Home, Kilburn, clearly marked “For Corean Stall," by November 14. Some beautiful scrap-books made by Mrs. Cooke have been sent for the Orphanage, and are much appreciated. This ever-popular branch of the Sisters' work is well supported, and in spite of the difficulties of rearing sickly, children in the Corean climate the numbers keep a large average. The four elder boys, Alick, Arthur, Denis, and Luke, will probably go to the Kang Hoa school shortly, but the vacancies will soon be filled up. Brigitta is the latest addition to the number of children, and has been adopted by a member. This leaves only one little girl Elisabeth, 2 1/2 years old, entirely dependent on the Orphan-age funds, and no doubt some kind friend in England or America will offer to adopt her. Some very good specimens of   THE MORNING CALM. 71________________________________________the children's work will be shown for sale with the curios at the Corean Stall. There is a plea from Kang Hoa for some kindergarten toys, balls, pictures, &c., for the children there who are being taught by the Sisters. These would be gratefully received by the Secretary, and could be enclosed in the cases sent out in the autumn in order to reach the Sisters by Christmas. To prevent disappointment and save many inquiries, it is well to point out that this is the only time in the year in which it is possible to afford accommodation for the numerous requests as to forward-ing parcels received from time to time. It is therefore suggested that all kind gifts and parcels for enclosure should be sent to St. Peter's Home, Kilburn, by September 1, with a small contri-bution towards the very heavy freightage.

________________________________________ from Seoul to kang hoa. THE scenery on the line is very beautiful, especially now when the young green is appearing and the fruit trees are in blossom. Imagine a stretch of rice-fields, beyond it a road winding in and out, and on it a string of heavily laden bullocks plodding along patiently with their drivers beside them; the latter being dressed in white, with huge, light straw hats on their heads as large as umbrellas. Fringing the road a row of the low thatched or tiled Corean houses, and as a background ranges of hills as far as the eye can see. The rice-fields are of all shapes and sizes, and have low mud banks all round them to keep the rainwater in when it comes. Just now they are in different stages : in some the round hard clumps of stubble from last year's crop remain ; in one or two, where there is some spring-water, the new emerald-green shoots are beginning to be seen, in a month's time to be planted out in the other fields. In one a man was busily ladling out water with a wooden ladle hung on a wooden tripod, so I suppose there was too much water in one field or too little in the other. In another the “casting of bread on the waters” was illustrated--a man throwing handfuls of seed on the water. In still another a man was ploughing with a very primitive wooden plough attached to an ox, man and ox often knee deep in the mud; while one field was in sole possession of a graceful heron, who stood on one leg, admiring his own reflec-tion in the water, and occasionally driving his bill into the mud in search of food. Of course all the scenery is not so rural. In one part a sand desert stretches along the river bank for   72 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ miles, the only sign of life being an occasional dot on the white glare, which indicates a solitary traveller across it; and oh! how tiring that sand must be! Then dotted all over the land-scape are burying-places, many of them shaped like horseshoes, some roughly walled in, the graves themselves large round mounds, a few with roughly hewn granite images and blocks near them. These are all on hillsides, as if in death the instinct is to be laid a little above the sordidness of the Valley of the Shadow of Heathenism. After nearly two hours of this varied scenery one arrives at Chemulpó, the seaport, and when the tide suits one starts on one's journey again, this time by water, in a sampan--a large flat-bottomed boat with the bows roofed in so as to form a sort of cabin. Passengers sit in the bows and the boatmen in the stern—a unique arrangement, and when sailing, of course, one is rather in the way, but when rowing it is a better position, as the boatmen, three in number, stand to row, or rather scull with huge sweeps, one man on either side and one directly aft, all giving such wide sweeps that if one were in the stern the loss of a front tooth might eventuate ! Kang Hoa is an island, so though one talks of “going up the river," and some of the river water does flow down the channel one ascends, the main body of the Han river flows into the sea by a channel north of the island, and one sails up on salt-water all the way, which should more properly be called an arm of the sea, and a very jerky, restless arm it can be too ; but my first acquaintance with it was charming, for it lay quite at rest and peaceful, and, the wind being in our favour, we made a record passage. It is a mysterious little voyage into the nowhere apparently, for the water winds about among rocky islands, and often one thinks one has come to the end of everything, till quite suddenly the water-path opens out again, and so on indefinitely. Which brings me to a little anecdote to relieve the tedium of so much description of scenery. Some hundreds of years ago, when the then representative of the present line of kings was fleeing from an invading enemy, he was being guided to safety in Kang Hoa by one who professed to know the way, and when he came to one of the places where apparently the water comes to an end and there can be no possible way out of the cul de sac, he thought his guide was traitorously leading him into a death trap, and in his insane fear and rage immediately ordered him to be executed, and the poor wretch's head was struck off. I was shown the place where the tragedy occurred; but no trace now remains except the place where, as a sign of   THE MORNING CALM. 73________________________________________ his sorrow for his rash act, the king, when peace was restored, erected a monument in memory of his unfortunate guide, and where he ordered yearly sacrifices to be offered, at which he himself occasionally officiated. To continue, after many arrivals at the “end of all things,” and the subsequent discovery that more “ends” lay beyond, we reached Tok-jin, a safe but rather forlorn-looking little cove, where one of our passengers landed and stood patiently waiting for some Corean to happen along and carry his possessions to his home, three miles inland. We sailed on into the (to me) unknown, and a curve in the land brought us to the rapids. Now, I should dearly like to describe them as a sort of Niagara, but truth compels me to admit that they are very meek and mild, and by taking as wide a circuit as the bend will allow one only feels the very gentlest tossing imaginable. My idea of rapids was a sheer precipice of rocks with water boiling over it, and the brave and noble boatmen, with their still braver and nobler passengers, going head foremost down over them! These rapids are caused by the down-going or up-going tide meeting the water of a strong eddy at the point of land where the water takes a sharp turn, and the boats just give them a wide berth and pass over the tail end of them. I feel that this truth-ful description robs my story of a very picturesque detail, and am aggrieved thereby! An hour's sail, very quick--it generally takes longer--and the courier informed me we had arrived at Kapkochee; and behold another safe little landing place, rather more pretentious than the last, because there is a sort of beach, and a few men, à la Coréan mode, were “strewn-round-generally-doing-nothing" but smoke. Two or three inns grace the shore, and to one of these the courier took me to await Sister's arrival. The inmates are some of our Christians, and two women wel-comed me, and made me sit down on a sort of wooden platform in the inner room. Of course they and the children came to gaze at such a curiosity, for though they have grown used to Sisters now, a bebloused-skirted-hatted female is somewhat of a novelty, for in this island, about the size of the Isle of Wight, the only foreigners are the members of our Mission who work there--viz. three sisters, one priest, and one layman here in the city, and nine miles away one priest and one doctor. Presently Sister arrived, and we had a lovely three-mile walk home, first under the shadow of a hill and then across acres of rice-fields, where the banks between the fields along which the paths run are so narrow that one is forced to walk in single file. All around one such a feast of scenery !--hills every-   74 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ where, and on a level with one's eyes the plain lying quiet and peaceful under a blue sky, the colour of which was reflected in the paddy fields all round one, where a lazy breeze was just rippling the water and breaking up the light and reflections into squares and stars. In front of us lay Kang Hoa, “a fenced city,” walled in all round jealously, and wearing an air of quiet security. The only really prominent building is our church, and that being of Corean architecture blends with everything round it. It is a large building, and the only way I can describe it is by asking you to imagine a Chinese pagoda with its top knocked off and only the ground floor and one storey left. There is a large cross at each end of the pointed roof, the one over the west door, at which we enter, seeming typical of the Cross of Baptism when we enter the Church of God; the one over the east end, shadowing, as it were, the altar, typical of that cross on which our Saviour,“being lifted up, draws all men unto Him”--a beautiful prophecy, may we hope, of the future of Kang Hoa. So far the knowledge of God is in its infancy here. In all this lovely smiling village of a walled town only a few people, about 130, are Christians; but one feels sure that in the fulness of time--long, long after our pioneers are laid to rest on the hill overlooking the city, on which a cross is planted to mark our cemetery-- Kang Hoa will once again be a royal city as of yore; but its acknowledged king then will be the King of kings, Who has set about it the everlasting hills as a testimony of the truth that “even so standeth the Lord round about His people from this time forth for evermore.”

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On Syou Tong. THE Bishop has received the following letter from the Rev. F. R. Hillary, telling him of the baptisms at On Syou Tong at Whitsuntide : -- Our baptisms have taken place at last after some three years of steady preparation. It has been a time of many anxieties, but we have been blessed abundantly. I am glad we had the baptisms at Whitsuntide, for the Holy Spirit has worked wonderfully for us. There have been so many prayers said and so many intercessions made at so many Eucharists, and now they have been answered beyond our expectations. But I must give you all the plain facts, as you know we started definite preparation with those who had come forward for   THE MORNING CALM. 75________________________________________ baptism last November. The preparation classes have been going on since then each Saturday afternoon; but about a month ago we started two preparation classes a week, and the candidates attended very regularly, and during the last week we had daily meetings, which I might name “penitence meetings." Most of the candidates are, as you know, very ignorant, and yet they have managed to grasp the more important principles of Christianity, especially the ideas of propagating the Gospel, almsgiving and fasting, prayers, faith, and repentance, and the meaning of the Sacraments. They are not theologians yet, nor do I think they are likely to be this side of the grave, but they have got a firm practical hold on these things, and have already given some very real proofs. The baptisms were to take place on Saturday (Whitsun Eve), and we had arranged services all the week. Sister Margaretta came down for ten days to instruct the women. They crowded to her lessons, and kept her pretty busy. On Thursday night it began to rain, and it rained in torrents all Friday, and many places were flooded; yet most of the candi-dates, overcoming all obstacles, and some of them wading through water up to the thighs, managed to get here on Friday night, although they were wet through. One woman started out and tumbled into a stream up to her neck, returned home again, dried her clothes, and started out again at dawn, although it was still raining hard. Another woman fell into the water up to her waist, and had to have her clothes dried when she arrived. One other started out soon after dawn, fell into a stream, got wet through, returned home to dry, and arrived too late for the baptism. However, I baptized her this morning before Celebration. All the candidates managed to turn up, although most of them had great difficulty in doing so. We have had an extraordinarily heavy rain without ceasing for forty hours. All the streams became torrents, and it was very difficult to get about. In spite of the rain and discomfort of it all yesterday was a very happy day for us all. We began the day with Matins and then Celebration, and afterwards we summoned the candidates. They had all been prepared to take their part in the services. We then had a preparation service, which consisted of a penitential Litany. After that we proceeded with the baptism. The service went beautifully and without a single hitch, for Which I must thank my helpers. Mark Kim was simply splendid, and had the men in perfect order. Sister Margaretta and Mrs. Yon, one of the Christian women from the city, had the women   76 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ in the same perfect order, and to them I should like to give more credit, because the women are much more stupid than the men. Everybody was very reverent, and all seemed to feel the solemnity of it all. They each answered separately to the ques-tions. Most of the women had spent a good part of the week learning them up, and one old lady who was as dense as could be and could neither read nor write answered them as well as anybody. Hers is a pathetic case. Persecuted at home by her son for coming, her one desire was to be baptized before she died, and now I think she is intensely happy. This intense desire for baptism on the part of some of the women is extra-ordinary. There is no worldly reason attached to it. The cook's mother had to go into the city to attend her daughter who was about to become a mother, and she has simply wearied everybody in there about her baptism. Mark's father, to give her peace, had to write a letter to know whether she could be baptized in the city. I think she is contented now, since I have promised to baptize her as soon as she arrives back. She is always in constant fear lest she should die unbaptized. There is another pathetic case--a mother lost her eldest and most-loved son, and she is constantly asking for baptism that she may meet him in the next world. He died a catechumen, but he had mended his life, and his religion had made a marked difference on him, and we cannot but hope that he has got now what he was prevented from getting in this life, and it is on this hope that she lives and longs for baptism that they may meet again on the other side of the grave. It is pathetic, but I hope she will have gained higher motives for receiving baptism before she is baptized. There were eleven men and twelve women baptized. To-day has been our first Christian Sunday, and the newly baptized attended the Celebration for the first time. After breakfast we had the catechumens and baptized seven children before them, so that brings our baptisms up to thirty, and with the cook's mother and the American Christians who have come over to us we shall number forty, which, if you remember, is the number of Christians in the city when we had that memorable baptism four years ago. Do you remember you made me tell some of the newly baptized the story of the forty soldier martyrs on the frozen lake at Sebaste? After service we had a meeting of the baptized, and we elected two Churchwardens. I thought it best to get into shape at once. I chose for my warden Mr. Youn from Chochi. You remember him, I expect; and the Kyo-in elected the old   THE MORNING CALM. 77________________________________________ “Churchwarden” by an overwhelming majority, so he has become a Churchwarden in deed as well as name. When I was instructing them in almsgiving, I explained exactly what I should do with the offertories. I intend dividing each offertory into three parts: Poor Fund, Church Expenses, and Church-building; and they all seem pleased with the scheme, and apparently they believe in it, for we had quite a large offertory to-day--their first. We now have a committee of Coreans for all the work here to help and advise me. They include the two Churchwardens and the two paid helpers, Mark, and my teacher. We really want a committee like that, and it's no paper one, and there is plenty of work for it to do. I want to make the Coreans do everything; I want them to be my hands and feet, as it were, and the idea is beginning to work. One of the instructions was on propagating the Gospel, and I am going to give each baptized member something to do. This idea has taken their fancy. The converted gambler has now got work on the island called Chanpong, and I have given him the task of looking after the one Kyoin we have there, and he has started it already. The fire-lighting boy has so many boys to look after and bring to church, and I shall get something for all the rest. We should like the new church called St. Andrew, because like him we are going to fetch in our brothers. Another thing we are going to do is to be a praying Mission, and I am going to put up each Sunday a list of intercessions to be prayed for at the Holy Eucharist. The old ladies have already got somebody to pray for--a sick woman, and a drunken husband who wants to give up drink, but the Craving is too strong. We are going to start prayers too for Soun Kali, our house boy, next Sunday, that God will give him a firm heart to resist temptation. He would like to be baptized, but he says his moral power is so weak and he does not know yet whether he could stand persecution and abuse on account of his religion. Another bright thing about the baptisms was the intense desire of some of the men that their wives should be baptized with them, and some were very particular about choosing their wives' names. They are very independent people down here, and they didn't want foreigners for their children's godparents. Only in two cases were foreigners allowed the privilege, and that as a favour. They did it all themselves, and when I gave them a lecture on the duties of godparents the only answer I got was from one of the old ladies, who said she “knew all that.”

  78 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ You see that we are very full of enthusiasm just now, and I hope that God will help us to keep it up. He has dealt very wonderfully with us all, and we cannot but help thinking of the words of the Collect, “Who art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve," and how true they have proved to be.

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Local Notes. So far as the history of the Mission goes in the last three months we have but little to record. We have of course had regrettable incidents, but we have had cheering ones too. To speak of our stations in turn, Seoul will naturally take first place, as the capital of the country, not as the chief centre of our work, which is rather in Kang Hoa. Since the Bishop's departure Father Drake has been in charge of the Corean work, and from what we have said in earlier letters you know it is no easy task. All missionaries find that the people living in treaty ports or capitals are harder to win than in the country, where there are fewer interests and where there is more leisure to learn. Those who are Christians or catechumens attend the services fairly regularly, and we hope that some of those who have been catechumens for a long time may be prepared for baptisim this summer or autumn. The very fact of their having been catechumens so long makes the work in some ways harder, for there comes often a time when a man is ready for baptism, but if you let that time go by, there is a danger of its never recurring again, and that that man will relapse into not quite what he was before, but a sort of indifference from which it is hard to rouse him. The European work and services are in Mr. Turner's hands, and the latter have been very fairly well attended when one considers the small number of members of our Church out here. Many are Presbyterians by training, although some of them come to us regularly, and some others very rarely or never come at all. Our communicants on Easter Day numbered eighteen, more than we have ever seen at once at the Great Feast. Of the special works going on in Seoul, the Orphanage is pretty full, and Sister Barbara has had her hands very full, but has received a good deal of help from Nurse Hudson, who has been especially looking after two or three sick children. Four of the elder boys are next week to be shifted off to Kang Hoa; they are very small for the boarding school there, but the elder boys are always kind to the little ones, and they will be   THE MORNING CALM. 79________________________________________“mothered” by Sister Rosalie and Mrs. Kim, so we hope they will be happy and keep well. It has been hard work, especially with Aleck, the eldest, to bring them so far on their journey through life. The hospitals have both been more than ordinarily busy for the time of year. The Women's Hospital always has its ups and downs as regards in-patients, though the flow of out-patients is pretty constant; but undoubtedly the site is getting more and more inconvenient, and will soon be entirely enclosed by the Palace. The only thing that has saved us has been our proximity to our Legation. The Men's Hospital at Nak Tong has been con-sistently full, and nurses and doctor have had a busy time ever since the winter. Very wonderful it is to see the cures wrought, and the patience with which in most cases the suffering is borne. There is a great opportunity, one feels, there ; but the imperative need is a Corean helper who can do the evangelising work there. We foreigners cannot, and we have no Corean capable of doing it in Seoul at present. At Chemulpó, where all the work is being carried on by Mr. Bridle, with occasional visits from Sister Alma for the women's instruction, we hear that the Sunday mid-day service is much better attended than last year. In ports like Chemulpó, where there are only a few people, there must be considerable fluctua-tions. But there are at present no English communicants except one lady who knows Japanese and attends the Japanese Eucharist. Ever since the little church was built the reading desk has had to act as a pulpit too, but this spring a generous member of the congregation, Mr. Hamilton, the manager of the cigarette factory, has presented the church with a pulpit suited to the size of the building, and, further, the singing has been improved, for one of the residents has come forward as organist. He volunteered during Mrs. Steenbuch's illness at Easter, when Mr. Steenbuch was unable to come and play, and we hope he will long continue to help us; but, alas ! as I have said, congre-gations fluctuate a great deal. Men are, indeed, “here to-day and gone to-morrow” in Chemulpó, except the heads of the older firms. The collections have increased, and we have heard rumours of the presentation of a new organ for the church. The difficulties of the Corean work are much the same as in Seoul. It is much harder to follow up those who come or to see anything of their home life than it is in the country; but those who do come (about fifty in number in all, Christians, catechumens, and enquirers, with an average attendance of thirty-three) seem to be really in earnest, though sometimes   80 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ one feels one must qualify that by saying “so far as a Corean can be in earnest about anything.” The services during Lent and Holy Week and at Easter were well attended and devoutly and intelligently entered into. One of the main supporters is a man called John Chway (it is very hard to transliterate some of the Corean names), who is a maker of manguns, the horse-hair head-bands worn by all Corean men to keep their hair in order, and he now is the head of an entirely Christian family, for at Easter his two apprentices were baptized. One of these was a boy rescued from the streets of Seoul ; he was admitted into the hospital, where he had to have his leg amputated, and when he had recovered he was taken in by John Chway to help him in his trade. He was given a New Testament by one of the nurses at the hospital, and he can now read it slowly, and we hope we may say that he is one we have saved physically, morally, and spiritually, though no doubt many, many trials lie before him. Nothing need be said of the Japanese work, which is dealt with in Mr. Steenbuch's report. Of Kang Hoa we need not say much this time, for a good deal of news has been given of the city station and of On Syou Tong lately. There were three women baptized in the city on Easter Eve, wives of three of the Christians, and we may shortly hope that a few more may be found fit for admission into the Church, but the congregation does not increase rapidly. The city is a garrison town, and that means that there is considerable opposition and a great deal of immorality, which always so terribly hinders work. In fact, a member of one of our most important families has just been found guilty of adultery, and we have all felt it is a great blow; but such backslidings, however much we may deplore them, we cannot hope to be free from entirely, and certainly the force of Christianity is a force in the lives of most, though in many perhaps it is rather a controlling than an inspiring force. The latter we hope and pray will come. This man has made a public confession before the congregation of his sin, and is now under discipline, not yet having been granted absolution or readmission to the full privileges of Church membership. Men in that position no longer sit in church among the bap-tized, but in what corresponds to the narthex, among the catechumens. Mr. Badcock is very busy, and the printing press, although Brother Hugh Pearson is manager, gives him a great deal of extra work in correcting proofs, &c., for he is now seeing a book of hymns through the press, in which he has collected the hymns which we have been translating and printing as they were needed   THE MORNING CALM. 81________________________________________for the last few years. With these will be bound up some psalms which have been translated by Mr. Trollope or Mr. Badcock. Also some extra copies of the Communion Office are being printed, without revision, for the needs of the newly bap-tized, and other smaller works are being sandwiched in as time and the main work demand. Next quarter we hope to say some-thing of the school work, and we need not say anything of the work the Sisters are doing, as that is dealt with elsewhere. We will only say that they all seem busy and happy, in spite of the difficulty of their work among such an ignorant people.

ON SYOU TONG.--Our interest is a good deal centred just now in Mr. Hillary's station, for to-day the first baptisms are to take place there. In our next issue we hope to give a full account of the service, and we will leave all comments till then. We will only say that it had been hoped that in the Bishop's absence Bishop Scott might have come over to take the confirmations on the same day, but we have heard that he is unavoidably detained till June by the demands of his own diocese. After that he will come as soon as possible, and then we hope that those who have been baptized may receive the great comple-mentary sacramental rite. One last word to ask especially for your prayers (1) for those two boys, Hugo Chway and George Han, baptized at Chemulpó and others who are to be baptized on Whit Sunday ; (2) for three women baptized on Easter Eve at Kang Hoa ; (3) for those to be baptized Whitsun Eve at On Syou Tong; and (4) for those who are to be prepared for baptism later in the year, especially those in Seoul, not forgetting the priests, Sisters, and those who are responsible for their instruction and guidance before and after.

POLITICAL AND OTHERWISE.—It is a curious country we are living in, but human nature is much the same, they say, every-where, and even in England it is not always the most serious matters that attract most attention. There have been several matters that have stirred a good deal of public interest in Corea, but the most serious is not by any means that which has caused most disturbance. We believe, even in England, that interest is being felt in the movements of the Far East, in so far as they affect the existence of Japan and the division or otherwise of China, and lately out here a great deal of feeling has been roused in Japan and China and among foreigners of all nations by the action or want of action of Russia in Manchuria. The last move they have made has been to obtain rights of felling timber on the Yalu, the northern boundary of Corea. To   82 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ protect this trade some say they have 14,000 troops (some say 2,000, while others say 200) on or over the Corean border. Whatever the numbers, their presence and the alleged attempt to buy and settle in Corea are causing a great deal of feeling else-where, but the Coreans say, “What greedy people these Russians are !” not at all realising that their very existence as a nation may be at stake. What the real facts of the case are it is very difficult to find out ; the only certain facts are the presence of some Russians in the north and the intense feeling stirred up in Japan. We must all hope and pray that wisdom may prevail and war be averted, but sometimes it seems that a very small spark would start a mighty conflagration. Another matter of real importance, but one which we cannot write fully about, has been a serious dispute between the Roman Catholic Christians and the adherents of the Presbyterians in the western provinces. The charges were that the former had created an imperium in imperio, awarding punishments and trying cases without any authority from the Corean officials, and further of “squeezing” their neighbours for Church purposes. One fears that there was at least a good deal of ground for these complaints, though one knows how hard it is to stand by and see one's friends dealt with according to the Corean idea of justice, which depends upon the length of the litigant's purse or the influence of his friends much more than on the justice of his cause. However, we also know that in China such interference with the law official's work was one of the chief causes of the discontent culminating in the Boxer movement, and that such a course of action can only bring discredit, not only on the man who does such things or on the Church to which he belongs, but on the whole body of Christians, amongst whom the Coreans, as the Chinese, find it so hard to differentiate, and we had hoped that in Corea, at any rate, we might have been spared the trouble arising from doings of this kind. These important matters have caused some comment among the Coreans, especially the latter, for the district where the disturbances occurred is near at hand, while the Yalu is far away ; but the real source of excitement, forming more than a nine days' wonder, has been an abortive attempt on the part of some interested parties to enact certain sumptuary laws. One day the city was disturbed by a notice, issued by the head of the police, saying that at the expiration of ten days all the people were to appear in black or dark-coloured coats, as it would save the washing bill. You can imagine the result of such a notice, everyone rushing to the dyers and cleaners, the   THE MORNING CALM. 83________________________________________tailors and haberdashers; there was not enough cloth in the town, prices ran up, the dyers charging double prices. They say the latter, together with the tailors, had approached the head of the police with a heavy “insult” in their hands. Anyway, there was much trouble, and when the tenth day arrived those who had braved the order and still wore white went out in fear and trembling, and many were stopped by the police and warned of the dire punishment awaiting such disobedience, while men wondered what would follow. Next day the morning paper announced the resignation of the head of the police, and no notice was taken of white-coated citizens, and the next day a new notice from the new head of police said white clothes were to be allowed, but went further still and said no dark ones were to be worn ; so that now it was the turn for all the men who two days before had been crowing over their fellows to feel anxious, and though no overt steps were taken against them, yet their anxiety continued until three days later an order came forth from the sapient rulers of the land, “Let all things be as they have been.” And the people found peace. But one unwritten rule has been carried out. On New Year's Day the Emperor said that, to encourage the growth of the silkworm and the manufac-ture of Corean silk, he would in future wear no Chinese silk; of course, if he did not, neither could his courtiers, so that the import of Chinese silk has almost ceased for the last six months. They are really trying now to revive the manufacture of the native article ; but we have seen such attempts made before, and we have seen it fail owing to complete lack of business capacity to carry the matter through successfully. One more event of local importance has been the second postponement of the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Emperor's accession to the throne. The first time the cholera was the alleged cause ; this time the Emperor's six-year-old child caught the smallpox, and no celebration could be observed while the spirit of smallpox was in possession of the Palace. They say the celebration will come off in September, but we are doubtful, for some say the real reason for postpone-ment is want of ready money, and certainly the preparations for the reception of the visitors were by no means complete. Another result of the child's illness has been the entire cessation of all work in Palace workshops, or Palace buildings, or in the Various bureaus, causing a good deal of want among the builders and others. The child is well again, but the interdict on work has not been withdrawn yet, and is to continue, we hear, for three months.   84 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ The only other subject which seems to call for comment is “weather.” Generally we are like visitors among the Arabs. We find it hard to know what to talk about with Coreans in general conversation. The weather is fairly constant, and it is rude to ask after a man's wife; but this year everybody is talk-ing of the rains, which seem to have come now instead of in a month's time when they are due, and the Coreans are anxious about the barley, which is in ear, and if the rains all come now, what will the rice do later? We are having this week, at the end of May, just the steamy heat of July or August, and feel that, as the Bishop said of the weather in the Red Sea when he passed through, it must have been “Martiniqued.”

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Correspondence. ST. MICHAEL'S PARSONAGE, CHEMULPO: May, 1903. DEAR MR. EDITOR, From my last letter you and your readers will under-stand that Japanese work in Corea must necessarily be slow and uphill, and therefore you cannot expect to receive reports of large numbers of baptisms, attendances at church, &c. However, the work is progressing, and the number of enquirers is certainly increasing wonderfully well both here and at the other stations, so that I rejoice to say I have my hands full. At Eastertide I baptized in Chemulpó four persons, two of whom are man and wife; this indicates a good step forwards, as the great thing is to get families in preference to individuals. It is all very well to get single persons, especially young office people, of whom we have a goodly number, but till we get hold of families--father, mother, and children--we can never expect to get a settled congregation. I am glad to say that both here and in other places there are several husbands and wives who are enquirers, and very promising enquirers too. The two married people who were baptized had a little child that was to have been baptized on the following day, together with another child of Christian parents, but as the former was ill this infant baptism was postponed indefinitely. However, the child grew worse, and at last I was asked to come and baptize it privately. Fortunately this was done, for the next day he died. In this case I had to relax the rule of not allowing heathen to see the altar, and the result was that the church and the whole place outside was crowded. I think that   THE MORNING CALM. 85________________________________________there were about a hundred people there--all relations and friends, and, as far as I know, no mere sightseers. The coffin was carried by Christians, and after the service in church it was taken to the cemetery, where the latter part of the Funeral Service was said, with due alteration of course in the committal. The parents lit the fire. The ashes were afterwards temporarily deposited in church, and the Holy Eucharist was celebrated in the presence of Christians only. Good signs of progress are to be seen at a place called Yongsan (about three miles from Seoul). Last year a Christian belonging to our Church named Yoda came there and at once began (before he even knew there was a Japanese Mission in Corea) to do missionary work amongst his countrymen. My wife and I then went up and gave them regular instruction, with the result that there are now a good number of enquirers and catechumens. Every Sunday Mr. Yoda reads prayers with them, and I generally manage to send a sermon for him to read. They have a collection, of which 90 per cent. is reserved for future local use, while 10 per cent. is paid to the Central Fund for Japanese work in Corea. (The same arrangement as to the collections holds good in Fusan.) These good people meet in the house of one Nukada, a catechumen and chief engineer at the Mint. As to the rest of the work I have not much to say, as owing to the serious illness of my wife (from which she has now happily recovered) it has been at a standstill for the last two months. She was unable to continue her excellent work amongst the women ; the women did not come to church much because she was absent, and I could not do much as I had to look after my wife and could not possibly leave Chemulpó. She is now, however, beginning to take up her usual work again, and we expect in the near future to go to Fusan and stop there a good long while. It may interest you to hear that a Japanese translation of the “Lumen” has now been published; it will be of immense use to me here, and I hope my colleagues in Japan may find it useful too. Yours very truly. C. STEENBUCH.   86 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ Women's Work in Kang hoa. I HAVE been asked to write a little about the women's work in Kang Hoa, so must try to describe it briefly. Of all pioneering work, probably the most difficult is the undermining of heathenism, to prepare the way for the know-ledge of God. To come to Kang Hoa, and see all around one outward and visible signs of pagan superstition, is to under-stand the difficulties of the task. To turn from them, and see the Church, its reverent worshippers, and the well-attended classes, is to realise that no task in such a cause is too hard to be undertaken. But in order to take a real interest in the work, one should know first a few, at least, of the difficulties which have been overcome. We see here an earnestness of devotion, a steadfast faith, among the native Christians which would put to shame many of us who have a glorious heritage of Christian belief extending backwards through centuries. And these poor women ? . . . Take a walk up into the hills; what is this lying in one's path ? A rudely-shaped straw doll, with a little money inside it, thrown away in the belief that by so doing misfortune has been cast aside from a threatened house. Whoever picks up and appropriates this money is believed to take also the disease or calamity which it represents. A little further on one may see a strange-looking straw shelter, like a bee-hive with one side knocked out—a “Kiveesin-chip” (spirit-house), before which are laid offerings of food, &c. There are several Buddhist monasteries and nunneries, where the monks and nuns lead such bad lives that they are a disgrace to any society, and do, probably, as much harm as the “devil-wor-shippers,” though there are signs everywhere of the belief the people have in the latter. This morning, when visiting some houses near, one noticed in some a bunch of odd scraps of rag, &c., hanging up. This is a sort of propitiatory offering to the devils, the belief being that they like to stop in one place and hate to be disturbed, so this rubbish is hung up for them to take their abode in, and never moved (the dirt is beyond description). The first lesson to be taught is that there is a Higher Being than these spirits of evil, and that in His worship one must cast away all superstition. The first practical piece of work is the destruction of these talismans. Is it to be wondered at that this is not an easy task, when one considers that since childhood they have grown up in this form of superstition? Indeed, it is a great test of their sincere wish to become Christians (for, of course, none are baptized till all   THE MORNING CALM. 87________________________________________such tokens of devil-worship are destroyed) when they request. the Sisters to burn these things, and sometimes a woman is a catechumen for some time before she can quite “cast off the works of darkness” to that extent. . . . Now, realising what a dead mass of heathenism hedges them in, let us consider the results of Christianity so far among the women. It is Saturday afternoon, and women are coming in from their homes--some many miles away--in “preparation for the Sabbath.” Presently the bell will ring, and they will go up to the church for evensong, and afterwards the Christians will remain there for preparation for the Holy Eucharist to-morrow. Those whose homes are far distant sleep the night here in the Mission Rooms, and this evening they will receive a little special instruction from the Sisters. By six o'clock to-morrow morning they will be in church, when matins will be said, and then the Christians say their morning preparation for the coming Holy Eucharist, after which the catechumens return, and all say the Litany, and after the ante-Communion Service and sermon the catechumens once more leave the church, and the Holy Eucharist is celebrated. The beautiful reverence, the tireless devotion of the women, as they assist in the celebration of the Great Sacrifice, is beyond description. For nearly three hours have they been in church, but they do not show a sign of weariness. Is it that, like those Eastern women of old who were “early at the tomb” in order to be near their Lord--despite the weariness which grief must have wrought--these women (for whom He died too) forget themselves when they come into the presence of their Saviour? . . . By the time breakfast is over, women are collecting in the Mission Rooms--Christians, catechumens, enquirers, strangers come out of curiosity, all coming for instruction; and the Sisters divide themselves up as best they can, and teach Steadily till 12 o'clock, when the church bell calls all to a Mission Service. To this any may go, so there is a large collection of people in all stages of belief and unbelief. This service is over about 2 o'clock, and then those who live far off return to their homes, only those whose homes are in the neighbourhood being able to come to 4 o'clock evensong. The everyday work of the Mission is so varied and so never-ending that it is difficult to give it in detail. All day long the Sisters are at the service of the native women ; some come for instruction, some for medicine, or to ask a Sister to tramp some miles out to see a sick woman. At all times of the day such demands, and others, are likely to be made upon well-filled   88 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ time. Then there is a class for little girls, and choir-practices for the boys (these sing well and are well-trained, and it makes a link with home when one hears the dear old English hymn-tunes and Gregorian chants; the words, it is true, in a strange language, but the tunes full of memories). Music lessons also have to be given to the two boy organists. A regular piece of patchwork, the daily life, but each patch, let us hope, helping to fashion a garment of righteousness. In addition to all this work, there are outlying districts to be looked after. Every month a visit of two or three days has to be paid to On Syou Tong, a place nine miles away, and next week a Sister, accompanied by a native Bible-woman, goes down there on a ten days' visit to finish preparing eleven women for Holy Baptisim. They—and some men--are to be baptized on Whitsun Eve, the first Christians in that part of the island. There is such a large field of work opening up there that it would be a great gain to the Mission if it could spare lady workers (well conversant with the language), who could live there and carry on the work among the women. In conclusion, I must say that to anyone who realises the enormous difficulties of the work, there seems a harvest here to be thankful for, and if at times one gets impatient and longs for a larger result for patient toil, I think the recollection of the marvellous patience of God, Who has waited for all these hundreds of years for the labourers to come out and work in His field here, is likely to turn one's impatience into praise.

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Children's Corner. MY DEAR CHILDREN, First of all, you will like to hear something about our little one-armed friend, Mark. When I last heard he was fat and well and full of fun, and he was beginning to write on a slate. He is a sharp little boy and understands a great deal, but, owing to the bad accident he had when his arm was burnt, he is very backward in speaking, so it is difficult to know how much he has learnt. He tries to say lessons with the other children in his own way; and I dare say by this time he can talk a great deal better. I heard the other day that Sister Isabel had started a small school for some of the little Corean girls, and they were so pleased, because generally only boys are allowed to go to school. They were first of all to go every other day and learn a little at a time, beginning with easy lessons like counting and   THE MORNING CALM. 89________________________________________drilling. You can fancy how much they liked the counting, because they used sweets for it, and were allowed to eat them afterwards. The little girls in the Orphanage are getting on so nicely with their needlework, and they are very proud of them-selves, as some of them have been learning to do drawn linen embroidery. Little girls of only seven years old have learnt to do it very well, and they enjoy it so much. I wonder if any of you have ever tried to do that sort of work; if so, you will know that it is not very easy for little girls. Some time ago some school children in Norfolk knitted a number of gaily coloured woollen cuffs and sent them to the orphans in Corea ; they were very pleased with them, and they kept their hands beautifully warm during the cold weather. The orphans will soon learn to knit themselves, and then they will be glad of odds and ends of bright wool, for it is too expensive to buy in Corea. Four new members have joined our Association since I last wrote, and I hope those who now belong are remembering the motto on their card of membership—"The Children crying in the Temple ”—and are letting their cry go up to God for the little children in Corea and other lands. I have been very glad to get money from those whose names are mentioned below ; but I think there must be some of you who have rather forgotten the Children's Cot in St. Peter's Hospital, so I want you to know that more pennies are badly wanted, if the little Coreans are to be well looked after when they are ill. Remember that if you have only one penny to give it will be a help, for if every member gave a penny we should have more than ten shillings, and think what a help that would be. Will each one of you who reads this letter give something, so that we may have not less money but more every year? It is true that we can give the little Coreans nothing better than our prayers : but at the same time we must all of us ask ourselves whether there is anything else that we can do for them besides. I am, Always your affectionate friend, MAUD I. FALWASSER. Newlands, Liss: July, 1903. CHILDREN'S FUND. Children at Pietermaritzburg, IOS, ; Children at Harvington, 3s. 9d. ; Theodosia and Irene Peebles, 1s. 6d.; R.S.M. Orphanage, Portsmouth, ￡1; Children of St. Saviour's, Swindon, ￡1. 0s. 10d. Total, ￡2, 16s. 1d NEW MEMBERS. St. Saviori's, Swindon. Allen; Lilian / Butcher, Edith / Newman, Caroline / Smith, Elsie   90 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ The Spirit of Missions. 1. “PRAYER is essentially active and expansive. If we pray for the attainment of an object, we shall work for it also. If we learn to say, not with the lips only, but with the heart and under-standing, 'Thy Kingdom come,' if we intensify our prayers by due reflection on the vastness and variety of the work for which we pray, if we take pains to gain a detailed knowledge of some part of the whole Mission Field, then we shall soon speak one to another of that which burns within us. Zeal will kindle zeal, where before silence chilled it, and devotion will pass into deed” (Brooke Foss Westcott, quoted in American “Spirit of Missions"). “A Christian who is not really in heart and will a Missionary is not a Christian at all. Missionary effort is not a speciality of a few Christians. . . . It is an essential, never-to be-forgotten part of all true Christian living and thinking and praying” (Bishop of Worcester, quoted in the "Mission Field").

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ANNUAL MEETINGS. 2. S.P.G. AT ST. JAMES'S HALL.-- Bishop Montgomery, in the Annual Report, called attention to the lack of workers. “India still stands as our greatest non-Christian Mission Field. The three community Missions in definite connection with us at Delhi, Cawnpore, and Chota Nagpur prosper, and are very dear to us, bringing us as they do into such close connection with Cambridge and Dublin and with the honoured name of Westcott. It is in the south and in Bombay that we find our-selves in trouble and from the same cause. The lack of workers is becoming distressing, Bombay, Madras, Tinnevelly cry out for men. Those who hold the field are many of them no longer young. Our Missions in those regions and quite as much also in Burmah deserve the serious attention of the Society. If we do not come to the rescue, there will be serious breakdowns and almost cause for scandal. . . . It is cheering to record that the new Warden of St. Augustine's . . . has definitely decided that his College must at once devote itself to filling the gaps in the Indian field, especially including, of course, Burmah. We call special attention to the two new bishops who so lately joined their Sees--Nagpur and Rangoon. The one (Dr. Chatterton); so well known in the Dublin University Mission, the other (Dr. Knight) nobly given us by the University of Cambridge, where he was so highly valued. . . . We are not without hope that we may be able to inform you ere long that the   THE MORNING CALM. 91________________________________________heads of the Church in South Africa, in conjunction with the Archbishop of Canterbury, have put forth a constructive policy in regard to the education of the whites--a policy based on generous lines, which may be the greatest possible aid to the Government and Empire.” The Archbishop of Canterbury said “that the work of the present time was as stirring and interesting as any work which the Church of Christ had ever had to face. For instance, the story of the new-born church which had sprung into life in Japan, almost full-grown . . . or, again, there were the perplexities which were arising in the Western States of Canada by the extraordinary inrush of new populations. Nobody seemed to be quite ready to meet the new-comers, and greet them and bring the Gospel of Christ to bear upon their lives and homes. . . . The Society was dealing with the future of our own race and of the native races in the provinces of South Africa. The workers were looking far ahead, and they seemed to see that the thing that was wanted above all in Africa was a solid effort to co-operate with those who as statesmen and responsible for the governing of the land were looking after the educational well-being of those who were to be the leading men and women of the various races in the days that were coming. . . . What the Church would feel to be the vital thing was that the religious element should pervade the whole of the educational system from first to last, and, given this, she would wish to throw herself eagerly into the educational progress planned by the Government itself.” The Archbishop of Capetown said that more clergy were wanted in South Africa. The Bishop of Pretoria had just had twenty new men, but he wanted fifty more. He very unselfishly said that in view of the still greater needs of India he would be content with eight men, but those eight he must have! The Bishop of Adelaide told the meeting that when the drought broke up in Queensland it did so in a destructive flood. Great havoc had been caused in Townsville by a flood in the last few weeks. The Church property was practically destroyed. First, the Cathedral was unroofed, and then three churches were levelled to the ground. The Collegiate School for Girls had been gutted and the See endowment property consisting of houses totally wrecked. He felt sure that the sympathy of the meeting would go out to the Bishop of North Queensland in such a disaster.

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3. S.P.G. EVENING MEETING.--The Bishop of Worcester, who presided, said that a wonderful work of transformation was   92 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ going on in the venerable Society, and one of the most important developments was that which had been lately made in the department of women's work. His experience in India gave great vividness to his impression of the absolute necessity of women's work. He even felt that the whole possibility of the Christian religion really taking hold of the life of the country depended on getting hold of the hearts of the women, and this could only be done by women workers. In Calcutta he had often held conversations with the most enlightened Baboos who talked in the language of advanced Liberalism, but he had begun to realise that when the Baboo went home he was surrounded by all kinds of idolatrous and ancient customs. He had probably made a child marriage, and the whole inner part of his life would be knit into the old system of Hindu caste and Brahmin priesthood and the tyranny of an immemorial tradition, and all which held him captive was embodied and personified in wives, mothers-in-law, grandmothers. and great-grandmothers, in some immense joint Hindu family in which he retired after he had been talking all the modern enlightenment to you for the benefit of his English. The only possibility of making any real impression on him was through the life of the zenana--the life of the women. We need to realise that what we want is not first of all men missionaries, and then a subsidiary band of women, but that they are both on the same level of necessity at the very least, and both should have the same qualifications and attainments. It is only by means of that complete co-ordination of men's work with women's work that the great citadel can be taken. It has been brought home to the Cambridge Mission to Delhi, and to the Oxford Mission in Calcutta, that the work of men would be of no avail till it was co-ordinated with the work of women. No responsibility can lie more upon the conscience of England and its Church than that with regard to India. The Bishop said that it went to his heart to think of the immense need of men at this moment, particularly in Tinnevelly. It was one of the most moving experiences that he ever had in his life, to be living in those native Christian communities (e.g. Nazareth), surrounded by the bulk of the Christian people, and gradually to get to know more of their difficulties, hopes, and permanent encourage-ments. He was, indeed, thankful to hear that St. Augustine’s College was going to devote its energies to India, and specially to South India. . . . The Bishop of St. John's, Kaffraria, said that there was no part of the world which more needed the help of the S.P,G. than did the provinces of South Africa   THE MORNING CALM. 93________________________________________ The Diocese which he represented was unknown to the majority of Englishmen. It contained 800,000 natives, of whom the larger part were entirely uncivilised. Nobody who had not seen the human wreckage which was cast up on the shores of South Africa could imagine to what depth of degradation our countrymen could fall. There was nothing so bad abroad as a bad white man; but among the Europeans in Kaffraria the general standard was a high one. . . . As to the traders in general, the missionary was sure of a welcome among them. ________________________________________ 4. A LESSON OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.–The Decen-nial Missionary Conference for India, Burma, Ceylon, and Arabia met at the end of last year in Madras; and the Madras Mail, in discussing the work done, testifies that “the differences which separate one Church from another were lost sight of in the fellowship of all, in experience and work. The Conference was an object lesson in Missionary unity, the memory of which will long influence all who saw it. . . . Next to the unity of the Conference, its most marked feature was the practical nature of its work. Almost every resolution had a definite aim, and went straight to it. . . . The quiet confidence of the missionaries present in the eventual success of the Gospel would have been remarkable but that we have grown accustomed to it. The tone of the Conference in this matter was something higher even than hopefulness; it was the full assurance of unquestioning faith. . . . The various Christian bodies in India recognise the fact that they are face to face with a fifth of the whole popu-lation of the earth, and that this huge body of people are without the light of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They differ among themselves on very many points, many of which It would be foolish to deny are of very great importance. There was no attempt on the part of the Conference to pretend that these differences did not exist, that Episcopalian and Presbyterian could explain away their divergent readings of history. There was a well-understood agreement, however, that in the presence of the Mahommedan and Hindu hosts the immediate duty was not so much to assert their points of Conflict as to co-operate for the truth as it is in Jesus. The Conference agreed even that there should be co-operation of the various Missions in native training institutions for the ministry, in the interests of economy of labour, and of funds, and for the promotion of union.”—(Indian Church Quarterly.) ________________________________________   94 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ 5. NEWS FROM THE OXFORD CALCUTTA MISSION.--One of the clergy writes: “One of the students in the Hostel here has just asked for baptism, converted by the daily contact with the simple family life of our Christians here. . . . An educated Baboo converted by outcaste uneducated Christians! Miracles have not ceased by any means! We are more than ever convinced that the plan of ministering to English and heathen people alike is far away better than having chaplains for English and missionaries for Indians. Better for the priest as well as for his people. . . . The new work for women at Barisal, which has just been started in connection with this Mission, is prospering immensely. The Sisters are settling down, and there is already a great demand for the services of the nurses. Very soon the demand will be far greater than they can meet. They seem supremely happy in the work. They have now opened their school for girls. . . . What a happiness it is to feel that at last we have begun to get some work done amongst the women! . . . . Over and over again things happen to reveal that the strength of India, as of other countries, lies in its women, and hitherto we have been able to do so little for them !”—(Private Letter.) ________________________________________ 6. ORDINATION OF AN INDIAN DEACONESS.— The Bishop of Lucknow, in the course of an address at Cawnpore, on the occasion of the Ordination of an Indian Deaconess (Ellen Gorah), said, “. . . The fact that the Deaconess ordained to-day is an Indian lady is a happy demonstration of the fact that the women of India, under the genial influence of Chris-tianity, are awaking to take their place in the world, and to assume in their own modest way that dignity which rightly belongs to them. I may add one other reason why I specially welcome the Ordination of an Indian Deaconess. The women of India are notoriously religious and devout. Such a conse- cration of their lives to religious work as this is surely one the highest and best ways in which their pious convictions and devout feelings may find due vent and honourable scope. God bless the women of India who find a vocation in this truly admirable way.”—(Mission Field.) ________________________________________ 7. PROBLEMS IN NORTH CHINA.--Deaconess Jessie Ransome wrote last January from St. Faith's Home, Peking : “ As you may well imagine, difficult questions of all kinds beset him (the Rev. Roland Allen) from the first in making the new   THE MORNING CALM. 95________________________________________beginning, and he has been most anxious to get the Chinese themselves to take their share of responsibility and decide about them. They have, many of them, responded in a way that is most encouraging, and have shown a helpful, earnest spirit which is full of hope and promise for the future. One of the earliest questions was as to what was to be done with regard to the many Christians who had fallen away during the troubles or before, or who, though still nominally Christians, never came to church. The communicants decided to depute some of their number to go and visit these people, pray with them and exhort them to repentance. . . . The Church made this a special object of prayer, and then the Mission went forth one Monday morn-ing, and on through the week, and the result was most encourage-ing. . . . Pray that these recovered ones may not again stray, and that those who teach them may themselves be taught. The great danger will be, I fancy, failure in perseverance. . . .” Bishop Scott says, in a letter dated Peking, April 15, 1903, that “the Deaconess” work, and the work done by women generally, is, as formerly, the most hopeful part of our present prospect.”—(Women in the Mission Field.) ________________________________________ 8. THE PAST YEAR IN JAPAN.--The year 1902, in Japan, will always be memorable in the Far East for the conclusion of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty. This alliance between the two nations not only secures for the land of the Rising Sun a fore-most place in the comity of nations, but also constitutes an irresistible call to Christian England to share with our new ally that Faith of Christ which is our own greatest possession. The Rev. J. T. Imai (senior priest of the South Tokyo Diocese) wrote on his return from a visit to England: “The Anglo Japanese alliance, which was welcomed with such enthusiasm all over the country, will, no doubt, be for the interests of our Church. . . . Though the political alliance is one thing, and the Anglican Communion quite another, we may truly say that the Anglican Church in England, Canada, and America is bound by the closest ties to our Nippon Sei Kokwai (Church of Japan). . . . It is in the growth and development of this little Church of Japan, rather than in the efforts of any society or societies, that our interest as Churchmen must centre, and a definite epoch in the history of that Church is marked by the seventh general Synod, which met at Kyoto in April. The general impression left at the close of the Synod was favourable. By the good hand of God each successive Synod leaves the   96 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ Church in Japan stronger, not weaker, and rising more and more to the full heritage of Catholic doctrine, discipline, and worship.”--(S.P.G. Report.) ________________________________________ 9. AN UNLOOKED-FOR RESULT OF THE BOER WAR.-- “ The great Boer War has been followed by one unlooked-for outcome. Among the prisoners returned from their over-sea captivity there are 175 young men who during their exile have formed the purpose of becoming missionaries to the heathen. The concentrating of so many Boers in the camps of St. Helena, Ceylon, India, and the Bermudas afforded an opportunity of spiritual work among them such as had never occurred in their scattered homes in sparsely populated South Africa. Some spiritually-minded ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church, recognising the unique opening the prison camps afforded of bringing the Gospel to thousands of men, became voluntary exiles that they might take advantage of the occasion. . . . The majority of them are under twenty-five years of age. . . . A large proportion of them are still backward in their educa-tion, though those who were captured in the early stages of the war had excellent educational advantages provided in the prison camps. The Dutch Reformed Church, which has naturally been deeply interested in the news of this remarkable awaken-ing, has come forward in a very generous way to assist in the training of these young men. This growing Missionary spirit is a subject of great rejoicing, and should act as a stimulus to other Christians." --(Christian Express, quoted in “Mission Field.”) ________________________________________ 10. MELANESIAN MISSION—THE NEW SHIP.-—The rapid growth of this Mission compelled it to ask for a new ship three years ago, and, in spite of the unusual and pressing claims of those years, the remarkable sum of £21,000 has been raised, and the Southern Cross left the River Thames absolutely free from debt (a large additional sum will; however, be wanted for the work of the ship in the future). On Saturday, May 20, the new ship was dedicated by the Archbishop, and the beautiful service, ending with the prayer used throughout the Melanesian Mission in Mota, was most impressive. After the service the Archbishop and the clergy went round the ship, and entered the saloon for the dedication of the Sanctuary and its ornaments --which have been given in memory of Charlotte Yonge (who wrote the Biography of her cousin, the Mission’s   THE MORNING CALM. 97________________________________________first Bishop--J. Coleridge Patteson--and, who also gave the copyright of the Daisy Chain to the Mission, with all its profits). To commemorate this the reredos is surrounded by a chain of white daisies on a blue ground. In the course of his address the Archbishop alluded to the many different associations connected with the Melanesian Mission. Twelve hundred years ago St. Boniface sailed from that same Port of London to bear the Master's message to those who are now among the foremost races of the earth; there was also the thought of the martyred Bishop, thirty years ago, and of the story of his life told by her to whose memory these gifts were dedicated. It was interest-ing to remember the links with the greatest public school in England, whose headmaster was one of the visitors. He prayed for all on board that vessel, and sent them forth with courage and hope to their work. All the visitors, and especially the contributors to the Miss Yonge memorial, were surprised and delighted at the exquisite mosaic work of the reredos and the front of the altar. No one anticipated that the effect could be so perfect or the treatment so dignified and reverent. The makers, Messrs. Powell & Sons, of Whitefriars Glassworks, consider it one of the best Specimens of their work ever done. . . . The Melanesian quarters did not look their best on this occasion, as they were Crowded with stores. We earnestly hope that this new ship may put it into the power of our Church to occupy all the sphere of influence undertaken in Bishop Selwyn's days. At present this is far from being the case. We have been obliged to allow the Wesleyans, who had fulfilled their own task, to occupy some of our ground, and this means that for the future those islands Will be closed for ever to the Church of England.--(Southern Cross Log and Church Bells.). au ________________________________________ 11. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PICTURE. --Many of the Melanesians have left the islands for work in Australia and have there been brought under Christian influences. The S.P.G. Report tells us “ that the Bishop of North Queensland has to deal with some interesting though perplexing questions. Are the South Sea Islanders really to be deported back to their ancestral homes? Many of them have settled in Australia and lave become settled, law-abiding people. It seems to be an unfederal, an unbrotherly act to force those whom we have civilised to return to uncivilised islands because they have a dark skin. It is one thing to legislate about the supply of   98 THE MORNING CALM. ________________________________________ future native labour, but quite another thing to banish those who have been used to a Christian country and have lived peaceably in Australia for years. The Bishop writes: The withdrawal of a third of the Government grant to Polynesian work has made it difficult to carry on things in that department. . . . If the S.P.G. grant to Mackay is withdrawn we shall indeed be in a sorry plight. I suppose that Melanesian work must cease.’ ” Mrs. Robinson, head of the Selwyn Mission, Mackay, writes as follows: “Some years ago I went home for a trip in the same vessel as Bishop John Selwyn, and, finding that we lived on a sugar estate (of which my husband, formerly an officer in one of H.M. regiments, was manager), he approached me on the subject of the numerous South Sea Islanders who were then coming over in numbers to Queensland to work on the plantations. In spite of all I could say to the contrary, he assured me that he felt certain I was just the person to influence these men for good.” Mrs. Robinson then goes on to say that she was by no means convinced of this, and returned to the estate after four years spent in England without a thought of ever being led to such work. An accidental visit to a sick boy, whom she discovered to her horror to be entirely without the knowledge of God, proved an inspiration to her, and after his death she began to teach others. “Over twenty-one years,” she says, “I have now been at this work, carrying it on the greater part of the time entirely at my own expense, but when within the last seven years we lost all we possessed I became a licensed missionary under the Bishop. I named the place ‘Selwyn Mission,’ because it was through Bishop John Selwyn's influence and words that I first started the work, which has been more abundantly blessed than time and space will permit me to tell you. From three scholars at the outset I have now 450 on the roll. Numbers have been baptized and confirmed. There is morning school daily for the islander children and night school for the adults, which latter work in the cane-fields all day. The schoolhouse has had to be enlarged three times, and is now a huge room. Bishop Selwyn kindly placed the first subscription to mine when, owing to the overcrowding of scholars in my dining-room, I found it necessary to build a special schoolroom for them. It is a Medical Mission also, except for very serious cases which I have not time to attend to. . . . The sad part of it now is that my health is failing terribly, and the doctor thinks I have been too long in the tropics.”—(Private Letter.) ________________________________________   THE MORNING CALM. 99________________________________________ 12. THE CHURCH IN MEXICO.--The Bishop of Los Angeles (California) has been visiting Mexico, and reporting on the con-dition of Church matters there. He thinks that the question of the spiritual oversight of the Englishmen and Americans there is second in importance to no other which regards people living beyond the boundaries of their Church. He agrees with the verdict of Father Sherman, a Jesuit priest, who in returning from Porto Rico said: “It is a Catholic country, but scarcely a Christian one. . . . There are three great classes in Mexico : (1) those who have either openly or secretly revolted from all religion ; (2) those who accept the Roman religion because it is easy to do so and hard to break away from it; (3) those devoted to the Roman Curia and its cult . . . but, while all classes differ on the points which divide them, . . . they are all agreed that religion has practically nothing to do with morals.” In view of the moral or immoral tone pervading Mexican Society, the temperament of a mixed race, partly Indian and partly Latin, the somewhat undefined relationship of the American and Mexican Churches, he thinks that it is a subject of rejoicing that the “Mexican Catholic Church exists to witness for evangelical truth and apostolic order.” There seems, therefore, to be an urgent obligation that we should provide for the spiritual needs of men of our own race, sojourning, and engaged in active business in a land in which they can find no provision whatever for those needs. There is also the further obligation that we should help those who are trying to build up on our principles a national Church for an intensely Latin people, with a strong local patriotism. Yet the difficulty is great, for we are told that the Americans and Englishmen in Mexico will never be willing to form part of a Mexican Church with its Liturgy of Mozarabic type and its Spanish and Latin Characteristics, and that the Mexicans will not submit to being made a part of an American Mission.--(Guardian.)