Morning Calm v.35 no.179(1924 Apr.)

The Corean Mission.

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

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

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

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

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

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

To All friends of the Corean Mission. TEN years ago, on the eve of the war, this magazine recorded splendid acts of self-denial which helped the Mission in great straits, and relieved the pressing anxiety of those in the Field. When this number of Morning Calm reaches our readers there will still remain a fortnight of the Lenten season. We appeal to all Associates of St. Nicolas (specially pledged to daily prayer for the Mission), and also to all friends, to pray urgently that during this time some person or persons may hear the call to special acts of self-denial and provide the two sums asked for by the Bishop—£2,000 and £500.

Those who know the financial needs of the Mission will realize that the work would only suffer in the end if any donors of these special gifts used money which would otherwise have been given to the general funds. But we have no doubt that the money is waiting somewhere and that a few men and women desirous of propagating the Catholic Faith could remove all anxiety on the subject if they heard the call. We ask therefore our Associates and other helpers to make this their special intention in intercession during these last weeks of Lent.

The Bishop's Letter.

Bishop's LODGE, SEOUL. February 18th, 1924

MY DEAR FRIENDS, My last letter was written early in November, just on the eve of my visit to Ping-Yang, the great provincial capital of northern Corea, where I was going to bless our new Mission House of St. Martin. (The actual benediction took place on St. Martin's Day, November 11th, famous also as the anniversary of the Armistice of 1918). I am now writing on my return from one of my monthly visits there, and I am happy to report that this new move of ours gives every ground for present satisfaction, and hope for the future.

As I told you, at present only Miss Grosjean and her faithful companion, Inaba San, have taken up their residence there, pending a general rearrangement of our clerical staff this spring. I, and such clergy as have been available, have taken it in turns to provide Sunday “duty" all through the winter—I myself spending Christmas there. Ping-Yang's geographical position, as an important station on the main railway line about 180 miles north of Seoul (and about 120 miles short of the Chinese frontier), makes coming and going fairly easy, though I shall be glad when we are able definitely to establish a priest in charge of the work there and in the neighbourhood, which is certainly growing. We have long had a sprinkling of Japanese Christians there, though these are but "kittle cattle" when it comes to building up the Church in Corea, as most of them are in Government employ of one kind or another, and have a tiresome habit of being "moved on" just when their presence is likely to be most valuable. But apart from these a sprinkling of our Corean Christians has also drifted up there, and, as you have heard from Fr. Hunt already, a friendship struck up a year or two ago, in our Boys' Hostel in Seoul, has been the direct means of starting a move towards the Church, both in Ping-Yang City itself and in the country districts forty or fifty miles to the north-east thereof. And you will probably hear not a little in the future about our work there in the village of Malkolri (or Ma tong ri) in the Prefecture of Soun-chun, where we have already established a Corean teacher and catechist, thus moving into a part of Corea as yet wholly untouched by us.

The Province of Pyengan Da, of which the City of Ping-Yang is the ancient capital, occupies the north-west corner of the Corean Peninsula, being bounded on the north by the Yalu River, which separates it from China. It contains a population of nearly 2,500,000 souls, i.e., nearly as large a population as the whole of Norway, and twice as large as the whole of New Zealand! And yet it is only one of the eight ancient provinces (now subdivided into thirteen) into which Corea has been from time immemorial divided. The City of Ping-Yang itself has a population of nearly 75,000, having nearly doubled itself in the last ten years. Of these, nearly one-fourth—about 18,000—are Japanese immigrants. Historically, it is one of the most interesting cities in Corea, being the oldest capital in the peninsula, as it was here that Ki-ja, the founder of Corean civilization, established himself when he migrated from China in 1122 B.C. (probably an historical fact), before ever David was anointed king over Israel! Ki-ja's reputed grave is still pointed out just outside the north gate of the city (the Gate of the Seven Stars), and counts as one of its most famous sights. The French Roman Catholic Mission has a small church and following in the city, besides a little scattered work among the millions of heathen who inhabit the province. But Ping-Yang has been most famous in recent missionary annals for the energetic and successful campaign carried on there during the last twenty-five years by the powerful American Presbyterian Mission (North!), and to a less extent by the American Episcopal Methodists (also North!).* They are entrenched in great force in Ping-Yang City, with a perfect garrison of hospitals, schools, academies, colleges, seminaries, &c., and a work which ramifies far and wide over the province, propagating a stark Protestantison of the most uncompromising kind. As, however, the population is so thick, that probably at least 98 people out of every 100 inhabitants of the province are untouched by their propaganda, there would seem to be room also for such energies as the Spirit, “blowing where it listeth," appears to be calling us also to put forth there.

Ping Yang is also of interest to us as being the nearest great centre of population to two of the most important gold mines of Corea, where a number of Englishmen and Americans (including a fair sprinkling of Church folk) are congregated. The yearly visits by one or other of our clergy to these mining centres have hitherto been attended by a good deal of difficulty and irregularity, which ought to be mitigated by the presence of our Mission in Ping-Yang City. We were fortunate enough last autumn to be able to buy, as it stood, for about £2,000 (I wish someone would make us a present of this!) a well-built brick house, standing on an elevated and spacious site in the northern quarter of the city, fairly remote from the district occupied by the other Missions. It had been erected some ten years ago by some of the mining fraternity, and has been standing empty for years. It provides ample accommodation for Miss Grosjean and Inaba San, together with a room which makes an admirable chapel or oratory, all on the upper floor, and a "prophet's chamber" for the visiting clergy in the basement. ₤2,000 is, of course, a large sum of money, and our finance has been terribly crippled by having to find it. That is why I wish someone would make us a present of it! But the cost of land and buildings in the big towns of Corea is advancing very rapidly, and this was an opportunity not to be lost. It gives us an adequate pied à terre for the time being in Ping-Yang itself, and an excellent "jumping off place” for our promising work in the interior of the province. After thus opening our newest station in November, I went to spend a fortnight in Kanghwa, which is very nearly our oldest. With over 1,300 Christians and nearly 800 communicants we have had to divide the island (about as large as the Isle of Wight) into two "parishes"—a Northern and a Southern—with the beautiful Church of SS. Peter and Paul, in old Kanghwa City, and the almost equally beautiful Church of St. Andrew, On-su-tung, as the respective centres. The Northern parish is now in the sole charge of Fr. Barnabas Kou, assisted by a sub-deacon and other workers ; and the Southern—of which Fr. Mark Kim was in charge until recently removed to Chun-an—is at present in charge of one of our newly-ordained deacons. John Kim, priestly ministrations being provided by our two S.S.J.E. Fathers, who are housed in the old Mission House in Kanghwa City, and who are now finding their tongues quite sufficiently to say Mass in the village chapelries. They are very keen to be of use, and I hope that the approaching arrival of a third Father from Boston, in the person of Fr. Viall, may enable us before long to establish them in a substantive work of their own.

Returning to Seoul at the beginning of December, I paid one more country visit to Paik-Chun, to confirm a large number of candidates presented by Fr. Michael Yi (Senior), and then settled down in Seoul to deal with vast accumulated arrears of office work, which effectually prevented my going—as I had been invited, and intended to do—to Japan to assist in the consecration of the two Japanese Bishops. I am bound to say, moreover, that the horrible cold-blooded massacre of hundreds of Coreans in Japan by the terror-stricken Japanese, in the panic that followed the earthquake last September—a horror for which no regret has been expressed by either Church or State in Japan—has left me with a permanent distaste for visits to the “mother country."

The end of one year and beginning of the next is always at time of terrible congestion of that tiresome office work, which makes such large and unjustifiable demands on the time of a modern bishop. The collection of requisitions from those in charge of our scattered stations and institutions all over the diocese (some in Corean, some in Japanese, some in English); the weighing of all these conflicting claims with the knowledge that the rejection of any one of them will infallibly be put down to sheer obstructiveness on the part of the bishop ; the nerve-racking attempt to "get a quart into a pint pot," by boiling all these down into such a reasonable financial estimate for the ensuing year as there will be any hope of Fr. Martyr and our friends at home being able to meet—this is the task which bangs like a shadow all over the Advent and Christmas seasons. This is no sooner done than with the New Year begins the interminable collection of statistics and reports for the past year from every station and institution of the diocese (some again in Corean, some in Japanese, and some in English); the revision and the collation and tabulation of all these, first in one form (and that in Japanese and in quadruplicate) for the Governor-General of Corea, and then in another form for S.P.G. and authorities in England—this is the task which blocks every other interest in the opening weeks of the New Year. And that is no sooner done than one has to set to work to draw up a fresh set of estimates and reports to be presented to S.P.G. before March 31st, as a basis upon which the Society will make its grants for 1925. The months of December and January and February, therefore, are always a bit of a nightmare to the bishop of such a diocese as this.

On the top of it all the Governor-General sprang a demand this year that we should without delay regularize our position with regard to the lands and real estate which have been acquire the purposes of the Church's work ever since the foundation of the Mission in 1890. The work needed doing, as the Church's ownership of her lands in Corea has been hitherto most precarious, and as far back as 1908 I remember Bishop Turner asking me to try to get some order out of the chaos into which the whole question had tumbled. But it was a terrible task to have thrust on one just at this juncture, especially as it had to be completed under pain of a heavy fine before December 31st! For it involved the collection and tabulation of no less than eleven separate and detailed items of information about nearly 200 pieces of property, great and small, scattered up and down the country; the investigation of all the old title deeds (ali in crabbed Chinese) accumulated during the last thirty-three years, under my own Episcopate and those of my predecessors; the classification of these items of information under no less than eight peculiarly confusing headings the translation of the whole in sextuplicate) into Japanese, for presentation to the Governor-General; and the preparation of a draft constitution (also in Japanese) for the new body which is for the future to hold these properties on behalf of the Mission. And all this had to be done practically single-handed, with no help but that of my Corean secretary, Fr. Michael Yi, and that of Fr. Arnold, and one of our Japanese Christians who helped me with the Japanese translations. One result of it all being that I am now suffering, as a result of reading and writing all this cramped and crabbed material, often into the small hours of the morning, from severe eye-strain, which makes even ordinary reading and writing a difficulty.

And that brings me to a subject which sooner or later the Church at home will have to face—and which, I hope, she will face sooner rather than later. There is no question that the work in Corea has now grown beyond the capacity of a single bishop to manage adequately, if the native Church is to be given a fair chance of development. As I have often pointed out, Corea is equal in area to the whole of Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales), and contains nearly as large a population as Australia, Canada, and South Africa all put together. It is to be hoped, therefore, that fatuous proposals for treating Corea for all time as merely a single diocese, to be tacked on to some neighbouring ecclesiastical province, have been dropped for good. Quite plainly Corea should, in the not distant future, be divided into at least three or four dioceses, forming an autocephalous province, like the Churches of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. And I venture to suggest that the time is already ripe for the creation of one such diocese, composed of the "Sam Nam," or three (now sub-divided into six) southern Do, or provinces, of Corea, i.e., Ch'ung Ch’ong Do (north and south), Kyeng Sang Do (north and south), and Chul la Do (north and south). Such a diocese, with its headquarters some half way between Seoul and Fusan, would have a population of about 9,000,000 souls, still leaving another 9,000,000 for me. I should be able to hand over to such a bishop a compact body of over 1,500 Corean Christians {over 1,000 communicants} scattered over the province of Ch'ung Ch'ong Do (north and south), in addition to our two flourishing Japanese churches in Tai-kyu and Fusan (with over 100 communicants), as well as the endless opportunities of expansion and development both among the Coreans and Japanese in those provinces, of which advantage can certainly never be taken so long as there is but one bishop in the country. And financially the project is not so hopeless as it might seem, since the generosity of my two predecessors has provided an endowed income of £400 for the bishopric, which would be adequate for the maintenance of two bishops, if the precedent of the U.M.C.A were followed, and the bishops were allowed (over and above their special episcopal income) to receive the same allowance for maintenance, &c., as individual priests of the Mission receive.

Doubtless a number of other questions connected with the finance of the two dioceses would come up for adjustment. But I am convinced that none of these need create insuperable difficulties; whereas to continue indefinitely to treat Corea, with its wide area and thick population, as a single diocese (with a bishop over sixty years old) is both unfair to the bishop, who has no time left for the study and literary work which are urgently demanded of him, and to the infant Church, whose development is constantly hindered through the inability of the bishop to be in two places, or to do two jobs, at the same time. I have left myself no space or time to speak of our plans for Dr. Borrow, whom I hope we shall succeed in settling in Yoju before I write again. To effect this without hampering the development of the other districts I have had to borrow (on my own personal security) the sum of £500, which I have found a trustful friend kindly willing to lend me. It is a small enough sum, but Dr. Borrow's demands are modesty itself, and if S.P.G. backs us up as I hope it may, we ought to get the new hospital to work by Easter or soon after. You will see, therefore, that there is a vast deal depending on the “prayers and work" for which we look to Corea's friends in England I want to chronicle the very generous gift made to the Central Church of twelve huge logs of Paktal wood (the most famous of Corean timbers), which will come in very handy for internal fittings. We owe this to Mr. Wellhaven, Manager of the Unsan Mines in North Corea. We have just said goodbye to Miss Elrington, who, after seventeen years of strenuous work in Corea, is now returning home for good to England, where we shall count upon her continued good offices on behalf of the Mission

To-morrow we bid farewell to Sister Helen Constance, who came out in 1920 for one year and has stayed for four, and who now goes home to recuperate and to discuss all sorts of important plans for the future with the Reverend Mother. With her goes also Sister Isabel, who first came to Corea twenty-four years ago, and whose health has given us so much cause for anxiety lately that there was nothing for it but to send her also home (at least for a time) with Sister Helen Constance. Bon voyage to them all. Yours very truly in Christ, +MARK, Bishop in Corea.

Laster Day in Corea Twenty five Years ago. WE give an extract from a letter from Bishop Corfe to Morning Calm, dated April, 1899, which will be of interest, we feel sure, to both old and new friends of the Mission:— "I determined to go to Kanghwa to spend Easter. . . . . On Easter moming English Mattins was said at 7 o'clock, and by 8.30 the church was filled with nearly fifty Corean—men, women, and children, all catechumens, the women being screened from the men by a curtain. The Litany was first sung, so that the Holy Eucharist began at about 9 o'clock, which, as you know, is the canonical hour. The English Brethren had taken pains to prepare some music, which Bro. Laws, S.S.M., accompanied very nicely. But with the exception of the Kyrie, which the boys sang with great animation in the colloquial, the sung parts were in English. After the Gospel I should have preached, but this I cannot do. Mr. Hillary had written a sermon in Corean, which he asked Mark Kim to deliver. After this the catechumens were dismissed, and in the all but empty church we said the Creed and continued our Easter Celebration. Fr. Drake had mustered enough Corean to read the Gospel, while Mr. Hillary read the Epistle. Mark Kim was, of course, our only Corean communicant."

Letter from the Organizing Secretary.

WE are proposing to hold the Festival this year on May 7th, as Holy Rood Day is a Saturday. Mass will be said and Holy Communion given at 8.30 a.m. in St. Faith's Chapel at St. Paul's Cathedral propose to sing the High Mass at 11am at St. Matthew's, Westminster, which Fr. Hankey has again kindly placed at our disposal. Frs. de Vere and Painter, of St. Mary Magdalene's, Paddington, have promised to be Deacon and Subdeacon, as they were last year. Fr. Harton, who succeeded Canon Eck as Vicar of Ardeley, has promised to play the organ, and I am hoping Fr. Arundel, of Holy Trinity, Stroud Green, is going to be chief Cantor, because he has a beautiful voice. After Mass, the sermon will be preached by Fr. Jenks, S.S.M. The evening meeting will be held in Sion College, on the Embankment, at 5 p.m., when the Bishop of London has promised to take the chair. The best way to reach Sion College is to take an underground train to the Temple or to Blackfriars, when it is two or three minutes' walk. Special notices will be available later.

I hope we shall have a large congregation, such as assembled last year. Please let us have as big a collection as you can possibly afford on this great day in our Mission year. As you know, the Central Church in Seoul is nearing completion sooner than was anticipated, and this has meant a severe drain on our capital, and consequent anxiety to all concerned. We propose to sing the Missa de Angelis, and I hope everybody will sing heartily. All those who can sing should try to sit well | up to the front. If a few people would only send me in their names, we could form a special choir, and I would try to arrange with Fr. Harton for a short practice before the service. Some kind friends have given, and others will, I hope, offer, articles of furniture for the Pro-Cathedral. I want to point out, in order to avoid any possibility of hurting anybody's feelings that I have received strict injunctions from the Bishop that nothing must be accepted for the new church unless it has been first pronounced suitable by the architect, who is in England. I know you will understand and appreciate His Lordship's point of view. A Gothic pair of boots does not go well with a Renaissance umbrella. Mr. Hubert Astley has lately presented a wonderful silver sanctuary lamp to be hung before the high altar, which is to be kept burning perpetually as a memorial in connection with an intention of his own and the Bishop's. This lamp was inspected and approved by Mr. Dixon, the architect, so I feel we have set a very good precedent.

I hear from Corea that Fr. Hodges hopes to sail in May, and so ought to be with us in June. He has been engaged in invaluable work in the training of native clergy and catechists, and well deserves his holiday. It always seems a pity to me that priests on leave have to do so much preaching, as was the case with Fr. Cooper, who had a very full programme, but seemed to enjoy it. But the holiday of a missionary on leave is not what a layman understands by the term. It is a more or less incessant round of travelling about and preaching The East End of the Central Church, Seoul

Miss Elrington is also on her way home, and she will be very welcome, and will, no doubt, have much to tell us, and be greatly in demand. Sister Helen Constance was due to leave Corea last month, bringing with her Sister Isabel, who has been ill. Sister Helen Constance went out to Corea for one year, but has remained there for four. It will be a fruitful object for your prayers at this time, that our thoughts should begin to turn to the possibility of starting the religious life amongst Corean women, who have their own special fresh contribution to bring to the work, for the Call is coming to them, too. There are native communities in Africa, India, and Japan. Pray also for our friends at sea. The Mile of Pennies still goes on its way, but I fear we have not yet approached the half-way point. The scheme has proved very popular with the children wherever it has been undertaken, and most of those churches which have laid the track from font to altar are relaying the same path. We have lately had a Children's Office printed, with a specially written Office hymn by Fr. Gurney, as there have been many enquiries for such a service. If you are in want of copies, please send a postcard to Miss Seaton, 61 York Street Chambers, Bryanston Square, W.1. I have a fairly full programme of preaching engagements so far. I was rather hoping to be able to preach in various Cathedrals, using them as a centre for a tour in the neighbourhood amongst the St. Nicolas League churches; but on my writing to enquire whether such a beginning was possible, most Deans have answered that I applied too late in the year, as the arrangements are already made. So I am postponing that plan till next year. Thus it turns out that I have some extra Sundays at my disposal, especially after the middle of September. When Local Secretaries make plans for me to visit their parishes, will they try, for the sake of economy, to arrange for a round of sermons and lectures in that particular place or county?

We are kept hard at work in the Office. Miss Borrowman has to do a good amount of speaking in different places, and Miss Trollope and Miss Seaton nobly give her a hand from time to time, as she is rather overwhelmed with the routine work. Sometimes we meet with complications, as, for instance, when I received a letter from a lady—I think it was a lady from tbe handwriting— about three weeks ago, inviting me to visit her parish to talk about Corea, but she did not tell me whether I was to preach or give a lecture; whether the function was to be in church or in a hall, or a garden or drawing-room party; sent me no idea as to the date she wanted me; signed the letter so beautifully that I could not possibly decipher it; and forgot to put her address on the epistle. Also the postmark was hopelessly smudged. I have not been able to reply, and I hope she will forgive me, as I forgive her. The letter was dated Thursday, 1924. I suspect somebody has been, as an old landlady of mine in Japan used to say, "pulling my arm." Please don't forget the Festival on May 7th. Above all, help us with your prayers. GRAHAM MARTYR.

A Conversation in a Railway Carriage in Corea.

IT was New Year's Day according to the Chinese calendar, and I had been spending a night at the village of Keum Chun, about fifty miles north of Seoul. I had just said good-bye to a group of Christians at the railway station, and settled down to read Maurice Baring's "Puppet Show of Memory," when, at a few stations further down the line, at the city of Song Do, I was joined by a Corean Roman Catholic priest and a richly dressed Corean merchant.

Picture the scene—a second-class carriage, with green velvet covered seats, occupied for the most part by Japanese military officers, each lounging on a sent apiece. Hanging from the rack are swords and little fur ear-covers belonging to the officers; three dead ducks and three dead pheasants tied up in a Japanese newspaper, belonging to the officers, also hang from the rack. On the floor a large bottle of soli, an empty bento (food) box, and much orange peel. Sented in the corner an English priest, with his Mass hag on the floor, and his basket containing a teapot, leg of cold chicken, and a bit of cheese, on the seal.

I get the officers to allow the Corean Roman Catholic priest and merchant to sit down. The priest is carrying a "George Robey" stick and the merchant is dressed in silk clothes and is very much the gentleman.

COREAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST (to English Priest): Are you one of the American Fathers from Wi-Ju? (The newly arrived Roman Catholic American Fathers). ENGLISH PRIEST: No, I am an Englishman and a priest of the Sei Kokwai. CORKAN PROST: Is that so? I once met one of your priests at Chin-Chun, Kim-Shin-Poo (Fr. Gurney), and he had living with him an English deacon, You-Poo-Jay (Fr. Hewlett). My word, there were a lot of Christians there, and Fr. Gurney talked to me in Latin ! ENGLISH PRIEST : Dear me, how clever! I have forgotten all my Latin since I began to learn Corean, so let us talk in Corean. Where do you live? COREAN PRIEST: At Song-Do, where I have about sixty Christians. I often go to Paik-Chun and neighbourhood, and I see you have a beautiful new church at Paik-Chun. ENGLISH PRIEST: Yes, and also a new church at Chin-Chun. What is your name, and how long have you been a priest? COREAN PRIEST: I am An Shin Poe, and I was ordained eight years ago. ENGLISH PREST: I am Hong Shin Poe, and I was ordained eight years ago. What a funny stick; where did you get it from? COREAN PRIEST: In the Diamond Mountains last year when I was on a visit to a friend who is a priest at Yang Yang. ENGLISH PRIEST: How strange, the bishop and I were at Yang-Yang last spring when we were on our holiday, and we heard the church bell tinkling as we left the village on our way to the sea. (Here we reach Chang Tang railway station, and the Corean priest gets out of the train to see a policeman who is one of his frock. Later he seats himself and I begin to read again).

COREAN MERCHANT (to Corean Priest): Do you belong to the Tehun-Ju Church? (The Heavenly King Church, i.e,. the Roman Catholic Church). Let me see, your Church does not believe in Christ, does it? The Americans here call their Society the Jesus or Christ Society, and I am told yours is the Old Testament Church. Is that so? You don't read the New Testament, do you? COREAN PRIEST (indignantly): Good gracious! Don't believe in Christ and never read the New Testament? Why we haven't translated the Old Testament yet, after being one hundred years in the country, and we had the New Testament long before the Americans came. COREAN MERCHANT: Is that so? Well, why do the Americans create that impression, I wonder? By the way, what are you? COREAN PRIEST: I am a priest and live at Song-Do. COREAN MERCHANT: And is that a priest on the other seat? COREAN PRIEST: Yes, only he belongs to the English Church. COREAN MERCHANT : And are all your priests not married men—never can get married? And do the English priests marry? COREAN PRIEST: Yes, we are all celibates and must be; but the English priests can marry if they like; only all the English priests, I hear, in Corea are unmarried. COREAN MERCHANT : Really, that is interesting and good, but very difficult I think. (Then to the English Priest): Are you too a celibate—not married, a single young man? ENGLISH PRIEST: Yes, I am not married. COREAN MERCHANT: Thank you very much. (A sigh of relief as he leans back). COREAN PRIEST (to English Priest): Have you any Corean Sister-hood in the English Church Mission? ENGLISH PRIEST: Not yet, but we have some aspirants and hope to get a Sisterhood founded in the near future. By the way, do your French Sisters eat with the Corean Sisters? COREAN PRIEST: No, only one meal on Fast Days. You see, our Corean Sisters cannot digest foreign food and soon get ill, so they don't attempt to feed together (Officers pass round the suki, yawn, and tickle the ducks. Loud laughter in which we cannot join). COREAN MERCHANT (to English Priest): How about tobacco and wine in your Church? The Americans say it is sin to smoke a cigarette. ENGLISH PRIEST: I myself do not smoke, although all my colleagues do, and we do not teach it is a sin. As for drink, we say, do not get drunk; if you do, that is sin. You would say the same. COREAN MERCHANT : That is a good doctrine. Why, surely, when the New Testament was written there wasn't any tobacco, was there? (Here the Corean priest takes out a cigarette, has two whiffs, and puts it back again into the packet. This is done several times during the journey). COREAN MERCHANT (continues): Your cassocks are not the same. The Englishman's buttons on the shoulders and yours has buttons all down the middle. There must be some deep reason for this. COREAN PRIEST: No, some of our priests wear cassocks like the English priest, and sometimes I wear my ordinary Corean clothes. COREAN MERCHANT: Since you were educated by the French, do you speak French? COREAN PRIEST: No, Latin COREAN MERCHANT: What do you call Latin? What is the Latin word for man? COREAN PRIEST: Homo. CORIAN MERCHANT: And what is the word for book? COREAN PRIEST : Liber. COREAN MERCHANT : Strange words—not a bit like English, as far as I can see. (Turning to English Priest): I suppose you speak Latin too? ENGLISH PRIEST: Well, we must learn Latin before we become priests, and Greek too. COREAN MURCHANT: Greek! What is the Greek for man? ENGLISH PRIEST: Anthropos. COREAN MERCHANT: Worse than Latin ! and nothing like Corean. COREAN PRIEST: I began to learn Latin when I entered the seminary at the age of twelve, and I was not allowed to speak Corean for fourteen years. I only went home once a year, and then spoke Corean. COREAN MERCHANT : That is just the difficult question of to-day. The Coreans who are friendly and learn from the French become French in thought, and those who learn from the English become English in thought, and those who learn from the Americans or Japanese become American or Japanese. There is not a Corean left, and I am disgusted. ENGLISH PRIEST: In these days of ships and trains and aeroplanes no country can keep apart from the world. We can learn from each other. Corea can no longer be a Hermit Kingdom. COREAN PRIEST: Although I did not speak Corean for fourteen years I did not become a Frenchman. The French gave me my education, and for that I say, thank you, but I am not denationalized. I am as much a Corean as you are. (Officers gather up their swords and ear-caps, as we are getting near Seoul). CORIAN MERCHAST (to English Priest) : Is the English Church the same as the British and Foreign Bible Society? The name is much the same. ENGLISH PRET: Not at all the same. Our Church is the Sung Kong Whai and the British and Foreign Bible Society is the Sung San Kong Whai. COREAN MERCHANT: I really get a headache with the names of all these Societies. By the way, is England very far from here, and how much does it cost to get there? ENGLISH PRIEST: I think about 800 yen. Why not take a trip? CORKAN MERCHANT: That is what I want to do, but it is reported here that London is so foggy; that in the morning you cannot see each others' faces although only a foot apart, and that is why Englishmen drink so much whisky and have such red noses. I know it is only because of the mist. COREAN PRIEST: Those are foolish words. Aren't there plenty of Corean people who drink wine and have red noses, and where is there any fog in Corea ? It is the same in every country. COREAN MERCHANT: Well, it is only what I have heard. Is it true that Ireland is independent? Do you think it is a good thing that the Irish should be independent? ENGLISH PRIEST: Certainly. Only we are still under one flag. COREAN PRIEST: That's funny. I say, President Wilson is dead. ENGLISH PRIEST: Is that so? I haven't heard since I have been in the country. I knew he was ill. Here comes my servant on the platform. When shall we three meet again? Goodbye. (To his servant): Martin, I am dying for a cup of tea. C.H.

Home Organization.

IT has been very cheering for the workers at the Offiee to be kept busy with requests and inquiries arising out of the “New Chapter in Home Organization" which we printed last quarter. (Copies of the January number, price 3d., are still available if required). We do not, therefore, apologize for some additional notes and suggestions 1. The Income of the Mission for 1923.—The accounts for the past year are being audited, and will be published in due course when the corresponding accounts have been received from Corea. We will only state here that, after paying all home expenses, we were able to notify the Bishop that £4,850 had been paid into the Special Fund at S.P.G. for use in Corea, as compared with £4,120 in 1922. To this should be added moneys paid direct to S.P.G. for Corea from individuals or churches, which reached £430, as against £391 in 1922. But we must press on to reach our £6,000 for income, apart from the special gifts for building, &c. 2. We are particularly anxious to develop the work of bookstalls at meetings. For this purpose we have drawn up a paper of suggestions, which can be had from Miss Borrowman, “Hints for Bookstalls." The Organizing Secretary has many speaking engagements already booked up. We hope that in each of those centres, whoever is in charge of the arrangements will write for this paper, and try to carry out the suggestions as far as they are suitable for local conditions. Will our readers also, who may not be responsible, see to it that something is done in this matter? It not only helps the Mission, but we feel it will also help the locality to have some definite forward movement through the agency of the bookstall. The initiative must, however, come from the parish itself; the Secretary often goes from one place to another, and cannot really travel round with a large consignment of books, &c. Moreover, an important feature of the plans outlined in this paper is the preparation beforehand, so that the sellers can make the best use of their time. 3. We are glad to say that S.P.G. has asked to borrow our exhibits for the Exhibitions at Shrewsbury (May 12th to 19th). People's Palace (May 27th to June 6th), Dudley (June 13th to 21st). Camberley (June 25th to July 2nd). In each case Miss Bourne will be in charge, and Study Circles are, we know, at work. We have now a very good collection of exhibits, and much hope they will be well booked up for the autumn or for garden meetings in the holiday months. Please write direct to Miss Bourne, 1 Sunnyside, Speldhurst, Kent. Please also urge a Corean Court when exhibitions are being planned. 4. The Study Book will shortly be revised, as the present edition is nearly exhausted. Leaders of Circles are invited to write for helps in conducting Study Circles. Some useful typewritten extracts have been made to supplement the Study Book, so as to make the work live in the minds of both stewards and visitors. But these notes would be interesting also for Discussion Circles, apart from exhibition purposes. 5. We are also glad to say that the S.P.G. have now four sets of Lantern Slides of Corea, which have been thoroughly overhauled and rearranged. More prominence is now given to direct missionary pictures of quite recent date, leading up to the latest picture of the Central Church, reproduced in this number. The notes also have been added to, so as to make them more anecdotal (!), for the sake of those who use them and have no personal knowledge of Corea. 6. We hope our notice on Sales of Work will not deter people from helping the Mission in this way, as the sum of money thus obtained in local Sales are of great help not only to the General Fund but also to the Funds of St. Peter's Foreign Missionary Association. The Annual Sale will be held at the Horticultural Hall, November 12th and 13th, and Corea will have a stall, as usual. It is early days to begin working for that probably, but we would advise all managers of Work Parties to write soon to Miss Seaton for the new papers giving information as to the special Morning Calm goods which sold so well last year. We have some new developments to suggest which will not be difficult to carry out, and we suggest that managers of Work Parties should keep a watch for opportunities to buy useful remnants. 7. We are afraid that we are not very successful in getting the List of Churches and Secretaries, published in January and July, as correct as it should be Will anyone who has complaints to make write soon to the Othee? The information will be filed, and another effort made to get the July list correct. 8. Will Secretaries who feel cheerful or who feel downhearted please write their joys or sorrows to Miss Borrowman? We are particularly anxious to pool our experiences and so help one another, and the Office is really the most suitable clearing house.

Thanksgivings and Intercessions.

THANKSGIVINGS. For the encouraging beginnings of the work in North Corea. For the arrival of a third priest (S.S.J.E.) from America. For the steady growth of the Church in Kanghua during twenty-five years. For the increase prayer and support during the last year. For the fresh zeal shown by home workers of the Mission. SUPPLICATIONS. That wisdom and insight and wide vision may be granted to all to whom is entrusted the privilege of fostering vacations to, and developing plans for, the religious life among women of Japan and Corea. That the deliberations of the Diocesan Synod in April may be blessed to the building up of the Church in Corea. That the foundation of second bishopric may remove hindrance to the growth and deepening of the life of the Church. That founds may be forthcoming to meet the new opening in Ping-Yung, and the medical work in Wo-Ju. That many gifts may be made to the completion and furnishing of the Central Church to the glory of God INTERCESSIONS. That it may be God's will that Sister Isabel should be given health to return to Corea. That all members of the Church in Corea—English, Japanese, and Corean—who are deprived of the Sacraments through the scarcity of priests, may know the joy of spiritual communion.