Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-25
MISSIONARY WORK
Korea Considered the Best
Field in the East.
BETTER THAN IN CHINA
NINE YEARS AGO NO CHRISTIANS
THERE.
What Twenty Years Of Endeavor
Shows in the Way of
Results.

Written for The Evening Star by Archer Butler
Hubert.
For customs and views of life that are
odd no land excels Korea. If you hand
Korean a photograph bottom side up he
will not turn it over. He will say that he
can see it all Just we'll wrong side up
as right side up. If you go to a Korean
shop and try to make a purchase you
must not expect to save money by buy
ing quantity. A certain object may be
worth 80 cents, but a dozen of them
would probably cost you 81 or So Korean
thieves are peculiar as the merchants.
They will not dare to go beyond fence
they can't see through, even if it is only
made of paper mating. But you can
build a wall horse high. bull strong and
hog tight and a Korean thief will go
over 1T IN a second if he can see through
1t.
1t is interesting that among people who
look at things in such peculiar ways the
missionary has been heartily welcomed
so much so, in fact, that Korea is COM
monty looked upon as the missionary's
best field.
The principal missionary societies in
Methodist Episcopal and Roman Catholic
churches, and the greater part of their
work has been done since 1884. In TWEEN
ty years they have accomplished more
comparatively, than have the MISSION
aries of all China in double the time.
The Roman Catholics count 10000 con-
verts. Their great cathedral In Seoul is
the most conspicuous building in Korea.
The Protestant societies muster about o.
09U converts. mostly made by the Presby-
terrain and Methodist missionaries. There
are nearly 200 Presbyterian churches in
Korea. with about 1900 communicates,
and from the presses of the Trlingual
Press in Seoul operated by the Methodists
since 1889 100000 pages of tracts and
statements have been issued
The Methodist Society also owns Pal
Chat College at Seoul, established in 1886.
The attendance is about 300 boys. A man
ual training school was established by the
society in Seoul in 1899 largely by means
OF the liberality of Gen. Yum. Korean min
lister of education; and 1t has female
school also In Seoul. now occupying a nav
building and having an attendance Of about
80 girls. The society supports five hos
pitfalls in Korea. in which 10000 cases arc
treated annually.
Other Denominations.
The Presbyterian mission has had large
success In evangelizing work, and also in
hospitals and schools. Six hospitals haze
treated over 10000 cases annually. boys
training school in Seoul. with branches in
the country has an attendance of about IS.
A school for girls, established in 1889, has
a yearly attendance of about 90
The British Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel has in operation the four
hospitals. which treat 10000 cases each
year. In 1897 and 1898 this society found
ed schools for boys and for girls. The So
ciety has published a weekly paper since
1891, which has a circulation of 5000 cop
les. Schools for the blind and orphaned
have been founded by various denomina-
tons In fact. since 1884 the mission
schools have been the little red school
hnrt of
The first convert to Christianity in Korea
was a Korean who returned to his native
land from Picking in TIT. Many of this
mans converts We're put to death for re-
nouncng the worship of ancestral tablets.
Some were beheaded, some eXiled. But the
converts increased despite the rigor of per-
secution. Christians We're beaten till the
flesh hung in strips from their bodies. One
old man was tied, thrown upon the frozen
ground, and water poured over him, which
froze as it fell He died under a round
cake of ice. refusing to recant In ten years
there were four thousand Christians in the
land
The First of All.
The first foreigner to go as a missionary
to Korea was portuguese, Jean COS Rene
dos. He came overland from Peking, and,
being refused admission, remained there
ten days and returned disheartened to
Picking. A Chinaman was the first mis-
sionary to get into Korea. He was be-
headed at Seoul within six years. This
was in 1904.
In 1885 the first French missionaries
came. They were men as brave as La
Sale or Marquette. They the guards
at Wi-ju. and entered the city through the
great drains. They were. in turn, put to
death September 81, 1880.
On the. day of their execution they were
led to the execution ground, pinioned and
stripped of their upper garments. stick
was passed between their elbows and back,
an arrow was run through the f1eshy part
of each ear, their faces were wet with
water and powdered with chalk A dozen
soldiers then began a sham battle over
them, delivering their blows upon the bod
les of their kneeling victims instead of upon
one another. while the crowd shouted with
delight as the game went on Wearying at
length with this sport, the executionera