The sun., 1907-03-31


Corean Buddhist InonAstsries. dating ,,o,
! the sixth century A. D.. and found ~.
monkA very friendly. courteous and No.
pitable. Offering, indeed. a pleasa1t oos
trast to the arrogance and self-conostsa
impertinenoe Of the Confucianists NJ
Bishop recognized. however. that altboT.S
some OF the monks were sincere in tbss-
devotion their morals were abominsLt.
and their ignorance 50 unbounded tb.s
they knew nothing Of the history and tans,.
OF their own creed. Indeed. faith in Buddh-
ism. once 50 powerful. seemed hardly !.
exist In Corea. That religion was H.
established three centuries ago and CoD-
fuciRnism is now the Official cult. NJ.
Bishops final admission was that Cora
takes a strong grip on all who reside In v
sufficiently long to overcome the feelIns
Of distaste which at first il undoubtsES
inspires In 1893 she published the t~,
volumes entitled "Corea and Her Nsi,A-
bors.' OF which 1000 copies were soI1
within q day OF publication. She was ana
still is regarded as an authority on The
inner life OF the Hermit Nation.
After q journey in Manchuria, in ,hm
course OF which she visited Mukden ara
went as far as Vladivostok. she undertooSS
her celebrated trip up the Yangtze Riv,s
and through western China which, oocurr.
ing in all Ave months. supplied material
for her book on The Yangtze Valley ana
Beyond" At the time when this book va.
published November. 1see); England vaa
preoccupied with the Boer war, and n,
first IL received less attention than h.t
Corean volumes had attracted. The ereyiaw.I
however. were favorable. and Lord S.lis1
bury read it with care and wrote twios =,
her expressing his appreciation. A lttle
later the sale improved greatly.
Mrs. Bishops travels were not vet orsrs
In 1901 she spent six months in Moroocoi
riding In all a thousand miles, visiting ia
northern and southern capitals, Fee and
Marakesh (MOrocco), the holy city Of WaxanI
the coast cities. many OF the agricultural
and pastoral districts OF the interior. ana
journeying among the Berbers Of the Asss
Mountains. On her return TO England
she declined to write a book on Morocco.
for the reason that her notes were scanev.
owing TO the illness by which she had besrs
incapacitated. She put together an Rreola.
however, for the Monthly ReuieU, which
is full OF vivid impressions OF the countxV
and its people. On the whole she thouzht
Morocco the darkest spot Of the world
that she had seen; corrupt and immoral
to an extent she had not witnessed in heathsu
lands. The MOhammedan religion Gha
pronounced the curse OF Morocco and Eh~
most formidable obstacle in the way Of
progress.
As TO the government OF Morocco. Sha
reported that practically there is mona.
The Sultan has no power over much Of
the empire; he cannot collect taxes. punish
crime. assure the safety of goods and travpl-
lers or even pass himself from Morocco.
City to Fec by a direct route. Human
life 10 OF no account Nor was she hopeful
as to the prospects Of the promised reforms.
Writing in 1901. she said that reform In
Morocco cannot come from within, ana
any amelioration Of her disgraceful and
deplorable condition must be- carried out
by men brought up in other schools than
hers. wherein misgovernment has thN
sanctity Of antiquity and honest men are
At that time Mrs. Bishop was
the only European woman that had ever
seen an emperor Of Morocco the first who
had ever entered the Atlas Mountains
and the first who had ever visited the fierce
Berber tribes. We note that Mrs. Bishop
was inclined to agree with the French
Consult General that much Of the intellec.
tual deterioration and decay OF the Arab
race In Morocco and much OF the sensu.
ality and brutal passion which disfigure il
are due to the enormous and continual
infusion Of African blood. which every.
where was obvious. The Berber Of the
on tho other hand, with bis
narrow head. somewhat classic features,
tall and active form-barely conquered
by Roman or Arab, though converted to
Islam by the latter-retains definite racial
and is considered by her
as far the finest Of the races that people
Morocco.
Mrs. Bishop was now falling rapidly
and In September. 1908. she had q dangerous
illness, from which she was hardly eu-
pected TO recover. She rallied, however,
and made up her mind to write an auto
biography. The purpose was not fllhlled..
The Improvement in her health was mor&
apparent than real, and on October 8, lso<i
she died.