The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-22

in many ways. First and last met a surprisingly large number of foreign CTS, all of whom, without exception, seemed glad to show me attention Many of them were Christian men of high character. Our American consul, MT. Scidmore, to whom I paid call of courtesy, has been long in the east, and Is full to the overflow of accurate in- formation concerning Japan, Corea and China. He has also most engaging manners. The half hour spent with him Is a memory not soon to be lost. Some of the things that he told me observation are stranger than were ever written in any book. I came away wondering whether he did not some times get tired of the intrigue, the con fiicts, the dishonesties, the murders and assassinations, of which he has been witness in these 25' years. Rightly re- alizing the delieacy of his official posi- tion as the representative of the Amer ican government, he was careful to say bring complications with the Japanese; and If he had done so, should be ut terly unwilling to violate his kindness by repeating 1t here. But I left his office feeling sure that I had been in close touch with man who knows the whole situation so well that he Is ca pablo of speaking with authority.
 The general council of the Protestant missions for Corea was holding it's an I t,, a,ds was followed by the presbytery of the native Presbyterian church. I had, therefore. a good opportunity to learn of the Christian movement in the coun- try from the lips of men who are talk ing a chief part In it. They are. a stalwart company, at the farthest pos sble remove from mere sentimentalism, and seeking to do an important piece of work in thoroughly business-like and practical sort of way. The absolute unity of feeling among them is most impressive fact. While 1t cannot be said that denominational lines have been wiped out, 1t is, nevertheless, true that they do not appear in any offen- l'sive manner. The country has been mapped off into separate territories, and each church assigned its own field lof action. Even in the larger cities a similar arrangement exists; and it Is definitely understood that nobody Is to trespass upon anybody else. I never saw such a general pulling together for a common end Another remarkable fact also, is this, that the representa- tiVes of the different denominations are |learning how to borrow and use the valuable features of one another's methods. For example, the Presby- terian missionaries, almost without ex- ception, are itinerants, and 1t must be confessed that they are equaling the Methodists at their own game. On the other hand the Methodist class leader has here become something like Va tnrling elder
 It is matter of give and take. I preached on my first Sunday morning to @ newly organized congregation of Methodistss in an old residence that had been transformed into a church. The audience packed the house, the men sitting cross-legged on one side of a high screen Sani < the. women on the other. This Is n concession to Corean usage, and wise one. It would be a sad mistake to try to introduce our American customs. Though preacher for nearly 46 years, I can truly say that I . never had a more reverent or attractive hearing. At the close I bap- tized a large number both of adult be- llevers and of sfnfants. In the afternoon of the same day, having first made a brief address to a great company in the hall of the Y. M. c. A. of which MT Brockman is the director I next prea ched to 150 or POO missionaries, a company such as a man might well be willing to cross the seas to meet
 In the city of Seoul there are now eight or ten Methodist churches, sew eral of which have great congregations. Two Sundays after my arrival dedi- cated a fine new building in the center of the city The cost of 1t was only $6O0O in gold. but labor and materials are very cheap ir. the east. This par ticular church seats in Corean fashion from 1000 to 1900 people, and at the service of which speak there was very little vacant space. It Is, indeed, wonderful state of affairs. I never saw the like before. The work of the Presbyterians Is equally successful, and In some respects even more so. The sanie may be said within limits of the other denominations. In every respect the growth is so rapid that last years statistics are almost useless. There are now about 10000 Methodist com municants and probationers in the country. The stage has been reached at which, the work of propagandism is
 
 themselves, the missionaries simply giving supervision and direction. The native laborers. moreover, are largely supported by the native churches, among the Presbyterians, who have put an unusual emphasis on this point, wholly so. The native members of my own mission have built for themselves IFS churches without dollar of help from any outside source. These churches. of course. are very humble. but they correspond well with the homes in which the people themselves live. and represent an amount of self denial that Is almost beyond belief.
 I have been frequently asked wheth- CT political feeling Is not at the bottom of this almost wholesale turning to Christianity, the people hoping in some way to better their temporal condi- tions. Fhe question is a natural one and deserveS an answer. That some thing of this sort has now and then been the case Is probably true, but not much of it. With great fidelity and wisdom the missionaries have been careful to make 1t plain that they are not the agents of political spropa- ganda of any kind; that they have no purpose to interfere, one way 'or the other. with affairs of government; and that their one and only aim is to spread the gospel throughout tho land. The The masses of the people understand the matter thoroughly. They could not fail to do it., no room having been left them for an erroneous view. By the oral proclamation of Christian truth; by the almost universal dissemination of.the Bible in the common characters. ..,y.t<l. oo civ al <he. noop1e nhlo fn