THE STORY OF A RUSSIAN JEW WHO BECAME 
 A CHRISTIAN COLPORTER IN KOREA. 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. H. LOOMIS. 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 4'f 
 
 Prmted by the Yokohama Bi-nsha. 
 1 8 9 ( 5 . 
 
ia4o 
 
 THE STORY OF A RUSSIAN JEW WHO BECAME 
 A CHRISTIAN COLPORTER IN KOREA. 
 
 On SuiKlay morning April 7th 1895 
 tliei'e appeared at the Japanese service in 
 Nagasaki a young man of neat appearance 
 and agreeable address and at the close 
 he inquired of the missionaries who were 
 present if any of them could speak 
 Gorman. It was very fortunate that Rev. 
 Mr. Pieters could do so, and he ascertained 
 that the stranger was a Jew who desired 
 to he taught the doctrines of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 The young man was tlie son of a 
 merchant in Southern Russia, and was 
 23 years of age. He gi-aduated at the 
 gymnjisium, and has a good knowledge of 
 T^atin, German, Hebrew, Russian and 
 Greek. He had some acquaintance with 
 French, and had learned a little English 
 on his way to Japan. 
 
 Finding no prospect of improving his 
 temporal condition under the harsh and 
 restrictive laws of Russia he re.solved to try 
 
2 — 
 
 his fortune iu some other country. At 
 first he set out for Australia ; but when he 
 readied Port Said he met some j)eople who 
 were returning from that country with 
 such gloomy accounts of tlie condition of 
 things that he decided not to go there. 
 
 Then he thought he would try what he 
 could do in the U.S. But when he reached 
 Hong Kong he was told that there was no 
 chance for a stranger in America now, 
 and he then determined to go to Eastern 
 Siberia and seek employment as a common 
 laborer on the railroad. 
 
 When he arrived at Nagasaki he was 
 obliged to wait a few days for a steamer to 
 Yladivostock, and while thus delayed iu his 
 journey he came to the Christian service. 
 
 As a matter of course he had been 
 trained up in accordance with the teachings 
 of the Jewish faith. But this did not satisfy 
 him, and he turned his attention to the 
 study of German philosophy. In this also 
 he found neither rest nor comfort. 
 
 With only a faint idea of the Protestant 
 religion he had a conviction that it would 
 meet the cravings of his soul and give him 
 the peace that he longed for. 
 
— 3 — 
 
 Mr. Pieters promised to give him the 
 instruction whicli he desired, and found 
 him to he a most sincere au 1 interesting 
 inquirer after tlie truth. He already 
 understood and accepted the doctrines of 
 tlie being of God, our duty to love aud 
 serve Him, and the saereduess of the Holy 
 Scriptures. With this much as a basis tbe 
 way wa.s easy to lead him to Christ “ 'fhe 
 LamI) of God which taketli away the sin 
 of the world.” 
 
 He was so much interested in what he 
 learned, and .so desirous of a complete 
 knowledge of the way of .salvation, that 
 when the time came for the steamer [for 
 Vladivostock to leave] he decided to wait, 
 in order that he might receive further 
 iu.struction. 
 
 When he was informed that he had 
 been taught all that was regarded as 
 essential in Christian doctrine he asked that 
 he might receive baptism. I le was inform- 
 ed that this was not essential to salvation 
 but he insisted that it was his desire to con- 
 form to all the requirements of the gospel. 
 
 Mr. Pieters gave the matter careful 
 consideration, and it W!is arranged that the 
 
— 4 — 
 
 baptism should take j)lace on tlie eveiiiug 
 of tlie 19th ; aud he purposed to leave for 
 Siberia on the morning of the 21st. An 
 invitation was given to a few friends to be 
 present at the ceremony, and it was a 
 solemn and most interesting occasion. It 
 was very evident that the young man had 
 been led of God ; and this was one of the 
 steps in tlie progress of the Divine plan for 
 the salvation of the people whom the Lord 
 liad chosen in former times to be peculiarly 
 his own. 
 
 One thing was quite noticeable and that 
 was that the young man showeel no 
 disposition to use his friends or his religion 
 in procuring temporal aid. He never asked 
 for assistance of any sort ; and was evidently 
 determined to live by his own efforts and 
 not eat the bread of charity. 
 
 Having thus made a public profession of 
 his faith in Christ he made his preparations 
 to leave. But those who had met and 
 conversed with him felt that here Avas one 
 whom the Lord had called to serve Him, 
 and there ought to he some better field for 
 usefulness found for him than shovelling 
 earth on a Russian railway. 
 
o 
 
 It was therefore propose'! that lie should 
 go to Korea as a co! porter of tiie American 
 Bible Society. This proposition was gladly 
 accepted ; and he at once began the stu !y of 
 English so as to be able to work with 
 the mis.sionaries an 1 assist them in every 
 ]X)s«ibie way. 
 
 After devoting about ten days to the 
 acquirement of the English language he 
 left for Korea. Since reaching there he has 
 given his attention to the mastery of the 
 Korean language, in which he soon became 
 so proficient that in the course of a few 
 months he was able to go into the country, 
 au'i with the aid of his teacher, engage 
 successfully in the sale of .Scriptures. 
 
 From his various reports we harm how 
 much he is devoted to his work and the 
 good that he is doing. .ShouM his life be 
 spared it is probable that he will be a very 
 efficient helper in the spread of the gospel 
 in that lienighted land. 
 
 There is a law in Russia that any 
 subject of tha^ country who changes his 
 religion must lit the same time take a 
 new name. For this reason the young man 
 dropped his former name at tiie time of 
 
— 6 — 
 
 his baptism and took that of his friend and 
 teacher. 
 
 The following are some of the reports 
 which have been received regarding his 
 woi'k. 
 
 Seoul, Dec. 3rd, 1895. 
 
 The 31st of October I left Seoul for 
 On-Ju. There are two roads, and I went 
 by the farthest one through Yai-Ju, which 
 city I visited three weeks ago. I wanted 
 to see the people there again, and try to 
 sell some more Scripjtures. The evening of 
 the third day I arrived there, and the next 
 day sold thirty-eight Scriptures. I was 
 very much pleased to see people, who 
 lx)Ught Gospels belbre, buying tliem again. 
 They said that they enjoyed the books 
 very much, and that they were glad to get 
 some other-s. In tlie ev(ning a man 
 called to see me. He brought his Gospel 
 of Mark with him and asked for explana- 
 tions. ]\Ty teacher read many passages of 
 the Gospel to him, explaining all he had not 
 understood, and told him all he could about 
 Christianity. The man r\as very much 
 
— 7 
 
 interested, and promised to come to Seoul 
 specially to study Christianity. 
 
 'J'he next day I left for a village not far 
 from Yai-Ju, where there was to be a 
 market day, and sold eighteen Gospels 
 there. I took eighty Gospels with me and 
 had only twenty-four left, so I thought I 
 had better come back to Seoul, take a new 
 load of books, and then go to Oii-Ju. But 
 when I came to Seoul I learned that the 
 butchers were to have a meeting the next 
 day at I’oo-Piong, sixty li from Seoul, and 
 after that two meetings more at Kang-Ha 
 and Song-Do. So I hurried uj) and \veut 
 down there with my teacher and a helper. 
 
 The butchers are the veiy lowest and 
 contemned class in Korea. Formerly tliey 
 could not even wear the same kind of a hat 
 as the other people. Kot long ago one of 
 the butchers (a very intelligent and good 
 man), i\Ir. Pak, a member of our church 
 here, requested the Korean government to 
 make his fellow workers equal with the 
 rest of the peojtle. Dr. ( ). K. Avison and 
 Rev. S. F. iMoore helped him, and they 
 have been suc(;es.sful. The government 
 gave out a law that the l)utchers are equal 
 
— 8 — 
 
 with all the common people in Korea, and 
 can wear the same dress that the rest of 
 the Koreans do. Copies of this law, one 
 to each governor of the cities all over 
 Korea, were written and given to IMr. Pak, 
 that he should go and present the paj-ters to 
 the governors. This was the reason of the 
 meeting at Soo-On that I wrote al)Out in 
 ray last letter. The meetings at Poo-Pioug 
 and the other cities wliere I went this time 
 were held for the same reason. 
 
 AVe arrived at Poo-Pioug the evening of 
 the same day, and were very kindly received. 
 AFj' helper gave a long talk to the butchers, 
 who listened very well all the time, and 
 when at the conclusion prayers were offei'ed, 
 all the peojjle bowed down. It was the 
 same way in every place where we met the 
 butchers. They seem to be very much 
 interested and enjoy the church, possibly 
 because they see that the Lord helped their 
 fellow worker, Air. Pak, to get their rights. 
 Always when I offered them the Scriptures 
 each one took one or two copies. At 
 Poo-Pioug I sold fifteen Gospels. 
 
 After that we left Poo-Piong for Kang- 
 Ha, wdiere there was to be another meeting. 
 
— 9 — 
 
 I sol<] nine Gospels to the butchers there, 
 and thirty on the streets. The next day 
 we left for Son'^-Do, where tlie last 
 meeting of the hatchers of t!ie province 
 Kioug-Ki-Do was to be held. On the way 
 to Song-Do we had to cross an arm of the 
 sea. There was a heavy wind, and when 
 we came to the ferry the boatman would 
 not take us over because of it. So we had 
 to stay and wait till the weather changed. 
 All the inns were full of people, who also 
 were waiting for the boat, and we had a 
 good deal of trouble before we found a 
 little room two yards square. There were 
 ten of us ; and as it was impossible for all to 
 lie down, some had to sleep half sitting 
 and half lying, an I .some had to lay their 
 heads on other people, being themselves 
 pillows for the others. 
 
 A short time after we went to sleep 
 I woke u]r, because I began to lose my 
 breath. I tried to open the door, but the 
 Koreans would not let me do so, because 
 it was very cold. 1 went out, but could 
 not .stay there very long for the same 
 reason. I tried to go to sleep again, but it 
 was impossible. I am used to sleeping 
 
— 10 — 
 
 with four or five people in such a looiu, 
 hut ten was too many. After a little while, 
 when the Koreans were asleep apain, I 
 took out my knife, and, as the Korean 
 doors have paper instead of glass, cut a big 
 hole in the door. The Koreans were very 
 much displeased, hut they could not help it. 
 
 "NVe spent the night and the next day 
 there, but the wind was the same. So we 
 went to bed again. At midniglit we Avere 
 awakened by somebody knocking at the 
 door and crying out : “ Get up, the wind 
 
 is quieter and the tide is in, .so we can go.” 
 We jumped up and in five minutes were 
 ready to go. But then we learned that the 
 l)oatman was not there, and that we must 
 send for him. He lived about two miles 
 awaj’, so it took more than an hour for our 
 messenger to come back, ami he returned 
 Avithout the boatman, who didn’t want to 
 go because it was too cold and dark. The 
 AA’ind might soon get stronger and the tide 
 would change A'eiy soon. So some other 
 men went again, and in another hour the 
 lx)atman Avas simply dragged to his task. 
 I don’t believe they AA'ere very polite to 
 him. Koaa' the boat had to be fixed. 
 
— 11 — 
 
 IVlieii tliis Avas done, and all got in, the 
 day began to break. 
 
 To get to the boat Ave liad to pass 
 tbrougb a good deal of mud, and our feet 
 got very Avet. The boat Avas very slipi)ory 
 from tlie mud, and one man in walking 
 over slij){)ed and fell into the Avater. He 
 Avas soaked and did not have a pleasant 
 bath. As Ave sailed the splashing of the 
 Avaves Avet our clothes through. The cold 
 and the Avind nearly froze us. AVhen we 
 reached the coa.«t Ave could hardly moA’e, 
 but Ave thanked God that Ave could go on 
 oui- Avay. 
 
 We reached Song- Do the CA'ening of the 
 same day. As usual my helj)ers taught 
 the butchers, and I sold fifteen Gospels 
 to them. 1 had seventy-four Gospels left 
 yet. Before 1 went out into the .streets 
 1 asked Ciod to help me to sell all the 
 books I had, and my prayer Avas answered ; 
 in about two hours 1 had not a book left. 
 
 1 learne<l there that in five days from 
 that time there Avas to be a market-day at 
 Song-Do. So I Avent to Seoul, took a ncAv 
 load of books, and in four days Avas in 
 Song-Do again. When I went out to the 
 
— 12 — 
 
 market the next day I was discouraged. 
 It was a market of woo.l only, and very 
 few people were there. I took more than 
 two hundred Gospels with me, and thought 
 I should have to carry them back, and my 
 second coming to Song-Do would be in 
 vain. But the Lord helped me again. 
 The first day I sold fifty-one Gospels to 
 the people of the city, the next day fifty- 
 seven Gospels, and the third day eighty-nine 
 Gospels and one Japanese Testament. 
 
 I met a Japanese C'liristian there who is 
 serving in the telegraph office. He called 
 on me, and the next day I visited his office 
 and sold two Gospels and one Testament. 
 He was very glad to meet Christians, and 
 on Sunday we had a prayer meeting 
 together. He could speak only a little 
 Korean, so during the meeting I read 
 ray Russian Bible, my teacher read the 
 Korean, and the Japanese his own. We 
 prayed the same way. . 
 
 When I was at Spng-Do the second time 
 I was lodging at the house of a butcher. 
 One evening they had a business meeting, 
 and I was glad that we had an opportunity 
 to teach them again. After I went to 
 
— 13 — 
 
 sleep I was awakened by a strange noise. 
 When I looked out I saw four men bolding 
 a man down and another one beating him 
 with a stick. 1 tried to interfere, but the 
 other people would not let me do it. When 
 I asked what was the matter they said that 
 this man was drinking “sool” (Korean 
 whisky). They suggested to him many 
 times, but he would not pay any attention, 
 so they had to give him a more convincing 
 suggestion. The man who was beaten, 
 after they let him. go, did not seem to he 
 very much offended. He walked into the 
 room, and they continueil their business 
 just as if nothing had happened. 
 
 After I had sold my hooks at f^ong-Do 
 I went hack to Seoul. It was the 25th of 
 Kovemlier, and I desired to sj)end Thaides- 
 giving Day there. 
 
 Altogether I sold 399 Gospels and a 
 Testament on these trips, receiving ^13.97 
 for them, and walked alwut 1,200 li or 
 700 miles. On the day of Thanksgiving 
 my heart was specially full of thanks to 
 the Almighty God for His blessing upon 
 my efforts. 1 pray that He may send llis 
 Holy Spirit into the hearts of those who 
 
— 14 — 
 
 bought the Scriptures, that they may 
 understand them, and come to know about 
 God and His Son Jesus Christ. I pray 
 slso that tlie Lord may guide and help me 
 to do ray work in the future as He heljxid 
 rae this time. A. A. Pieters. 
 
 Korea, Seoul February 18th 1896. 
 
 The 6th of January I started on ray trip 
 to the South. Not long before that time 
 tiie Government ordered the people to cut 
 their top knots. The people who were in 
 some way or other connected witli the 
 Government had their hair cut immediately, 
 but the rest of the people did not like to do 
 it at all. So a guard was put at every 
 gate of Seoul and each one who passed 
 them had his hair cut. The people were 
 very angry with the Government and were 
 likely to rise at any time. The Russian 
 ^Minister advised me not to go at that time. 
 Few of the people in the South had ever 
 seen a foreigner and would surely think 
 that I was a Japanese. But I could not 
 help going. 
 
— 15 — 
 
 The road was very muddy on account 
 of the warm weatlier and melting snow, 
 and it was so hard to walk that for 
 three days we could not go more than fifty 
 five miles. The road going to Toom-Po 
 crosses a river, the usual method of crossing 
 being by ferry. But at this time of the 
 year the river was covered with ice, wliich 
 was too thin to cross on. So we hail to go 
 far away down to an inlet of the sea. 
 When we reached there it was again 
 impossiI)le to get over because of a very 
 strong wind. We had to wait there until 
 the next day, and did not read) Toom-Po 
 until late in the afternoon of tlie market 
 day. Nevertheless I sold some (Gospels. 
 Next we stopped in a village, Nol-my, to 
 see the market day. The market was a 
 very large one, but although we walked 
 alwut it all day long, preaching and asking 
 the people to buy the Gospels, they ]jaid 
 very little attention and I sold only a few. 
 I coulihnot think of the reason ; but later I 
 found out that a Roman Catholic priest 
 lived not far from there, and the Koreans, 
 as a rule, do not like the Catholics. The 
 j)Cople at that market thought I was a 
 
— 16 — 
 
 Catholic, although I always tell them as 
 much as possible of the diiference between 
 the Roman Catholic church and ours. 
 
 From there I went to another market 
 at Kan-Gang, but had the same lack of 
 success, and for the same reason. 
 
 Then we went to Khun-Chang in the 
 province Chai-La-Do by boat. On account 
 of the tide the boat could not leave until 
 eight o’clock in the evening. There were 
 so many going in the boat that there was 
 hardly room for half of them. We had 
 to sit down as close to each other as possible, 
 and keep our knees close to our bodies. 
 Even then there was not room enough for 
 all of them, and many had to sit on the 
 legs of the others. It was frosty and very 
 windy. The waves rocked the boat fiom 
 side to side and soon made us .seasick. 
 Resides that we suffered severely from cold 
 and not being able to move even one of our 
 limbs. We did not reach the shore until 
 the next morning, having spent a long 
 hard night without any sleep. 
 
 We stayed at Khun-CFang two days 
 and a half, having sold a good deal of 
 Scr-iptures, and then started for Kong-Chu. 
 
— 17 — 
 
 We expected to reach an inn l)efore 
 dark, but in the afternoon it began to snow, 
 and it got dark when we were yet four 
 miles away from the inn. Just here the 
 road lay over mountains, and like nearly 
 all the Korean roads, was only a patli less 
 than half a yard wide, branching in many 
 places into two parts of different directions. 
 It was very dark, and as we did not know 
 the way, and there was nobody to ask 
 about it, we had to go liy guess and of 
 course very soon strayed. We climbed up 
 and down mountain after mountain with 
 no op{X)rtunity to inquire alx)ut the road. 
 It was snowing very hard, and impossiI)le 
 to see anything farther than twenty yards. 
 Our legs sunk in deep snow, and some- 
 times when my boy, or I stumbled over a 
 stone or fell into a ditch we were buried in 
 snow. Not until midnight did we find a 
 house where the host was so kind as to let 
 us spend the night. The next morning we 
 went on and arrived in Kong-Chu in two 
 days. There I found the matters far worse 
 than when we left. 
 
 The Governor of this city and province, 
 seeing that the people did not wish to cut 
 
— 18 — 
 
 their top knots, put a guard on all the 
 entrances into this city, and every one going 
 in or out had his hair cut. Besides that, 
 the Governor ordered the policemen to go 
 all over Kong-Chu and see that every 
 merchant and inhabitant had his hair cut. 
 The same was done in all the villages and 
 towns all over the province. The people 
 were very much enraged by this, and in 
 the east part of the province arose in 
 rebellion. Some thousands of them came 
 up to Kong-Chu and about seven miles 
 from there had a fight with the soldiers, 
 but were scattered. The soldiers brought 
 up lots of guns and other arms as trophies 
 of the victory. 
 
 On account of these troubles the few 
 merchants that had come to Kong-Chu, 
 left it as soon as they could. All the 
 stores were closed and hardly a person was 
 to be seen on the streets. None came even 
 on the market day. After spending some 
 days there, and not seeing much ase of 
 staying longer, we decided to leave. We 
 got acquainted with a well to do merchant, 
 who invited us to spend some days in his 
 house before we left, where we had a nice 
 
— 19 — 
 
 time. The host seemed to be very much 
 interested in tlie Christian doctrine and 
 took a copy of each book I liad. 
 
 After leaving Kong-Chu we tried to 
 visit some otlier markets, but tlie people 
 were too excited to do business and there 
 were no markets. Being thus obliged to 
 return to Seoul I arrived here the 1st of 
 February. 
 
 I much regretted my slight success, 
 although it seemed to me I had tried to do 
 my best and had a harder time than in 
 other more successful trips. 
 
 It is specially hard to travel over Korea 
 in winter. The roads tlien are far worse 
 than in summer. When it is not cold and 
 the ground is thawing, your feet sink in 
 deep sticky clay. When the ground freezes 
 the lumps of frozen mud hurt your feet 
 very much. It is very hard for men and 
 especially for loaded horses to walk over 
 these roads, and impossible to go more 
 than twenty miles a day. Besides that, 
 after you have spent all the day out of 
 doors in the c-old, you have to sjiend the 
 night upon a stone floor heated burning 
 hot by means of flues, the Korean method 
 
— 20 — 
 
 of heating a room. So every morning I 
 got up with severe headache. No doubt 
 I would not notice these troubles, if I were 
 encouraged by more success, but in the 
 opposite case one can not help noticing. 
 
 Altogether I sold two hundred and 
 seventy one Gos^Dels and eleven Testaments 
 during this trip. Besides that I sent do^vn 
 a helper with Scriptures to the butchers’ 
 meetings who sold three hundred and 
 thirty Gospels to them. So the number 
 of the portions distributed since my last 
 report is six hundred and twelve. 
 
 May the Lord pour out his Holy Spirit 
 upon the hearts of those who bought the 
 Scriptures, and may He use the books for 
 their speedy conversion. 
 
 A. A. Pieters. 
 
 Seoul, June 2-5th 1896, 
 This spring the mattei-s in Korea were 
 so disturbed that I could not go out into the 
 country before the 28th of March. On 
 that day I left Seoul for Chemulpo with 
 more than two horse-loads of books. I 
 
— 21 — 
 
 arrived at ilokpo the 8tli of April. There 
 I unexpecte<lly learned that the people 
 at Na-Joo had risen up and killed the 
 Governor, his adviser and two policemen. 
 I expected to do a good deal of work in 
 that city as it is one of the largest cities of 
 the South, but the way matters turned out 
 I was disappointed. However I decided 
 to visit that city, especially because the best 
 road to the place where I intended to go 
 passed through that city. 
 
 I left Mokpo the 10th and arrived at 
 Na-Joo the loth, having visited on the way 
 two towns, Mo-An and Ham-Pyong, 
 where I sold a goo<l many books. Wlien 
 I stopped at Hain-Pyong a messenger from 
 the iSlagistrate came to pay his respects 
 and inquire whether I arrived “peacefully.” 
 A servant came along with him and brought 
 a little table laden with the best Korean 
 luxuries. After some time I received in 
 the same way a nice chicken and a few 
 dozen of eggs, with a request for a lx)ok. 
 I gladly sent him a Testament. I could 
 spend only one day there and as it was a 
 market day I spent all the day ui the 
 market ; so I had no time to call on 
 
— 22 — 
 
 the good magistrate and to thank him 
 personally for the attention he paid me. 
 
 Not far from Na-Joo I passed a village 
 where there was a small market. As I 
 always carry a small package of books 
 separate from the large bags, I took it 
 down and offered the Scriptures to the 
 people. They thought that I had no more 
 books than those in the package, and, as 
 every one was anxious to get one, they 
 began to fight each other to get them. It 
 was hard to make them believe that I had 
 books enough for all of them. Later the 
 same happened in many other places. 
 
 When we came near Na-Joo we noticed 
 the city wall repaired very nicely. A 
 good many little houses had been built 
 upon it as observatories. We have been 
 told also that the insurgents had seized all' 
 the government arms in that city. For 
 about half a mile the road lay under the 
 wall. I must confess that when we were 
 passing along it we felt a little uncomfort- 
 able, as the jieoj^le from inside might 
 send us a few bullets. But when we had 
 passed through the gate we found instead 
 of a well watched fort a quiet empty city. 
 
— 23 — 
 
 Hardly a person was to be seen upon the 
 streets. 
 
 With difficulty I found a lodging place ; 
 aTid then I learned that the insurgents 
 were very bold only until the soldiers that 
 had been sent down from Chan-Joo got 
 within a day’s march of Na-Joo. Then the 
 bravery of the insurgents gave way, and 
 they fled from the city as fast as they 
 could, having left all the arms they had. 
 
 At the same time nearly all the in- 
 habitants of the city fearing punishment, 
 ran away too. As there was no use in 
 staying there any longer I went on next 
 morning, having sold but a few jwrtions 
 there. 
 
 The 16th I arrived at Nem-Pyong and 
 sold there nine Testaments and fifty three 
 Gospels. As the next day was a market- 
 day at Nung-Joo, and the day after the 
 next at Nem-Pyoug, I left for Nung-Joo 
 very early next morning. Soon after 
 we arrived there a messenger from the 
 Magistrate came again to inquire about us. 
 After a little while he came back to tell 
 me that the ^lagistrate would be ever so 
 much obliged if I would come to see 
 
24 — 
 
 him. I went and was received very kindly 
 indeed. 
 
 He appeared to be a man from Seoul, 
 and knew some of the missionaries very 
 well. He asked me to take dinner with 
 him, and invited me also to come for supper 
 and next day for breakfast. He was 
 accjuainted with the Cliristian doctrine, and 
 took one Testament and ten Gospels. He 
 also told the people in his office, and many 
 others, that those books were very good ones, 
 and that whoever read them, however bad 
 he had been, would be changed and become 
 a good man. His words had a good 
 influence, and after I went back to the inn 
 the people began to jx)ur in for books. In 
 a short time I sold 12 Testaments and 77 
 Gospels. 
 
 In the evening a messenger came and 
 asked me to come to supper. After supper 
 the Magistrate returned with me to the 
 inn and sat some time. Next morning I 
 left for AVho-Soon and sold thei-e 7 
 Testaments and 50 Gospels. From there 
 I weut to Quang-Joo, spent two days 
 there and sold 9 Testaments and 78 
 Gospels. 
 
After speuding two nights and a day 
 there I noticed the hostess of luy inn 
 carrying all the time on her back a child 
 that seemed to be sick. I asked Avhat was 
 the matter with it and received a very 
 calm answer that it was “ nothing special, 
 simply small-pox.” The door of our room 
 was about a yard and half distant from the 
 one of the host’ s room and it made me feel 
 rather uneasy for some time. 
 
 From Quang-Joo I went hack to Nem- 
 Pyong for the third time to see the market 
 there. 1 sold there 17 Testaments and 86 
 Gospels. In the evening a man called on 
 me and said that the Magistrate would like 
 very much to see me and have a talk with 
 me. He asked whether the Magistrate 
 should come to see me, or I would go to see 
 him. I went, and the Magistrate .seemed 
 to l)e very much pleased with my call. 
 He took .some books, and soon after I 
 returned home his servant came and 
 brought a large piece of very nice beef, 
 and a few dozen of eggs, saying that the 
 Magistrate heard that I could not get any 
 meat and so he asked me to accept that 
 trifle. 
 
26 — 
 
 Next day I left for Tai-Myong and sold 
 4 Testaments and 25 Gospels there. From 
 Tai-Myong I went to Sun-Chang to 'see 
 the market there ; but on account of rain 
 only a few people came and I sold but 6 
 Testaments and 36 Gospels. After that I 
 visited Chon-Joo. The last city is the 
 capital of the province. 
 
 AVhen I went out there to try to sell the • 
 Scriptures I found the people perfectly 
 indiferent. They would not listen to the 
 preaching, nor even look at the books, and 
 although I went all day long about the 
 city I did not sell a book. The simple 
 reason was that a Roman Catholic priest 
 has l)een working in that city for many 
 years. 
 
 The next day but one was to be a market- 
 day there and 1 decided to stay and see it. 
 Next day I went out again, but had the 
 same success. On the market-day I went 
 upon the market and spent all day but sold 
 only 3 Gospels. 
 
 From Chon-Joo I went to Chai-mi, sold 
 1 Testament and 7 Gospels there, and then 
 went to Khun-Chang, the place where Rev. 
 ]\Ir. Junkin and Dr. Drew, (lx)th of the 
 
— 27 — 
 
 Southern Presbyterian IMission) moved 
 with their families not long ago. I spent 
 three days there, having sold 3 Bibles, 
 7 Testaments and 10 Gospels. 
 
 From Khun-Chang I went to So-Chon 
 of Chun-Chong province. Soon after 
 reaching that place 1 became very ill, so 
 that I was not able to go out. During the 
 night I felt very unwell and thought that 
 I must go back to Khun-Chang and see 
 the doctor. But next morning I felt better 
 and went on to Ilan-San to see the market 
 there. I sold I Testament and 20 Gospels 
 on that market. 
 
 In the evening I felt very unwell again, 
 and was sorry that I had not returned 
 from So-Chong, as I was now much farther 
 from the doctor. But next morning I got 
 better again and went to another market 
 at No-dong. There I decided not to go 
 any farther for some time, but stay and see 
 whether 1 would get better or worse. 
 
 It turned out that 1 became very ill 
 indeed, and only with great dirticulty could 
 get back to Khun-Chang. After the doctor 
 examined me he said that I was quite lucky 
 having been not very far from a foreign 
 
28 — 
 
 settlemont and a doctor, or else I might 
 have been much worse. I could not leave 
 Khun-Chang for eight days. All that 
 time I was under the kindest and most 
 attentive care of Dr. and l\Irs. Drew’. 
 [In a private letter iMr. Pieters writes 
 concerning this exj:)erience “ I was never 
 sick in my life before, and it seems to me 
 that a long trip over the interior of Korea 
 can break down a person even much 
 stronger tiian I. I do not try to describe 
 the way of travelling over Korea in my 
 report as it would make the report too long 
 and probably noboily would care to read 
 it. I w’ill only say that one can have no 
 idea whatever what it is unless he tries it 
 himself.”— H. L.] 
 
 After I recovered I left for Kong-Chu, 
 where there was to be a fair at that time. 
 1 visited that jrlace in January, when, as I 
 told in my last report, the fair was not 
 held. I expected the fair now to be larger 
 than usual, but when I arrived there I 
 found again that the fair was not held. 
 The people said that the merchants were 
 probably still angry w’ith that 23lace for 
 being forced there to cut their hair last 
 
— 29 — 
 
 winter, and so would not come. I sold but 
 a few portions there. Before I left the 
 people told me to he careful as the northern 
 part of Chun-Chong province, where 1 was 
 intending to go was occupied hy rel)els. 
 
 I was going to visit a market at Ip- 
 Chang, a town about fifty miles distant 
 from Kong-Chu. To get there at the right 
 time I had to start early next morning. 
 But when I tried to get coolies 1 could not 
 do it hy any means, as the j)eo])le were 
 very busy with tran.splanting the rice. 
 Ijate in the afternoon I got a horse, Init as 
 it was too late to go to Ip-Chang I went to 
 another place 8o-8ai. 
 
 After two days travelling I arrived there, 
 and to my disappointment found the market 
 quite empty. The reason, as 1 learned, 
 was that the market at Ip-Cbang was 
 attacked by insurgents in the middle of 
 the day, and all the merchants were robbed 
 of their gootls and money, — three of them 
 being killed and a great many wounded. 
 I thanked the r^ord for keeping me out of 
 trouble, which I would surely not have 
 escaped had I been able to get coolies and 
 go there, as I intended to. 
 
— 30 — 
 
 I went to another market at Ansau, but 
 found nobody there either for the same 
 reason. Two Chinese merchants came to 
 me there to ask me for some medicine. 
 One had a large wound on his back, and 
 the other one on his shoulder, both cut 
 with swords by the insurgents, who attacked 
 the market at Ii>Chang. I dressed them, 
 and gave them some medicine, which I 
 always carry along in my country trips. 
 
 As all that part of the country was 
 occupied by insurgents, who went alwut 
 from village to village and robbed the 
 people, I thought that there was no use in 
 trying to do anything more ; so I decided 
 to finish my trip and come up to Seoul 
 wliere I arrived the night of the 10th of 
 June. 
 
 Altogether I visited about thirty towns 
 and a great many villages, having travelled 
 over land about 700 miles. The total of 
 the books sold is as follows: 3 Bibles, 
 and 139 'J'estaments in Korean, and 878 
 Gospels. Besides this I sold in Seoul, 
 up to the 28th of March, 2 Bibles and 
 2 Testaments in English, 3 Testaments 
 and 95 Gosjjels in Korean, and two Testa- 
 
— 31 
 
 ments in Japanese. Among all those books 
 not more than eight were given away ; for 
 the remainder the cost was received. 
 
 May these few seeds fall on the hearts 
 of the people, as upon good ground ; and 
 may the Lord transform them into a 
 plentiful harvest. A. A. Pieters. 
 
 Seoul, Jan. 7th, 1897. 
 
 On account of the visit of Rev. Mr. 
 Ijoomis to Korea I could not leave Seoul 
 before Octolier 24th. Leaving Chemulpo 
 by steamer on the 25th I arrived at Pyeng- 
 Yang on the 27th, and having spent Sunday 
 there I left for the interior South-West from 
 Pyeng-Y ang. The first night after stiu ting 
 we spent in a village of some six houses. 
 Before it got dark I took a few books and 
 went out to see whether I could sell a copy 
 or two. Unexpectedly I met a man who 
 had visited Pyeng-Yang some time ago and 
 lx)ught a Gospel of Luke and a catechism. 
 He got so attracted to those books that he 
 read them all through and learned by heart 
 ?he ten commandments and the Lord’s 
 
— 32 — 
 
 prayer. He told the people what gootl 
 books they were, and they all returned 
 with me to the inn and .spent the evening 
 there, being taught some of the truths of 
 Christianity. I sold three Testaments and 
 five Gospels. I may say here that the 
 reason why I sell more single Gospels than 
 Testaments is because only the four Gospels 
 and the Acts are as yet translated into 
 Korean. The Testaments that I sell are 
 Chinese, and can only be read by good 
 scholars. The farmers and common labor- 
 ing people can only read single Gospels 
 which are translated into Korean. After 
 visiting several other places I arrived at a 
 little town called Sam-Ai. It is but a very 
 small place, and I did not exjiect to sell any 
 Scriptures there. Next day was market 
 day, but there were very few merchants in 
 attendance. Nevertheless I took out my 
 package of books and began to invite the 
 people to read and buy them. At first all 
 their attention was only attracted by my 
 person. They fingered ray hat, clothes, 
 boots, everything but the books. I waited 
 patiently, and when all their curiosity in 
 that line was satisfied they began to look 
 
— 33 — 
 
 at the hooks. When they wre told what 
 books they were, one after tlie other they 
 b<?yan to buy them and in half an hour I 
 sold eleven 'I'estaments arul twenty-seven 
 Go.spels. On 7iiy way farther I passed a 
 little market. As it was not the time to 
 stop for dinner I took ilown my bundle of 
 books and sent my horse ahead. Immedi- 
 ately I was surrounded by a crowd, ami in 
 a very little while 1 sold six 3'estiirnents 
 and nineteen Gospels. This was the hist 
 place in the province of Pyeug-Yang. 
 Though I did not sell very many books in 
 this part of the trip it was evident that the 
 people who bought the .Scriptures did not 
 buy them simjily for (airiosity but because 
 they knew something about Christianity 
 and wanted to learn more. Almost in every 
 place there wore several men who tried to 
 show that they were acquainted with the 
 “ Jesus doctrine,” as they call it. One 
 would say that he knew the followers of 
 this doctrine have to keep .Salibath. 
 Another wouhl say he knew a Christian 
 must not drink, lie, .steal etc. Another one 
 would s{)eak out that he knew this doctrine 
 teaches to honor parents (a thing that the 
 
— 34 — 
 
 Koreans are very strict about ; not only 
 when their jDarents are living but far more 
 after they are dead). Every one who 
 bought a book was told to go to Pyeng- 
 Yaug and inquire of the American Mission- 
 aries, if he wants to learn more about this 
 religion. 
 
 Going on I got to the mouth of the Ta- 
 Tong River whicli I intended to cross and 
 go over into the province of Whang-Hai. 
 M'hen we got to the ferry we found that all 
 the boats were too small to take ra_v horse 
 over, iind we had to go around to another 
 place about ten miles distant. AVheu we 
 a)rived there we found that the boat had 
 just left, and that we would have to wait 
 until next day, as the boat was going only 
 once a day. The only thing to do was to 
 make ourselves at home in the single room 
 of the single inn of the place. By the 
 evening the inn got well filled up, and by 
 tlie time we went to beil there were twenty 
 five of us who were going to spend the night 
 in that one small room. It was a good 
 o])portuuity to talk to the people and have 
 them to read the Scriptures. The whole 
 evening was spent this ^^’ay, and I sold one 
 
— 35 — 
 
 Testament and fourteen Gospels. Next 
 clay about noou the boat came at last. As 
 usual there was a long distance of mud to 
 pass before one could get to the boat, and 
 most of the passengers ])uid the boatman 
 for carrying them over on his back. We 
 had to cros.s a piece of water about ten miles 
 wide, and it took the boatman the whole 
 afternoon to do it. To a foreigner it is very 
 wearisome to see the Korean method of 
 propelling boats. No matter how large the 
 boat is, even though its capacity is several 
 tons, it has only one boatman, and only 
 one oar on the keel which is moved in the 
 water back and forth, something like a 
 fi.sh moves its tail when swimming. Un- 
 less some impatient passenger gets up and 
 helps the boatman (which, by the way, 
 does not happen often) the latter has to 
 Avork alone, and, of cour.se, under such 
 circumstances the l)oat can not be expected 
 to move as fast as a steamboat. By the 
 time we reached the other side, and the 
 j)assengei's and the baggage Avere carried 
 over from the boat to the dry ground, it 
 began to groAV dark. We had to spend 
 another night in an inn Avith the some 
 
— 3G — 
 
 amount of people as the night previous, who 
 were waiting for the boat whicli was going 
 next (lay. Soon after I went to sleep I 
 was su'ldenly awakened by my near neigh- 
 bour who liad a severe s])ell of epilepsy. 
 It so ahected my nerves that I could not 
 go to sleep any more during the wliole night. 
 !Next day 1 went on to Chang-Nion. On 
 the way we stopped to rest bj' a single liouse 
 wliich was by the road. Soon the host came 
 out. I asked him whether he had ever seen 
 Christian books. He said he had hejird 
 about tliat doctrine but had never read any 
 books. Then I offered to sell them to him 
 and briefly explained their teaching. He 
 was very much interested and gladly Irought 
 a Testament and eleven Gospels. In the 
 evening of the same day I arrived at Chaug- 
 Niou. On account of the market I was 
 obliged to stay four days there. In the 
 meanwhile I visited another market about 
 ten miles distant from Chang-Xion. While 
 I was staying at Chang-Niou the people 
 were constantly coming to see me and, of 
 course, none of them went away without 
 l)eing spoken to. Many of them bought 
 books. In the evenings a good many people 
 
— 37 — 
 
 would gatho.r iu our inn, and the whole time 
 would !)e spent in ])roaching to them and 
 reading the .Scriptures. Thus i sold twenty 
 'restaments and sixty one Gospels in tliat 
 town. While on the market I met two men 
 who toM me they were Christians and 
 belonged to a church about fifteen miles 
 distant from Chang-Nion. (By the word 
 “ (diiirch ” I do not mean an organized 
 clnircb as at home, but a company of 
 believers who have a jdace of worship wliere 
 they regularly Jissemble.) They invited me 
 to go and see their church. It was not far 
 away from my road and 1 thought I would 
 go. It is but a very small village of some 
 ten families, all of whom are Christians. 
 They had raised among themselves money 
 enough to build a large chapel. They 
 seemed to be very glad to see me anrl in 
 the evening and next morning we had two 
 ])rayer meetings. From there I went to 
 Ah-Nak. W'heii I arrived there I found 
 a good many Christians from different 
 ehurelies not far from that jdace who came 
 uj> to get the magistrate to stop the official 
 •s<iueezings that were going on in their 
 villages. In the evening we liad a lotig 
 
— 38 — 
 
 prayer meeting at which besides the Chris- 
 tians there was present a large crowd of 
 other people. Next morning the Christians 
 were returning to their homes, and some of 
 them invited me to go down and see their 
 church which was about five miles distant 
 from Ah-Nak. I gladly went. It was 
 again a large chapel built by the native 
 Christians. In the evening that I arrived, 
 and next morning before I left, we had two 
 prayer meetings. There are a good many 
 baptized members there, and a great many 
 more catechumens. All of these men are 
 good Christians, but two of them are 
 especially worth mentioning. Their names 
 are Mr. Kim and Mr. Han. Both of them 
 give all of their time to the Lord’s wokr. 
 ]\Ir. Kira does not receive a cent ; and Mr. 
 Han, being very poor, gets a support of one 
 dollar a month. Both of them are all the 
 time going about the country from village 
 to village preaching the Gospel, sometimes 
 both together, and sometimes separately. 
 Often they do not return home for several 
 weeks. H u n d reds of people were converted 
 through these two men. In a number of 
 places w'here there would be several converts 
 
39 — 
 
 in one village they would raise money among 
 themselves and build a chapel. Frequent 
 invitations were sent to the missionaries in 
 Pyeng-Yang to come and see them. Thus, 
 just recently, the people of a certain village 
 where no missionary hail ever been, built a 
 large chapel, and, wltcn Rev. Mr. Lee of 
 the Northern Presbyterian Mission wiis 
 visiting other churches, tliey asked him to 
 come down and pay them a visit. It was 
 a very nice surprise, and in one evening he 
 received forty-two catechumens there. I 
 don’t think there is any greater happiness 
 in this world than to see those lieathen, who 
 a few years ago did not know anything about 
 Ood, or salvation, and who are now not only 
 worsliiping the only true God, but also give 
 all their time to preaching the Gospel. 
 May the Holy Spirit strengthen them and 
 so act through them that all their native 
 brothers may soon be brought to Christ. 
 While going on our way in one place we 
 had to cross a narrow channel of the sea, 
 the banks of which were very steep and on 
 account of the tide being out were very 
 muddy. To get down to the boat there 
 were paths on both sides made of stones 
 
— 40 — 
 
 which were fitted for anything hut walking. 
 After a good deal of trouble we got the 
 horse down to the boat ; but while trying to 
 ascend on the other side he stumbled over 
 the stones of the path and got into the mud 
 which was three feet deep. Trying to get 
 out he fell and the whole load fell into the 
 mud. It took us a long time to take the 
 things out and we had to spend the whole 
 day washing and drying them. However 
 this delay was not quite useless. I spent a 
 pleasant day in the house of a Christian 
 family that was living there, and besides 
 that I met two Christians from another 
 village who told me they were living not far 
 from my road, and as there were a good 
 many Christians in that village they would 
 be very glad to see me. Some time ago a 
 man from that village, IMr. Chai, learned 
 that there were some foreigners in Pyeng- 
 Yang who Avere teaching a new religion. 
 Afterwards when a friend of his was going 
 to Pyeng-Yang, i\Ir. Chai asked h.im to buy 
 some Christian books. The friend brought 
 with him a Testament, some single Gospels, 
 a cateehhmi and a hymn i)Ook. Through 
 tliose hooks 31r. Chai Avas converted. Soon 
 
41 — 
 
 after liis conversion lie began to preach the 
 Gospel not only to liis neighbours, but to 
 evoiybo'Iy whom he would meet. Now 
 though there are only a few baptized 
 nienibers in that church, there arc a good 
 luany who jirofess to be Christians. Aniono' 
 tneiuselves they had already rai.sed mone}% 
 and were going to buihl a cha])ci. I arrived 
 there on Thur.s<l,ay night. On the following 
 •Nitiirday aiul liie.sday there wore two large 
 markets to be held not far from that j)lace. 
 fho Christians insisted very much on mv 
 staying there over .Sunday, :ind as it suited 
 I did so. \\ bile I was staying there people 
 irom other villages were constantly coming 
 to sec^ me. Some of them came as far as 
 ten miles. Eveiy moining we devoted to 
 the .study of the Bible, and in the evenings 
 we had pr.ayer meetings. On Sunday we 
 liad a long service. So many peo])lc came 
 to the Sunflay service that, although the 
 Jiouse was rpiite large, there was not room 
 enough in it, and we had to spre.ad mats in 
 the ^ard and had the service in the open 
 ..ir. lien I went U) the above mentioned 
 niarket, i\Ir. C.l)ai and .several other Chris- 
 tians went along with me to preach there. 
 
42 — 
 
 This Mr. Chai gives his house, his wealtli 
 an<i all his time to the Lord’s work. All 
 the meetings are held in his house. If 
 anybody comes IMr. Chai receives him into 
 his house and feeds him. While I was 
 there a good many peoj)le, as I said, were 
 calling, and !Mr. Chai always made them 
 stay the whole day, and of cour.se fiirni.shed 
 them their fooil. On Sunday forty peojde 
 took dinner at his house. x\.nd this man is 
 only a common farmer, who has not even 
 an acre of land of his own. This shows 
 liow the Holy Spirit can work in a man. 
 I spent four days, and addressed seven 
 meetings at that place. The last remarkable 
 work 1 saw on this trip vws in a little town 
 by the name of Chai-riong. Before I arrived 
 there I did not expect t-f) meet anylx)dy who 
 knew anything about Christianity. But 
 when 1 arrived I w'as surprised to find a 
 good many Christians. I do not think that 
 even the missionaries of Pyen-Yang knew 
 about it. A man of that place has a Chris- 
 tian relative who is living in a village where 
 there is a church. While visiting that 
 relative last summer he heard the Gosj^el 
 and found Christ. After he returned home 
 
— 43 — 
 
 he began to preach to his neiglihours, ami 
 at present about twenty men profess to be 
 Christians. The only hooks they liad were 
 a Testament and a catechism which has a 
 form of prayer and five liymns at the end. 
 Kvery Sun<lay, and also on otlier daj’s they 
 meet, read tlie Testament and the prayer, 
 and say the hymns. They do not know 
 mucli, l)ut are trying to do their best, and 
 it seems to me that this is not less acceptable 
 to God than a servi(;e in a large church at 
 liome with beautiful music and a powerful 
 sermon. In the evening we had a juayer 
 meeting, and next day after the market was 
 over I started for .Seoul. I arrived home 
 Decemliei’ 2‘2nd having sold nine lumdred 
 and fifteen Gospels and a hundred and 
 seven Testaments. 
 
 I enjoyed this two months’ trip much 
 more than any former trip. Motliing can 
 exjwes.s the happiness 1 felt seeing how the 
 Loi'd’s work is spreailing all over the country 
 and liow the lloly Gho.«t is taking hold of 
 these people. IMay the T^ord hasten the 
 time when “ the kings of the eai th and all 
 tlie pco])le ; j)rinccs, and all juilges of the 
 earth ; both young men and maidens, old 
 
— 41 
 
 men ami children ” will praise the Lord of 
 hosts ” 
 
 A. A. Pim Eas.