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 By REV. C. F. REID. D.D., 
 
 SEOUL. KOREA. 
 
 “The grateful task of opening the doozs of 
 spiritual life and material piosperity to the 
 Koreans has been committed unto us. ’ ’ 
 
 board of Missions, 
 
 Methodist Episcopal church, south, 
 Nashville, Tenn. 
 
HON. T. H. YUN, 
 Taotai of C h i- nan - p o . 
 
v/ 
 
 </ 
 
 THE OPENING OF KOREA. 
 
 ft HAS been too frequently the case in these Eastern lands, Rome had a full 
 
 century the start of Protestantism in making the name of Jesus known 
 
 to the Koreans. In 1777 an earnest Korean student of Confucius, who, 
 by certain characteristics, had won for himself the name of Stonewall, obtained 
 possession of several publications issued by the Jesuit Mission in Peking. 
 Among these books were tracts on “ The Existence of God,” “ The Immortal- 
 ity of the Soul,” ‘‘The Seven Deadly Sins and Their Opposite Virtues,” and 
 others of like purport. 
 
 Stonewall was delighted with the new doctrine, and at once began to practice 
 its teaching to the best of his meager knowledge. At his first opportunity he 
 opened correspondence with the priests in Peking through a friend who was 
 going to the Chinese capital in company with the Korean embassy. This friend 
 was converted and baptized while in Peking, and returned to Korea well stocked 
 with books, crucifixes, images, pictures, etc. Stonewall received his share 
 with delight, and became more devoted to the new religion than ever. He soon 
 began to preach, and made many converts, both among the nobility and the 
 common people. This, of course, attracted considerable attention, and brought 
 about a series of bitter persecutions and a series of noble martyrdoms which, 
 as exhibitions of sublime faith and heroic endurance under the most cruel tor- 
 tures and in death, have never been surpassed in any age or country. Coming 
 off the streets of Seoul, where hundreds of ease-loving, work and pain-hating na- 
 tives are constantly lounging, one is fairly bewildered by a perusal of the record 
 of firmness under intense suffering, the willing self-sacrifice, and all the 
 eminent Christian virtues which, during the last hundred years, have been il- 
 lustrated thousands of times in the lives and deaths of Korean believers. 
 
 The first victim was a gentleman by the name of Kim, who had received, 
 when baptized, the name of Thomas. For destroying his ancestral tablets he 
 was tortured and sent into banishment, where he shortly died. Next were two 
 more of the same surname. These were publicly tried, and, refusing to recant, 
 were beheaded. Their death was the signal for a general and relentless perse- 
 cution which had for its end the utter extermination of the new faith. 
 
 BY REV. C. F. REID, D.D. 
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
4 
 
 THE OPENING OE KOREA. 
 
 Men were beaten with rods until the flesh hung on them in blood} - rags. 
 Their bones were disjointed until their limbs dangled limp and useless from 
 their quivering bodies. One man, sixty-one years old, after wearying his tor- 
 turers with his endurance, was bound around with cords and thrown upon the 
 icy ground. Then water was poured over him, freezing as it fell, thus covering 
 his body in a coat of ice. In this condition he was left to wait for death, 
 which, more pitiful than his torturers, quickly relieved him of his sufferings. 
 
 It is not surprising that under persecution of such extreme rigor many should 
 fall away; and yet, in spite of persecution and apostasy, it is estimated that ten 
 years after the baptism of the first Korean convert in Peking there were four 
 thousand Christians in Korea. In 1791 the first attempt of a foreign mission- 
 ary to enter Korea was made. A Portuguese priest named Jean dos Remedios 
 made the perilous overland trip from Peking; but, after waiting ten days in 
 vain at the border gate for an opportunity to enter, he returned to Peking, 
 where he soon died. Three years later a Chinese priest determined to make 
 the attempt, and, after an eventful journey, he reached Seoul in safety. This 
 was the first foreign missionary to visit Korea. After six years of secret but 
 successful labor, he suffered martyrdom. During the greater portion of this 
 time he was hid in the house of a noble Korean lady, but when the government 
 outlawed him by public proclamation he left the house of his protectress, 
 bravely refusing any longer to endanger the lives of his friends. He volunta- 
 rily surrendered himself, and was beheaded May 31, 1801. His hostess was then 
 thrown into prison, and while waiting death wrote out his life and works on the 
 skirt of her silk dress. At her execution she begged that she might be allowed 
 to die in her robes, and not be stripped of them in accordance with the usual 
 custom. Her request being granted, she laid her head upon the block -with a 
 meekness and grace as pathetic as it was inspiring. 
 
 I11 the winter of 1835 the first French missionaries, after much trouble in 
 running the guards at Aichoo, entered the city through a water drain in the 
 city wall. After three years of indefatigable labor, they suffered martyrdom, 
 September 21, 1839. On the day of their death they were led to the execution 
 ground, pinioned, and stripped of their upper garments; a stick was passed be- 
 tween their elbows and back, an arrow was run through the fleshy part of each 
 ear, and their faces were wet with water and powdered with chalk. A dozen 
 soldiers then began a sham fight over them, delivering their blows upon the 
 bodies of their kneeling victims instead of on each other, while the crowd 
 shouted with delight and mockery as the cruel game went on. Wearying at 
 length with this sport, the executioners struck the victims’ heads from their 
 bodies, and thus perished the first European missionaries to Korea. 
 
 Still the work went on. The terrible persecution of 1866, during which large 
 numbers sealed their faith in blood, is of so recent date that I merely make 
 
THE OPENING OF KOREA. 
 
 5 
 
 mention of it in passing to show that within the lifetime of many of those who 
 will read this article the sands of Korea have often been wet with the blood of 
 Koreans, who, by some, are represented as hardly worth the saving. The man 
 who directed this horrible butchery only recently died, and the memory of his 
 deeds is to-day fresh in the minds of many whom we pass upon the streets. 
 
 The work of promulgating Protestant Christianity did not begin until 1883. 
 In that year a Chinese soldier, a convert of Dr. Douthwaite, well known at 
 Vanderbilt University, was ordered with his regiment to Korea. Before leaving 
 Chefoo, he went to Dr. Douthwaite and asked for a supply of Gospels and 
 Christian tracts for use in Korea. They were, of course, given to him, and im- 
 mediately on his arrival in Seoul he began to distribute them and teach their 
 doctrines as best he could. 
 
 So active was this Chinese soldier in publishing the gospei that he soon fell 
 under the observation of the government and was arrested. The foreign office 
 at once communicated with Gen. Yuen, commander of the Chinese troops in 
 Seoul, asking that the man might be decapitated. Gen. Yuen, however, being 
 a strong sympathizer with, if not an actual believer in, Christianity, refused to 
 accede to this request; and after a long and painful imprisonment, he was final- 
 ly released and returned to his home in Chefoo. 
 
 In the month of September, 1884, Dr. H. N. Allen, of the Presbyterian Mis- 
 sion in Shanghai, came to Seoul as physician to the American Legation. This 
 was the first American missionary to arrive in the country. The following year 
 he was joined by Drs. Underwood and Heron, of the same mission, and by Dr. 
 Scranton and H. G. Appenzeller, of the M. E. Church. 
 
 The medical work of Dr. Allen began almost at once. Soon after his arrival, 
 the i iiu u/c in connection with the establishment of the postal service occurred, 
 and the Doctor was called to attend one of the high Korean officials who had 
 been badly wounded in the affray. The treatment was successful, and as a re- 
 sult the Doctor was soon flooded with applications for medical attentions, and 
 at the end of the first year he could report over ten thousand cases seen, two 
 hundred and sixty-five in-patients, and a hundred and fifty surgical operations. 
 As has so often been the case on mission fields, the medical work proved to be 
 the entering wedge for the evangelist. On the second Sunday in July, 1886, 
 Dr. Horace G. Underwood baptized the first convert to Protestant Christianity, 
 and from that time the growth of the work has been rapid and steady. Both 
 the Presbyterian and Methodist Missions have been doubling their memberships 
 for the last several years. As in the beginning of the Roman Catholic Mission, 
 the work is largely self-propagating. 
 
 Returning recently from a visit to Songdo, I overtook several men on the 
 road. As they saluted me, we naturally fell into a conversation. To my sur- 
 prise I learned that they were members of the Presbyterian Church. They had 
 
6 
 
 THE OPENING OF NOPEA. 
 
 come from Charyung, some hundred miles beyond Songdo. They told me that 
 in their district there were eight churches entirely built by native Christians, 
 and a membership of about four hundred. With the exception of occasional 
 visits from the missionaries living at Pingyang, they were carrying on the work 
 among themselves. 
 
 Another illustration of how the good seed takes root in Korea came under 
 my observation at Koksan, a small town among the mountains, a hundred and 
 fifty miles north of Seoul. The fame of the medical w'ork done in Seoul 
 reached this retired place, and a native doctor living there determined to visit 
 Seoul and learn more about it, and, if possible, obtain some of the new reme- 
 dies. Arriving in Seoul, he met both Dr. Heron and Dr. Underwood. From 
 the first he obtained medicines, and from the second he received several copies 
 of the Gospels and tracts. What use he made of the medicines I am unable to 
 say; but the books he laid upon a shelf in his home, where they remained un- 
 touched for four years. One day another doctor, from an adjoining village, 
 came in, and during the conversation mention was made of the trip to Seoul 
 and the books which were brought home The visitor asked to see them, and 
 was laughingly told that he might have them. He took them to his home, and 
 after reading somewhat in them called in several of his neighbors. As a result 
 a little company of believers was formed. They wrote several urgent letters, 
 begging the missionaries at Seonl to visit them and give them fuller instruc- 
 tion; but the journey was a long and difficult one, and every one had his hands 
 full, and it was not till 1896 that time and opportunity served for Drs. Under- 
 wood and Avison to visit Koksan. In the meantime this little band of believers 
 read a good deal about a washing rite (baptism), and not knowing what else to 
 do, thej' gave each other a bath in the name of the Holy Trinity. Unfortunate- 
 ly, shortly after the two missionaries left Seoul for Koksan the murder of the 
 queen took place, and a courier was at once dispatched from the United States 
 Legation recalling them. They had, however, time to examine and baptize a 
 few of the more intelligent and devout believers before the recall reached them. 
 
 No other attempt was made to visit this section until about a year and a 
 half later, -when it was my privilege to make the trip with Dr. Underwood. 
 After five days of hard walking over roads that were almost impassable, we 
 reached our destination. Ten li this side of Koksan we were met by a com- 
 pany of Christians, who had come out the day before to wait for us. Guided 
 by them, we picked our way through a narrow pass to the picturesque little 
 village nestled in a basin among the mountains, where we were to be enter- 
 tained in the home of Dr. Clio, the first believer, and the leading spirit of this 
 little band of believers. We remained five days, during which we were enter- 
 tained as the most honored of guests. Nothing was left undone that could 
 minister to our comfort; and the spirit with which everything was given was 
 
THE OPENING OE KOREA. 
 
 7 
 
 simply delightful. The good seed had been scattered and had brought forth 
 fruit in the whole district, and men and women came up from the country 
 and villages around to learn more from the foreign teachers. There were, in 
 all, about fifty applicants for baptism, and these were carefully examined, one 
 by one. Dr. Underwood left the reception of these candidates largely to the 
 judgment of the few older Christians, and it was exceedingly interesting to 
 see with what care they weighed each case. Only nineteen of the fifty were 
 able to meet the requirements of these men standing as guards at the door of 
 the infant Church. These were finally baptized and admitted into full mem- 
 bership, and the others were put on the list of probationers until they had 
 made further advancement in knowledge and experience. 
 
 I have rarely enjoyed Christian communion more than I did with these sim- 
 ple followers of Jesus, many of whom had developed bright Christian char- 
 acters with no other teacher than the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. 
 
 I have given this illustration of how Christianity is spreading in Korea, be- 
 cause it came under my own observation. Did time and space allow, others 
 equally interesting might be mentioned. 
 
 At the urgent request of the Vice Minister of Education and one of the 
 first representatives of the mercantile class of Korea, Bishop E. R. Hendrix 
 and the writer visited Korea in October, 1S95. The providential indications 
 were so plain that the bishop decided at once to open a mission in the coun- 
 trv, and he appointed his traveling companion superintendent and pioneer 
 missionary for the new work. It was not, however, until August, 1896, that 
 we were able to remove our family from Shanghai and begin work. 
 
 A large section of country stretching from Seoul, the capital, along the 
 main highway to Songdo, was found entirely unoccupied by any of the mis- 
 sion forces previously in the field. At an early date an excellent opening was 
 made at Koyang, and in a few months work was begun in Songdo, with a line 
 of stations connecting the two cities. 
 
 In January, 1897, the Rev. C. T. Collver arrived in Seoul and was appointed 
 to the Songdo Circuit. The following year Dr. R. A. Hardie, who had already 
 been working nine years in Korea under the auspices of the Canadian Col- 
 lege's Mission, was transferred to us and opened medical work in Songdo. 
 His proficiency in the language and medical skill greatly strengthened our 
 mission. In September, 1899, we were again reinforced by the arrival of the 
 Rev. J. R. and Mrs. Moose, who came to us from North Carolina. They were 
 stationed at Seoul, and at once entered upon the difficult task of acquiring 
 the new language. 
 
 In the fall of 1897 our Woman’s Board transferred to Korea their able and 
 experienced China missionary, Mrs. J. P. Campbell, and she has since been 
 joined by Miss Fannie Hinds, Miss Arrena Carroll, and Miss Sadie Harbaugh. 
 
s 
 
 THE OPENING OF KOREA. 
 
 These ladies have all entered their work with great earnestness, and are win- 
 ning a most gratifying success. 
 
 Mrs. Campbell has general control of woman’s work and specific charge of 
 the Carolina Institute, a well-filled boarding school for girls, where she is 
 preparing effective workers to do their part in emancipating one of the most 
 oppressed sections of womanhood in the world. 
 
 Gradually but surely we have advanced until we have now almost all the 
 territory left for us somewhat under our supervision. By an arrangement 
 with the Presbyterian Mission, we limit our advance north to the country im- 
 mediately about Songdo, and by a similar arrangement with our Methodist 
 Episcopal friends, we refrain from entering the territory south of the Han 
 River. 
 
 This leaves to us an inviting field stretching from sea to sea across the cen- 
 ter of the peninsular, and embracing the eastern part of the Kiung-Ki prov- 
 ince and the entire province of Kang-Won. Dr. Hardie has recentW occu- 
 pied Wousan, which is, without doubt, is the most salubrious place for a health 
 resort within the bounds of our three Asiatic missions. 
 
 The work so happily begun at Koyang in 1896 soon spread to neighboring 
 villages, largely through the work of native converts, until we now have ten 
 regularly organized societies having a membership of two hundred and nine- 
 ty-seven communicants and three hundred and twenty-one probationers, mak- 
 ing a total of six hundred and twelve adherents, wdiich does not include a 
 large number of baptized children. Not unfrequently the missionary is agree- 
 ably surprised to find a little group of believers in places he has never visited, 
 the good seed having been sown by native converts, and sometimes the work 
 has progressed so far that the little branch has provided itself with a chapel, 
 and begun observance of the Lord's Day by regular service among themselves. 
 
 One of the most pleasing and hopeful features of the Korean work is the 
 spirit of self-support and self-propagation that is so common among the con- 
 verts. The contribution box is introduced in the initial stages of the work, 
 and the probationer is taught to pay as well as to pray from the beginning. 
 This means much more than the small amounts they are able to add to the 
 resources of the mission. It is the spirit of helpfulness and sense of respon- 
 sibility in sustaining and extending the work that make their efforts in this 
 direction valuable. 
 
 Another remarkable characteristic of the Korean convert is his fortitude 
 under persecution. I know many cases where they have been subjected to 
 the most cruel treatment, but I do not recall a single one, that I have had 
 cause to believe a true convert, who gave up his faith on that account. 
 
 An official attempt was made to break up our work at Pachiu. The two 
 leading Christians were arrested and thrown into prison. Their necks were 
 
THE OTE.XI.XG OF KOREA. 
 
 9 
 
 fastened in large wooden cangues five feet long, and they were told that they 
 must give up their Christianity or their lives. So far from availing them- 
 selves of this opportunity to avoid cruel torture, imprisonment, and probable 
 death, they began an active and not unsuccessful work among their fellow 
 prisoners. After a few weeks they were removed to the provincial capital and 
 incarcerated in the great prison there. During the two years at Soowon they 
 endured tortures and privations that left them mere physical wrecks. Their 
 homes were sold, their families scattered, and when at last official spite had 
 been satisfied and they were released, they were, from a worldly standpoint, 
 the most wretched of men. Rut through it all they clung to their faith, and 
 if alive, are still doubtless bearing a good testimony. This is not an isolated 
 case. The history of mission work in Korea is full of similar examples of 
 suffering, and even death, willingly endured for Christ’s sake. 
 
 In closing this article it seems desirable to make some special mention of 
 the city of Songdo. It was the ancient capital, and is now the second largest 
 city of the empire, having a population of sixty thousand. Fifty-four miles 
 north of Seoul it is directly on the projected line of railway that is to connect 
 the present capital with Pingyang, and eventually with the great Russian 
 transcontinental line through Siberia. It is, therefore, a place of considera- 
 ble strategic importance. 
 
 We entered Songo on the urgent invitation of Mr. Yi Tong-chin, one of its 
 wealthiest and most influential citizens. While not a Christian, Mr. Yi was 
 deeply impressed with the school and hospital work he saw carried on by 
 missionaries in Seoul, and was greatly desirous that his native city should 
 have the benefit of similar institutions, and it was in answer to an earnest ap- 
 peal written by the Hon. T. H. Yun at his request that Bishop Hendrix de- 
 cided to visit Korea in 1895. 
 
 In the very beginning it was planned that Songdo should be the center of 
 our institutional work. It was suggested by Mr. Yun, then Vice Minister of 
 Education, that our educational effort should take the form of an industrial 
 training school, and a mature study of the situation has convinced our mis- 
 sion of the wisdom of his suggestion. 
 
 With natural resources quite equal to those of the Japanese, the Koreans 
 are a poverty-stricken people, bearly obtaining from a generous soil a precari- 
 ous living, where, with more enlightened methods, abundant harvests might 
 with ease be gathered. Unlimited wealth lies on every hand waiting the mag- 
 ic touch of the skilled laborer, who shall enter upon his work in sympathy 
 with nature and with a knowledge of her secrets. 
 
 The grateful task of opening the doors of spiritual life and material pros- 
 perity has been committed to us, and we have accepted the responsibility. 
 With the understanding that we go forward with this work, Gen. Yun, former 
 
IO 
 
 THE OPE NEXT OE KOREA. 
 
 Minister of Justice, and the Hon. T. H. Yun, now Taotai of Chi-nan-po, each 
 handed us yen ($1,000) over two years ago. It is unseemly that these large 
 gifts from native Koreans should lie idle in bank, and that the fulfillment of 
 our promise to begin this important work should be delayed so long. 
 
 It is not the policy of the Korean Mission to put large sums of money in 
 expensive buildings. We prefer rather to begin on a smaller scale, and to let 
 the plant increase with the natural growth of the school. Still about five 
 thousand dollars will be required to purchase property and supply the equip- 
 ment necessary for initiating the work. 
 
 I know of no enterprise connected with our Korean Mission that promises 
 larger and more satisfactory returns. Is there not within the bounds of our 
 Southern Methodism some generous servant of God who will put his hand to 
 this work ? 
 
 Here is a fountain of perpetual blessing that may be opened up to a people 
 who have hitherto been denied all that the name of Jesus Christ means to us. 
 Through past ages they and their fathers have lived their dwarfed lives under 
 the blight of evil worship and the most debasing superstitions. 
 
 From both a spiritual and material standpoint the condition of the Korean 
 appeals more strongly to Christian and philanthropic generosity than that of 
 any other people with whom I have ever been in contact. Nature has endowed 
 them with man)- amiable traits of character, and, if given a fair chance, they 
 will easily develop into a lovable, prosperous, Christian people. Does not 
 loyalty to our Lord demand that we give them that chance? God grant that 
 this appeal may meet the eye of some lover of Christ and his little ones with 
 heart and purse large enough to entertain its meaning and give to it a prompt 
 and generous response. 
 
RESIDENCE 'OF REV. C. K. REID. D.D., SEOUL, KOREA.