MISSIONARY TO KOREA
VSTUDIA IN /
THE LIBRARY
o
VICTORIA UNIVERSITY
Toronto
i
THE LIFE OF
REV. WILLIAM JAMES HALL, M,D,
MEDICAL _ MISSIONARY TO THE SLUMS OF NEW YORK
PIONEER MISSIONARY TO PYONG YANG, KOREA
EDITED BY HIS WIFE
ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL, M.D.
INTRODUCTION BY
W1LLARD F. MALLALIEU, D.D.
BISHOP OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
\ } (
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
PRESS OF EATON & MAINS
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
TO THE
YOU NG PEOPLE
OF ,
CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES,
FOR WHOSE ENCOURAGEMENT DR. HALL HAD WISHED THE STORY OF
HIS LIFE MIGHT BE WRITTEN.
THE RICHEST LEGACY A FRIEND CAN LEAVE US IS HIS UNFINISHED WORK.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
Boyhood Days. By Mrs. Robert Sturgeon, Dr. Hall s first
School teacher, Glen Buell, Canada, . . . . n
CHAPTER II.
Consecration in Early Manhood. By Rev. D. Winter, Pastor
Methodist Church, Ottawa, Canada, .... 23
CHAPTER III.
High School and College Days in Canada. By Dr. Omar L.
Kilborn, M.A., Canadian Methodist Mission, Sz Chuan,
China 36
CHAPTER IV.
In Training for Mission Service. By George D. Dowkontt,
M.D., Director of International Medical Missionary
Society, ......... 57
CHAPTER V.
Medical Mission Work in New York. By Rev. J. Sumner
Stone, M.D., Pastor Mott Avenue Methodist Episcopal
Church, 65
CHAPTER VI.
Madison Street Mission. By Rev. Roger E. Thompson and
members of the Madison Mission Corresponding Circle :
Dr. Henrietta Donaldson Grier, Presbyterian Mission,
China ; D. R. Lewis, M.D. ; Dr. Mary Macallum Scott,
PAGE
American Board Mission, Ceylon; Dr. Orissa Gould,
Baptist Mission, India; Dr. Walter B. Toy, Presbyterian
Mission, Siam ; Dr. Ina Ross Anderson, China Inland
Mission ; Dr.- J. B. Busteed, Methodist Episcopal Mis
sion, Korea ; Dr. A. H. Henderson, Baptist Mission,-
Burmah, ......... 78
CHAPTER VII.
Introduction to the Mission Field of Korea. By Rev. H. G.
Appenzeller, Methodist Episcopal Mission, Soul, . 119
The First Trip into the Interior. By Rev. Geo. Heber Jones,
Methodist Episcopal Mission, Chemulpo, . . . 124
CHAPTER VIII.
Various Topics of Korean Life and Customs. By Mrs.
M. B. Jones, Mrs. R. S. Hall, M.D., Rev. James S. Gale,
Rev. G. H.Jones, Mrs. L. H. Underwood, M.D., and
Mrs. M. F. Scranton, ...... . 132
CHAPTER IX.
Dr. Hall s Published Letters, 238
At the Si Pyeng Won Hospital in the Summer of 1894. By
Rev. W. B. Scranton, M.D., Superintendent Methodist
Episcopal Mission, Korea, ...... 281
Dr. Hall s Pioneer Work Completed. By Rev. Samuel A.
Moffett, Presbyterian Mission, Pyong Yang, . . 304
CHAPTER X.
Social and Home Life. By Rev. W. A. Noble, Methodist
Episcopal Mission, Korea, ...... 309
APPENDIX.
The Memorial Service A Wreath of Memorials Address
of Welcome The Hall Memorial Hospital Dr. Hall s
Unpublished Story for Children " Who Will Go ? " By
Fanny Crosby, . . . . . . . 351
INTRODUCTION.
KOREA is one of the ends of the earth. Until very
recently it has been unknown to the Christian world.
It has been overlooked, neglected, and despised. It
was a thoroughly heathen country. Its people were as
blind and bigoted in their idolatry as any on the face
of the earth. The laws of the land provided death as
the penalty for any of its people who might embrace
Christianity. Those laws are not yet repealed, though
they are dead for all the future.
With other Churches our own has within the last
twenty years entered this forbidding field. The com
mand of our Lord Jesus Christ sent us to Korea as it
has done to so many widely scattered fields. The re
sults already prove that when the Master says " Go "
there are always waiting souls ready to receive the
Gospel message. The greatest difficulties have been
overcome, the most obdurate soil is being cultivated,
and now our happy converts are numbered by hun
dreds, and soon will be by thousands. Everywhere the
fields gleam with ripe harvests waiting for the reapers.
William James Hall, whose lifework this volume
records, not only prayed the Lord of the harvest to
send forth laborers, but volunteered himself to go. He
gladly, yes, joyfully, gave himself and all he had or
hoped for to the service of the blessed Redeemer. It
was my privilege to meet Dr. Hall in Korea in the
summer of 1892. He was a most lovable man, and no
one could help being drawn to him. He had a warm,
hopeful, fearless heart ; he had a sort of quiet, steadfast
strength, an unwavering faith, a most unselfish nature,
a purposeful, determined will, and a measure of patience
and endurance that made him a rare, good man, one
to depend upon, one that would bring things to pass.
His faith embraced the uttermost bounds and the last
one of the ten or fifteen millions of Korea. At the
memorable Annual Mission Meeting of 1892 the soul
of Dr. Hall was all aflame with a restless desire to leave
the comparatively comfortable surroundings of the
Mission Compound at Soul, and make a way into the
regions beyond, and preach the Gospel and heal the
sick where these blessed ministries had not been known.
In accordance with his earnest desire he was given the
Pyong Yang Circuit a circuit without bounds, stretch
ing away to the north, full of all dangers and difficul
ties. But with joy he undertook his work and, con
sidering all the circumstances from first to last, he
achieved a wonderful measure of success. The Ko
reans believed in him. They found he was thoroughly
fearless, honest, truthful, and ready for any sacrifice if
so he might be a blessing to them.
Dr. Hall was a hero and a martyr for he really
gave his life, lost his own life as the result of ministries
to the sick and wounded who were congregated in and
about Pyong Yang during the war between Japan and
China. The name of Dr. Hall will never die in the
memory of the people of Korea. In years to come,
when there will surely be hundreds of thousands of
Christians in Korea, the name of this noble, saintly,
Christlike soul will be everywhere cherished and
honored.
W. F. MALLALIEU.
AUBURNDALE, MASS., August l8, 1897.
2
MRS. DR. ROSKTTA S. HALL AXI) CHILDREN.
WILLIAM JAMES HALL.
CHAPTER I.
Boyhood Days, 1860-1878.
" The childhood shows the man as morning shows the day."
Ancestry Birth Name Baptism Early traits of character Be
gins school Diligence Good nature A fight Conversion at
the age of fourteen Joins the Methodists In the school
room Thinks he cannot be a farmer Learning a trade
Health fails Returns home to die " Must I go and empty-
handed ? "
WILLIAM JAMES HALL was of Irish descent. His
great-grandfather, George Hall, lived in the County of
Armagh, Ireland. He married Margaret Boyd, and
they had a pleasant home on a farm near Cady. Bel
fast, twenty-three miles away, was their nearest seaport.
The farm, according to the custom prevailing there,
was leased for a period of ninety-nine years. George
Hall and wife were Presbyterians, and no doubt were
of that good Scotch-Irish lineage from whom so many
of our best men, and especially missionaries, trace their
ancestry. To them were born three children James,
Boyd, and Sarah. George Hall died early, and after
his death the farm was carried on by the eldest son
James. He married Jane Foster. Sarah married Rob
ert Gray and emigrated to Canada. Boyd went to Bel
fast to see them off, and he was sorry he had not
planned to sail with them a little later he did go.
12
The mother, Margaret Boyd Hall, married John Stur
geon, and many years later came to Canada with her
Sturgeon sons, the youngest of whom, Robert Sturgeon,
aged eighty-five, still lives at Glen Buell, Ont.
On the old homestead in Ireland, to James Hall and
wife were born George, Sarah, and Boyd, the oldest
three of their twelve children. After the birth of his third
child, James wrote to his brother Boyd, then in Canada,
to come home, and they would sell out their right in the
homestead, and all go back to Canadatogether, where there
would be more room for such growing families. Boyd
came, and the property was disposed of. Boyd married
Elizabeth Baird (still living in 1896, aged eighty-eight),
and the two brothers with their families removed to
Canada in 1831, and were among the early settlers of
Glen Buell. James Hall was a mason by trade, and in
1842 he built of stone the old homestead, which is yet
in good repair. His eldest son, George, remembers of
helping to carry stone to build the house. James Hall
lived to the age of eighty-five years; he was a strict
Presbyterian all his life, and a great lover of the Orange
men.
April 7, 1859, George Hall, at the age of thirty-three,
married Margaret Bolton, aged twenty-four, the daugh
ter of John Bolton, of New Dublin. She is also of Irish
descent, and belongs to a family of great longevity.
Her great-grandfather, George Bolton, a United Loyal
ist, was born in Ireland, and there married Nancy Bick-
fort. They early emigrated to Canada. Upon their
way, while passing through the United States, a boy
baby was born to them that received the name of Wil
liam ; a daughter, Alice, and six sons were born rn Can
ada. All these children lived to a great age ; one son,
Abram Bolton, celebrated his one hundredth birthday
13
anniversary by chopping down a tree. He lived to be
one hundred and three years old. The Boltons were
strong adherents of the Church of England. George
Bolton lies buried at Lyn ; a large basswood tree has
since grown over his grave.
William, the eldest son of George Bolton, perhaps
due to the fact of having been born in the United
States, was more cosmopolitan in his tastes, and stepping
outside of the Irish race for his wife, married Martha
Elliott, who was of Dutch descent and was born in
Vermont, July 3, 1777. She lived to be one hundred
and two years old. To William Bolton and Martha his
wife were born three daughters and three sons. The
stone house upon their homestead in New Dublin, Ont.,
was built in 1835, and here their eldest son, John Bol
ton, yet lives, aged ninety years (1896). At the age of
twenty-eight he married Alice Colborne, aged twenty-
three, and to them were born six daughters and three
sons.
The eldest daughter, Margaret, as already stated,
married George Hall, of Glen Buell, and the young
couple settled upon a small farm near the Hall home
stead, and began housekeeping in a log house. Here,
January 16, 1860, William James Hall was born. He
was named "William" after his mother s grandfather
Bolton, who was then living, and "James" after his
grandfather Hall. Before baby William James was a
year old he went with his parents to Kitley, to pay a
visit to his aunt Susan Hall Seymour, and while there,
together with his cousin, Mary Seymour, he was bap
tized by the Rev. Mr. Evans of the Presbyterian
Church of Toledo, Ont.
Little William James walked when he was sixteen
months old, but talked before. He was not a pre-
H
cocious child, but he possessed a very amiable dis
position. His mother says, " Jimmie was always a
good-natured child." He was a thoughtful little boy,
of rather a serious turn of mind. His aunt, Jane Bol-
ton (now Mrs. Willoughby Rowsom), used to live at
her eldest sister s quite a great deal, and little Jimmie
often slept with her. When they had prayed and got
ten into bed, he would always say, " Now Aunt Jane
tell me about the good place where the good little
boys go to, and the bad place where the bad little
boys go to." When about four years old he paid a
visit to his grandmother. On looking out of the win
dow, and noticing some brush that had been set on
fire in several places in an adjoining wood, he care
fully watched it for some time when he exclaimed, "O,
grandma, when all these fires get together, won t they
make an awful hell ! " It evidently made a deep im
pression upon him, for in after years he said this event
was his very earliest recollection. The first year after
reaching the foreign mission field he thus wrote to his
Aunt Jane, under date of July 21, 1892 : " I can t tell
how glad I was to get your letter it was so full of
cheer. You were always such a good aunt to me I
shall never forget your kindness and love. Your talk
to me on religion, and your influence over my early
training, eternity alone will revealhow far they have
gone to make my life what it is to-day, by early
giving my mind a turn in that direction so that as I
grew older I readily yielded to the influences of grace.
It is becoming more and more impressed upon me
how great a work can be done with the children."
Little Jimmie loved to be in the house by his
mother s side and never seemed so happy as when
his mother would give him a piece of dough, and let him
i6
enjoy the fun of making it into cakes. " Jimmie was
always rather a delicate child " his mother says, and
he was not sent to school until the spring after he was
seven years old. Though at first unwilling to go, he
soon learned to love the schoolroom, and early in
gratiated himself into the good graces of his teacher,
the writer. He was not one of nature s favored ones ;
he had no uncommon abilities or remarkable talents,
but he early evinced a love of reading, and would be
often seen poring over his books when others were at
play, and by his diligence achieved as much as some
of his more brilliant schoolmates. His progress was
slow but sure ; scarcely ever discouraged, of an en
thusiastic temperament, " Always bound to succeed "
seemed to be his motto; and he then showed that par
ticular trait of character that was so plainly discerned
in all his after life an indomitable perseverance !
William James was a universal favorite among his
schoolmates ; always good-tempered, never quarrel
some, he soon earned the soubriquet of u Good-natured
Jim," and many a dispute did he settle, and his kindly
tone of persuasion quelled many a quarrel.
Thinking over his school days reminds me of the only
occasion I ever knew William James to resent an injury.
Among his fellow-pupils was one who on every possible
occasion would seek to make him fight. As their road
home led in the same direction, it was not an easy
matter to shake off this bully. However, with his usual
good nature he bore the jibes and sneers, the cuffs and
kicks of his antagonist, till at last even his amiable spirit
was aroused, and he resolved to take some step toward
putting a stop to his persecution.
One evening, after being struck repeatedly and his
collar torn off, he felt patience had ceased to be a
virtue, and stepping into the home of his uncle he said :
" Uncle Boyd, I have been pounded and mauled by
that boy again, and can stand it no longer. What
had I better do?" "Why, take your own part, Jim,
and give him a right good thrashing, as he deserves,"
his uncle replied. The following night, when he was
again molested, he acted upon his uncle s advice, and,
to the surprise of all, sent his persecutor home a sadder
and, we hope, a wiser boy. From that time William
James was allowed to walk home undisturbed. It was
his first and last fight.
Though Mr. and Mrs. George Hall nominally held
to the respective Churches of their families, the Presby
terian and Anglican, they allowed their children to
attend Methodist Sunday school and services at Glen
Buell schoolhouse, and here, during a powerful revival
held by Rev. A. D. Traveller, Jimmy Hall, then a tall
lad of fourteen, felt the need of a Saviour from sin,
but he hesitated about going forward to the altar.
His uncle, William J. Bolton, one of the recent con
verts, felt impelled to go and speak with Jimmy, which
he did. Seeing his hesitancy, yet intuitively knowing
the struggle going on in the boy s heart, he urged him
to come forward, and though he was still reluctant, his
uncle threw a kindly arm about him and almost drew
him from his seat to the altar. The two nights follow
ing when the invitation was given, he went of his own
accord, and the last night, October 23, 1874, was made
happy in a pardoning Saviour s love. There was no
unusual demonstration, but his joy was such that many
remarked it and still remember the night of his conver
sion. Mr. O. F. Bullis, who relates these incidents,
adds that he has often quoted Jimmy Hall s conversion
in answering the claims of some, that people should not
3
i8
be urged to go forward at such times, but be allowed to
go of their own free will.
Jimmy Hall thought the stars never shown one half
so bright before as he walked home that October night,
his young heart all aglow with love to the dear Saviour
he had found. What, think you, was his first step ?
He went and told his mother ! and yet this lad was nat
urally bashful and reticent.
William James connected himself with the Church of
his choice, the Wesley an Methodist, which at that time
held services on alternate Sundays with the Methodist
Episcopal Church at the Glen Buell schoolhouse. In
1884 these two Churches were united into one, the
Methodist Church of Canada.
Methinks the query may arise that in one naturally
so amiable as Jimmy Hall there would be no marked
change after his conversion. Not so ! from that period
till the day he bade us all good-bye everyone was aware
of a change. It was felt, a subtle, undefinable influ
ence one can scarcely explain. I never met with one
so thoughtful. He was constantly watching for an
opportunity of doing a kind act ; if a pencil were
dropped, he was the first to spring forward and recover
it, the first to replenish the fire, bring a pail of water,
and to show those innumerable attentions that count so
much and cost so little. Yet this boy had no wonder
ful genius, no brilliant talents, only a loving heart, soft
ened and mellowed by the hallowed influence of reli
gion. He invariably came into the schoolroom with a
smile. I often took pleasure in watching him. He
would open his arithmetic and begin first glancing
down the page to see if there were any "hard ones "-
then pausing for a moment, as it were, to gain courage;
number one completed a few moments longer num-
9
her two has been successfully solved; now for number
three ah! my boy is puzzled. He tries, erases, then
tries again, and is baffled. I leave my desk and go to
his seat. "Shall I not help you?" I ask. "Are you
not inclined to give it up? " " O, no," he exclaims ; * I
have no notion of such a thing," and like the spider in
Bruce s history, he tries again, till his patience and
perseverance are rewarded. I once asked him if he
were going to be a farmer. "No," he replied; u a
farmer I can never be; what am I fitted for?" "A
minister or a doctor, my boy." "If I could attain
either," he answered ; "but I hardly dare hope I shall
be good or wise enough. . Good enough! I thought ;
would there were more pupils like William James Hall !
" None knew him but to love him,
Nor named him but to praise."
The old stone schoolhouse still stands the place
where he first learned to read and spell ; other faces
are there, other voices heard ; his desk may be occupied
by a more brilliant student, but the loving smile and
pleasant " Good morning " of my hero cannot be seen
or heard. In a far-away land he is sleeping ; among
strangers he is resting; but his memory is with us still,
as one whose life, though short, was not in vain his
influence will go on till eternity alone shall reveal the
good he has accomplished.
" We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best."
In the winter of 76 William James resolved to leave
school and devote himself to learning a trade. Four
years before his father had built a new frame house for
21
his family, which now consisted of William James, Alice,
John, and Lillie, and some years later, Clifford, the
youngest, was born. During the building of the new
house Jimmy had spent most of his time with the car
penters and became much interested in their work.
Later he showed considerable skill in repairing things
about the house, and in fashioning little articles of use
or ornament, and he now decided when opportunity af
forded, to try what he could accomplish in this line.
In January, 1877, the opportunity came, and he went
to Athens, Ont., to learn the cabinet and carpenay
trade with Mr. T. G. Stevens of that place. He was a
faithful and painstaking journeyman, employing every
moment of his time to the best advantage. Mr. Stevens
was carrying on quite an extensive business in carpen
try, cabinetmaking, and undertaking, and, besides Wil
liam James, employed quite a number of young journey
men. When in the course of their work these young men
would complete a coffin, one of them would sometimes
get into it. This at first was quite a shock to the rather
timid nature of William James, but he got used to it, and
by the time he had finished his first coffin he could do
the same.
Odd moments outside of shop hours he often used in
making picture frames or brackets for his friends. He
was faithful in attending the means of grace at his church
at this period, but as yet had not become particularly
active in winning others for his Saviour.
" There s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
Jimmy Hall was destined for another calling than
that for which he was now so industriously laboring.
He was a chosen vessel being made fit for his Master s
use. How inscrutable is the divine purpose ! The
22
knowledge gained in Mr. Stevens s shop was to be put
to use in far-off Korea in training the native carpenters
to make foreign articles of furniture, in superintending
carpentry and repairs on mission buildings ; and his lov
ing hands fashioned the coffin for the dead darling of
more than one of the missionary families.
After about two years spent patiently at hard work
acquiring his trade, his health began to fail, a bad cough,
a hectic fever, and a greatly weakened body obliged him
to give up the work which he always loved, and return
home to die of consumption, as both himself and his
friends expected. He was willing to die, but was grieved
at the thought that came heavily pressing upon his mind,
that should he die now, he would meet his Saviour
" empty-handed." The following hymn which he heard
sung for the first at this time, exactly expressed his
feelings:
Must I go and empty-handed,
Thus my dear Redeemer meet ?
Not one day of service give Him,
Lay no trophy at His feet.
Cho. " Must I go and empty-handed,
Must I meet my Saviour so ?
Not one soul with which to greet Him ?
Must I empty-handed go ?
" Not at death I shrink nor falter,
For my Saviour saves me now ;
But to meet Him empty-handed,
Thought of that now clouds my brow.
" O, ye saints, arouse, be earnest,
Up and work while yet tis day,
Ere the night of death o ertakes thee,
Strive for souls while still you may."
SARAH A. STURGEON.
CHAPTER II.
Consecration in Early Manhood, 1878-1881.
" Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee."
On the farm again Seeking entire consecration The blessing re
ceived His own description Miss Havergal s consecration
hymn Establishes the family altar Health restored Re
solves to better qualify himself for soul-winning Goes back to
school His teacher s reminiscences Letter to his teacher
Various incidents of his home work Becomes a book agent
Early evangelistic labors Mrs. Findlay s account.
IT is a melancholy pleasure for me to pay this tribute
of respect to the memory of my much beloved and
greatly lamented friend, the Rev. W. J. Hall, M.D.
My acquaintance with him began in the summer of
1878, when stationed in Farmersville, now Athens, Ont.
I found him a young man of not very prepossessing ap
pearance, between eighteen and nineteen years of age.
He -was living with his father whom he assisted on his
farm not far from Glen Buell, County of Leeds, Ont.
Although a member of the church and a faithful at
tendant upon the means of grace, and also a diligent
worker in the Sabbath school, there was not anything
very striking in his experience, nor marked in his life.
He kept on "the even tenor of his way," respected
and beloved by all who knew him.
Some time after I became his pastor, and while en
deavoring to preach the doctrine of " Christian Perfec
tion," as taught in the Scriptures and so clearly stated
24
in Methodist theology, Mr. Hall saw his privilege in
Christ Jesus. He at once set himself to seek in right
good earnest the blessing of perfect love." He did
not seek long until he obtained ; for whatever he un
dertook he accomplished.
At first his timid nature shrank and held him back
with the fear that he would be required to say or to do
things for which he might be ridiculed, but he felt he
must trust God in this too, and that at any cost he
cared more to please God than for what man might say
of him. So laying all upon the altar, making a com
plete surrender, he became, as he himself expressed,
" willing to be whatever God required, to do whatever
he commanded, and to surfer whatever his providence
appointed."
The following is a brief description of this change in his
life, written in Brother Hall s own words :
" I was converted to God when but a boy of fourteen. My
conversion was as clear as the noonday. For some time
rny life was perpetual sunshine. Not a shadow crossed
my path. But unexpected trials and temptations came.
Duty became a burden, and many times I trembled be
neath the weight of the cross. At this juncture I left
home to learn the carpenter and cabinetmaking trade,
but at the end of one and one half years I was obliged
to give up the work through ill health. I went home,
as I thought, to die. O, what dark days ! Going out
into eternity without having won a single soul for Christ.
" I could not bear to harbor the thought. I promised
God if He would restore me to health and strength I
would consecrate my life entirely to Him. Rev. D.
Winter had just come to our circuit and was preaching
the glorious doctrine of Holiness. I don t see why
many good people oppose this doctrine. I love it ; it was
25
just what my soul was longing for. I made a full sur
render of my all to God, and He gave me His all. I
received the evidence that the blood of Jesus Christ,
God s Son, cleansed me from all sin. I only then really
began to live. O, what a change it wrought in my life !
My heart was filled to overflowing with love to God
and man."
He frequently sang Frances R. Havergal s consecra
tion hymn. It had become the language of his heart,
and his whole after life was a most beautiful personifi
cation of it :
" Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee ;
Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee ;
Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages for Thee ;
Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise ;
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine ;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love ; my God, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store ;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee."
And this was the beginning of one of the most earnest,
devoted, and, withal, successful Christian lives I have
4
26
ever known. He was seized with an almost overwhelm
ing passion for the salvation of his fellow-men. The
first duty that appeared to him was that of establishing
family prayers in his own home. At first he led them
alone, but it was not long before his father helped, and
that family altar exists to-day, and no doubt has had its
influence in bringing each of its members into the
Church.
His health gradually improved in answer to earnest
prayer for God s blessing on the means employed. I
believe, as he always claimed, that his restoration to
health was in connection with his full consecration to
God. He became able to resume his work occasionally.
At home he had fitted up a shop where he still contin
ued from time to time to ply hammer and saw. How
ever, he had resolved to devote himself to soul-winning.
This thought was ever uppermost in his mind. " I have
but one short life to live, how best can I employ it?"
He found his education lacking, his means limited ; but,
nothing daunted, he at once set about qualifying himself
intellectually for a life of usefulness. He had no sym
pathy with the foolish sayings that "ignorance is the
mother of devotion," and " the less one knows the better
the Holy Ghost can use him." He resolved to go to
school, and went back to the old schoolroom in the
stone schoolhouse at Glen Buell, which was then under
the efficient management of Miss Lettie Karley. Here,
under the inspiration of a new purpose, he applied him
self diligently to his studies.
Miss Karley (now Mrs. Kendrick, of Comber, Ont.)
sends the following reminiscences of these days :
" It was in my second year of teaching at Glen Buell
that I first met W. J. Hall. He called at my school one
morning and told me how he had worked at learning a
27
trade until his health failed and he had feared consump
tion. His education, he said, was very limited, but if I
wouldn t put him in the second class he would like to
come to school. I assured him everything would be
satisfactory, and the next morning I had one more big
boy added to our number. I think he was nineteen
years old at this time, looking very thin and pale. He
was quite backward, having little knowledge of gram
mar, history, or geography, and was therefore quite un
fitted for the senior classes, but Jimmy, as we all famil
iarly called him, was ever active, and while the juniors
were being instructed in these subjects we always had
his attention, and it was really astonishing how rapidly
he progressed. I think he passed into the high school
at Christmas, 1880. There was something endearing
about Jimmy s disposition. He had no enemies every
one loved him, and those who knew him best loved him
most. I boarded at Mr. Gilroy s, and Jimmy used fre
quently to come there to get help in his lessons, and to
visit the sick room of Mrs. Gilroy s mother, who was an
invalid for several years. She was a pious Quaker lady,
and was quite well-versed in simple healing arts. She
took an especial interest in Jimmy, and many an hour
he spent gathering herbs for her, and making them into
simple decoctions and syrups. People often urged him
to aim at becoming a minister of the Gospel, and I be
lieve his inclination strongly led him that way. Perhaps
his mother s wishes, together with the advice of this
dear old Quaker friend, had an influence upon him to
become a doctor. Thou wast born to be of great use
to mankind, William James, she would say. Nature
has made thee a physician ; thou must minister to both
body and soul. -
" One day 1 remember telling him I expected to see
28
him write M.D. after his name yet. A few days after
he asked me why I had spoken as I had, saying that it
was his ambition to spend his life for the good of per
ishing souls. I shall never forget his look of satisfaction
when I told him that was why 1 chose that profession
for him ; that I thought no one had a better opportunity
of doing good than a doctor. In time of pain and sick
ness, the strong become weak, and often feel the need of
something more than weeping friends or human hands
can give, and in these tender moments may become
converted through the influence of a Christian doctor.
" Time and its many changes rolled on, and my boy
Jimmy, after spending a few years of mental labor,
writes his name Rev. W. J. Hall, M.D. How it pleased
me to gaze upon that name ! I felt paid a thousandfold
for the little extra time I had spent with him. The fol
lowing is a copy of a letter he wrote me when about to
leave as a medical missionary for the foreign field :
" On board Empress of Japan,
"VANCOUVER, B. C., November 18, 1891.
DEAR MRS. KENDRICK :
; If you imagine I have quite forgotten you, I assure
you I have not. I have often thought of writing to you,
but there have been so many things pressing upon my
time that I have not done it. I shall never forget your
kindness and the deep interest you have taken in me,
which has been used in a great measure to make my
life what it is to-day. Since I saw you last God has
wonderfully used me and blessed my feeble efforts, and
now the great purpose and ambition of my life is about
to be realized. I am to have the privilege of carrying
the Gospel to those who have never heard of a Saviour s
love. I have received my appointment as a medical
2 9
missionary to Korea. I am now on board of the Em
press of Japan, which sails for the Orient at daybreak
to-morrow. I know you are interested in all the affairs
of your boys, and I feel free to tell you that I am en
gaged to Dr. Rosetta Sherwood, a graduate of the
Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania. She is now
in charge of a hospital in the foreign field. I am sure
God will bless my efforts to extend His kingdom among
the heathen. I am going forth in His strength, de
termined that my life shall be spent entirely to God s
glory. How happy it has been for the last few years !
I have seen His guiding hand in all things. Rom. viii,
28. has been fully realized. I let Him choose my way
and everything in life, and He chooses so much better
than I would ever have thought of doing.
" I can never repay you for all you have done for
me, but Father will. Please remember me kindly to Mr.
Kendrick. Yours in Jesus, W. J. HALL. "
At the same time Brother Hall was so faithfully pur
suing his studies in the schoolroom, he was very ear
nest in his work for God. How he prayed and labored
for the salvation of souls! I well remember when hold
ing special services in Glen Buell schoolhouse, as
sisted by the Rev. M. Somerville, how faithfully
Brother Hall attended the meetings, and how diligently
he toiled for souls. And while he did not neglect his
studies, he certainly was in " labors abundant " for his
Master. The Sabbath school, his especial delight, felt
his power. Never was a boy in the neighborhood
passed without the inquiry, " Do you go to Sunday
school?" With a smile and a kind word for everyone,
he not only sang k Gather Them In, " but went
about gathering them in were they poor, it but in-
30
creased his interest in them. How many picnics and
excursions for their pleasure and profit the Sabbath
school children can still remember that he originated
for them! His generous donations to church and Sab
bath school were never accompanied by ostentatious
display he gave as God prospered him his first earn
ings being consecrated to God. One of his efforts was
the procuring of an organ for the Sunday school ; who
else would have had courage to canvass a neighborhood
so sparsely settled ? but the necessary amount was
raised, many subscribing who would have refused any
other person.
When diphtheria first made its appearance in Glen
Buell it was a disease dreaded by all. Few dared
approach a house where it had alighted. A certain
family lost a child, a little boy lay dead with no one to
perform the last sad office. On learning the particu
lars Brother Hall went, laid the child out, did all he
could for the afflicted ones, returned home, and
changed his clothes in an adjoining building, that
others might not incur danger. Though naturally timid
he did that which others would shrink from, counting
not his life dear for the cause of Christ.
The people in Glen Buell knew Brother Hall well;
coming in and out among them as he did, many of
them his relatives, they had ample chance to form
their estimate of his character. "I never saw Jimmy
angry," was remarked by one of his aunts, into whose
home he was almost a daily visitor. " O, you could not
make Jim mad, " said one of his schoolmates. Even
scoffers at religion would say of him, " O, Jimmy Hall
is all right; we never doubt his religion." Thank God
for those whose daily lives can never be questioned.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Brother Hall s thoughts,
prayers, purpose in life, were to bring those about him
to Christ. In conversation once with his former em
ployer. Mr. Stevens, he remarked, "It is a real luxury
to win souls for Jesus. "
Nothing caused him to swerve for a single moment
from his purpose to gain an education. His father,
however, was not in sympathy with the idea, his health
having failed in his attempt to learn a trade, he fore
saw only failure in this project also, so after complet
ing public school he was allowed to shift for himself ; but
he was not discouraged, and was ready to do anything
to gain an honest penny in order to accomplish the
end in view.
He became a book agent, and such was his kindness
of disposition and so earnest his perseverance that he
succeeded admirably. He thoroughly believed in the
necessity of putting forth effort to distribute good liter
ature among the people of his neighborhood and vi
cinity. At the same time he saved up his small profits
carefully for the next school term. The new edition
of the Methodist Hymnal was the first book he can
vassed for. Later he took up John B. Cough s Plat
form Echoes, The Royal Path of Life, Moody s Works,
Mother, Home, and Heaven, Chase 1 s Recipe Book, The
Christian s Secret of a Happy Life, Miss Havergal s
Memorials, Life of Belle Cook, and others of like char
acter. He never started out to sell books without seek
ing divine assistance in his work, a plan that might
well be followed by those similarly engaged. He also
acted as agent for the Sun Life Assurance Company, of
Canada, and in this he was eminently successful. Mr.
McWilliams, the cashier, upon learning of his death,
wrote in a note to Mrs. Hall : Allow me to offer my
heartfelt sympathy with you in your bereavement. I
32
was personally acquainted with your late husband, and
esteemed him very highly as a friend. It seems sad
to think of his being stricken in the prime of life, but
there is the consolation of knowing that he died with
his hand to the plow." 1
As a Christian worker, he excelled. Not because of
the brilliancy of his talents, but because of his entire
abnegation of self and complete consecration to God.
He labored with me in evangelistic work at Mallory-
town, North Augusta, Carleton Place, and Portage du
Fort. He spent his time when not in meetings in sell
ing books, and was at the same time faithful in dealing
with souls.
Sister Ella Birdsell writes : " I was a member of the
Athens praying band, of which Brother Hall was one of
our most efficient leaders. There were a number of
young people in it, and it was a cause of regret any
time he was obliged to be absent. Coming and going
as we usually did in loads, his presence was a guard
against any appearance of levity that might arise."
Mrs. Rev. J. Findlay, of Beachburg, Ont., formerly
Miss Williamson, who was associated with Brother
Hall in several evangelistic campaigns, kindly furnishes
us with the following account :
" I have not known," writes Mrs. Findlay, " a purer
or more lovable character than that of him whom his
Christian brothers and sisters familiarly called Jimmy
Hall, who went from us and laid down his life in heathen
lands. It was through working with him, and largely
because of his kindly, persistent importunity that I went
into the evangelistic work, and have so often been
blessed in seeing sinners turn from death to life, and
from the power of Satan unto God.
" I first met Brother Hall in the winter of 1880, when
33
he came with some other students to those meetings for
the promotion of holiness held in the basement of the
old Canada Methodist Church, by Rev. D. Winter.
Later we were associated in the Athens praying band,
which Rev. W. Blair organized. Among other mem
bers of this band, who later became successful public
workers in the Master s vineyard, were Sisters Birdsell
and Mason. It was largely through Brother Hall s in
fluence and encouragement that they, too, entered the
evangelistic work. The praying band held meetings at
all the appointments of the Athens circuit. Upon the
Sabbath we were often invited to other places, holding
sometimes three services a day. Those were blessed
times of toil for Jesus. Later, Brother Hall organized
evangelistic campaigns for us at Glen Buell, Union
Springs, and Manherds. He was a most efficient leader.
"Brother Hall," Mrs. Findlay continues, "could
not be regarded above the ordinary as a preacher, but
in prayer, few, if any, whom I have known, could com
pare with him in the qualities that constitute a success
ful suppliant at the throne of divine grace. His
prayers were both an inspiration and a benediction to
me, as they doubtless were to others. He was char
acterized by great humility. He did obey the injunc
tion, in honor preferring one another/ Without pride,
or egotism, or vanity, he seemed to be wholly dead to
self. This made cooperation and work with him
specially pleasant.
" If, after he had gotten me to take the meeting, as
we called the giving of the exhortation, it seemed a
failure in my own eyes, he would say that he knew God
used my talks to the good of souls. I was often
tempted to shrink from this more public work, and
would wish him to make the exhortation, but he would
5
34
say, I think the people would prefer you. If this was
not a stretch of courtesy, it must have been because of
the novelty of a woman preaching. Possibly many did
come out of curiosity in those days but often * those
who came to mock, remained to pray. In either case,
Brother Hall saw no impropriety or loss of importance
in encouraging female evangelists and giving them a
prominence in his meetings, which he could better have
taken. Perhaps, like Paul, he was willing to be all
things to all men, that he might by all means save
some.
" In 1884," she adds, k I labored with him at Glen
Buell, where he was teaching school. The meetings
were held during the summer holidays. They were
well attended, and the Lord blessed the work in a very
remarkable manner ; many souls were born into the
kingdom, and some were wholly sanctified to God. If,
without presumption, we may link the human instru
ment with God s immediate operation on the souls of
men, and I believe we may, since God works by human
instrumentality, then we may well believe that Brother
Hall s influence was an important factor in the trans
forming work that took place there at that time. He
was known by the people, he had lived his religion
among them, they had confidence in him, and belived
that he loved their souls and was anxious for their
salvation. God honored his faith, and answered his
prayers, and blessed his unremitting toil ; and the day
of judgment alone will reveal the amount of good which
was then done for that community. Men would come
into the services at night, saying that during the after
noon they had to leave their work and go into the fence
corners to pray ! In the intervals between the services
Brother Hall and I visited the people in their homes,
35
singing, talking, and praying in every house. Nor did
he allow his feelings or sentiment to interfere with his
purpose of getting through with so much work every
day. If, from some cause or another, I protracted my
talk in one house so as to shorten the time available
for others, he would look at his watch and say, We
have so many more calls to make to-day. And if I got
through with my part of the task with greater prompti
tude in another home, he would remark, You did
pretty well this time. There was no dallying in these
visits. His restless zeal was as a fire in his bones,
and with business promptitude, he hurried from one
house to another feeling that the king s business re
quired haste. But the most striking feature of the
man, like Donald Matthewson, John Ashworth, and
every other great evangelist from Him who gave His
life for the salvation of the world to the present, was
his great love to God and man."
D. WINTER.
CHAPTER III.
High School and College Days in Canada,
1881-1887.
If there be some weaker one,
Give me strength to help him ;
If a blinder soul there be,
Let me guide him nearer Thee ;
Make my mortal dreams come true
With the work I fain would do ;
Clothe with life the weak intent,
Let me be the thing I meant ;
Let me find in Thy employ
Peace that dearer is than joy ;
Out of self to love be led
And to heaven acclimated,
Until all things sweet and good
Seem my natural habitude.
WHITTIER.
At high school Appearance "Talking religion" Breakfast
prepared by Hall Methodical as a student The character of
his reading A revival Organizes a prayer meeting in the
high school Prof. Jolliff s encomium A coincidence On the
playground Marketing Helping the preachers Working in
recruits 1883 gets his teacher s certificate Begins teaching
Extracts from his diary Decides to study medicine, to the sur
prise of many 1885 enters medical department of Queen s
University Last entry in diary Organizes the first Y. M. C.
A. of the Medical College of Kingston Letter to his cousin
In the dissecting room Economy Attended Queen St.
Methodist Church Sunday school work at Portsmouth " I
do like to get hold of the boys " Visit of the Rev. John
Forman Becomes a " student volunteer" Attends the North-
field Convention Meets Dr. Dowkontt Decides to pursue
his medical missionary preparation in New York.
37
IT was January i, 1881, that I first met W. J. Hall
at the High School at Athens, or Farmersville, as it was
then called. My recollection of him at that time is
that of a tall lanky individual, with a slight stoop of
the shoulders, and a pale solemn countenance. He
wore a split-tail coat, and his other garments seemed to
set awkwardly upon him. He was known at once as a
very " religious " fellow, one who attended prayer meet
ings, prayed, and spoke. He was consequently at first
the subject of jesting and ridicule on the part of some
of the coarser scholars of the school ; especially so, as
he seemed awkward in his manners. He walked with
a long, swinging gait that was peculiar, and I remember
that years afterward, when he and I had together joined
the ambulance corps of the 141)1 Battalion of Rifles,
Kingston, he found it difficult to keep step in march
ing. He was not essentially attractive in face or figure ;
but, by the power of the grace of God, his was a
countenance which constantly beamed forth a love and
compassion that was divine, and which had truly be
come one of the most beautiful this world ever sees.
Hall was one of the oldest scholars in the school
when he entered. We were in different classes, and did
not become acquainted at once ; although long after
ward he told me that from the time he first entered the
school, he picked me out as one to be prayed for and
led to Christ as soon as possible. That was his way.
He always had three or four or more boys, usually
younger than himself, whom he considered, all unknown
to them, as his especial care, whether to lead them to
Christ, or to train and help them along in the Christian
life, as the case might be.
His habit of "talking religion " to the boys, was not
always relished by those not yet Christians. But his
38
was a most designing mind where the interests of Christ s
kingdom were concerned. Not always brilliant in his
classes, yet when he undertook to influence a fellow-
scholar for Christ, none equaled him in tact. At one
season revival services were being carried on in one of
the Methodist churches of Athens, and Hall bent every
energy toward the salvation of certain among the
scholars. I was so fortunate as to have this man s in
fluence thrown about me before he had been many
months at school, and I shall praise God for it as long
as I live. Now I positively hated to have anyone
" lecture " me on " religion," and I did not like it a bit
when Hall inveigled me into a long walk one moon
light night, and talked to me and tried hard to get me
to decide for the Master. I probably showed my feel
ings by my actions, for only a few days later I was
much surprised on receiving a call from him, in the
evening, at my room. " Now," I thought, * I am in for
it. He s cornered me here in my room, and it will be
nothing but religion the whole evening." But he only
wanted a little help in mathematics, and seemed very
grateful to me for giving it. He gave me a hearty in
vitation to go over to see him at his room, and said
good night. I was more surprised than ever. That a
man like Hall could spend an hour or more alone with
a fellow in a room, and never mention the disagreeable
subject once ! He wasn t such a bad sort of a fellow,
after all. And so, by his consummate tact, he won us.
He was so quick to recognize the importance of
gaining the love and confidence of those whom he was
trying to lead to Christ. I recollect an incident that
occurred before Hall and I were very well acquainted.
He was keeping house for himself at the time. For
economy s sake he in company with his cousin, William
39
James Drummond (now missionary in Nanking, China),
had rented two little rooms, brought furniture and bed
ding from their homes, and waited entirely upon them
selves, preparing their own meals, etc. On this par
ticular occasion Hall was alone. He wanted me to go
over to stay overnight with him. I didn t want to go,
because I feared the probable topic of conversation,
but finally yielded and went. Sure enough he did talk
to me a little on the subject dearest to his heart, and
which seemed always uppermost in his mind. Then
we must needs have family prayer together ; he read
and prayed, O, so fervently ! and we went to bed.
It so happened that, for some reason, breakfast at my
boarding house was put at an early hour the next morn
ing, and I had been warned to be back in time, if I
wanted any breakfast. At about 5 A. M. Hall got up,
lit his lamp, and very gently hinted that it was nearly
5 o clock. But it was a dark and bitterly cold morn
ing in winter, and I remained in bed. We rose in due
course, and about 8 A. M., after some brisk work on his
part, Hall and I sat down to a most appetizing break
fast of fish and flour gravy, and I enjoyed it immensely.
Years after, he told me the agonies of mind he had suf
fered that morning. The staying overnight was all
right, but to have to go ahead with preparations for
breakfast, under the circumstances, was certainly more
embarrassing than being " talked religion " to was to
me. But to him all experiences were pleasant so long
as they furthered in the least his longing desire to win
some one to Christ.
Hall was a conscientious student, methodical in his
habits, believed in system, and as a rule worked by the
aid of a time-table, apportioning his time to the best
possible advantage. He had a keen sense of the value
40
of time, stimulated to the highest pitch by the. reading
of Smiles Self-help, Todd s Student s Manual, Tact,
Ptish, and Principle, Successful Men of To-day, Self -effort,
Life of Livingstone, D. L. Moody and his Works, and
other like books. He was very fond of such books ;
was always discovering a new one of that sort from
which he himself first derived great benefit, and
then he would diligently recommend it to others. By
this means he introduced a great deal of this most
helpful literature among his friends and fellow-scholars.
He kept a small daily diary at school and got a great
many other scholars to do the same. He set great
value upon his diary as a daily record of his Christian
experience.
It was nearly a year after Hall began attending
school at Athens that a most successful series of revival
meetings were carried on in the Methodist church. The
principal speaker was a young man named Dorland, of
the Friends. At these meetings Hall was one of the
most energetic and untiring workers, and during their
course he had the great joy of leading several of the high
school scholars, for whom he had been so especially pray
ing and working, to the penitent bench and of seeing
them soundly converted to God. Now was made man
ifest the genuineness of Hall s religion. He considered
his duty toward us young fellows only properly begun
when he had helped us over to the Lord s side. Im
mediately by his suggestion and leading, a little prayer
meeting was organized, to be held weekly in the rooms
of five or six of us in succession. Every Monday after
noon at four o clock when we were free from school,
we made our way to the room of one of our number.
Hymns were sung, and in the seasons of prayer each
one of us was expected to lead in prayer, and each one
did usually pray though at first with great hesitancy and
much stammering. Scarcely a meeting passed in which
we did not one and all give in our testimony for Jesus.
At the close of the meeting a leader was appointed for
the following week, and some such subject chosen as
witnessing, private prayer, promises, temptations, etc.
At the same time a holiness meeting was being car
ried on every Tuesday at 4 P. M. by some of the more
devout members of the Methodist Church. These
meetings Hall faithfully attended himself, while he en
deavored to take as many of the young Christian scholars
with him as he possibly could.
A few weeks after the close of the special services,
Hall, with a brain full of plans for helping young Chris
tians, and training them to work for Jesus, obtaining
permission from the teachers, organized a weekly prayer
meeting in one of the class rooms of the high school
building. Every Wednesday afternoon at four o clock,
a goodly portion of scholars remained to the meeting.
Christian boys and girls, even the most recent converts,
were encouraged to take their turn in leading the meet
ings, to testify faithfully before their fellows, and to
lead in short prayers. Thus were these babes in Christ
nursed and helped and encouraged by Hall s noble ex
ample and faithful teaching until they developed in
nearly every case a strong, sturdy Christian character
for themselves.
Rev. T. C. Brown, at that time Hall s pastor, relates
that in conversation with Principal J. O. Jolliff of the
high school upon the subject of entire sanctification,
Prof. Jolliff said that of a number of men that he had in
timately known who professed holiness, James Hall was
the only one in his estimation that lived it. He had
watched him in the schoolroom and upon the play-
6
42
ground, and was convinced that he led a holy life.
And Rev. Brown adds, " He was not brilliant, but he was
good the best specimen of a young man I ever met."
All the two or three years of Hall s attendance at the
Athens High School he practiced the most rigid econ
omy in living. At first he and W. J. Drummond rented
a room together. Afterward he and W. J. Hayes roomed
together and provided entirely for themselves.
It is a singular coincidence that three of the William
Jameses who at Athens High School were preparing for
God s service now praise him together in heaven.
William James Crummy was the first to go. In a letter
written November, 1889, from New York, to his cousin.
Miss Rowsome, Hall says: "I was greatly shocked to
hear of the sudden death of W r . J. Crummy. How
often we are reminded that this is not our abiding place
and to be ready when the call comes. I spent the last
Sunday I was at home with W. J. Crummy heard him
preach W. J. Hayes, W. J. Crummy, and myself were
together, and as we parted that night we knelt together
in Mr. Hayes s yard and had a prayer meeting. Little
did we think it would be our last. Our next will be a
praise-meeting ! " The news of W. J. Hayes s death was
in the first home letter that Dr. Hall received in Korea.
In his memory the doctor presented the Glen Buell
Sunday school a library consisting of over one hundred
and twenty volumes, and on the church wall he had
erected a marble tablet, with the following inscription :
In loving memory of
\VILLIAN1 J. HAYES, B.A.,
who died January 2, 1892,
during his second year in theology in Drew Seminary,
Madison, N. J., aged 24 years.
" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."
43
Partly because it took so much time marketing, cook
ing, etc., and partly because he was so much older than
the average schoolboy, Hall never greatly distinguished
himself on the playground. He did play football a lit
tle, and was rather fond of it, but he was naturally awk
ward with his feet and legs, and sometimes made some
wonderful exhibitions. The boys would laugh at him,
and he would invariably join in with them, enjoying it
himself just as much as they. Nobody ever offended
him by laughing at him. In fact in all the years of my
acquaintance and intimate friendship with W. J. Hall,
I don t remember ever having seen him take offense
at anything or anyone. In the first place everybody
liked him; even those who felt his silent presence a re
proach to them for their way of living could not but re
spect him. To such he never had anything but a kindly-
word. While those who felt the warmth of his inti
mate friendship loved him too well to ever intentionally
wound his feelings in the slightest. I recollect entering
a store with Hall, on one occasion, to make a purchase.
When about to wait on him the clerk behind the coun
ter showed some rudeness to him. Hall took it in a
characteristic way. He said nothing, but quietly com
pleted his purchase and we walked out. I said to him,
" If that clerk had treated me in that way I would have
turned and walked out at once." "Well, now," he re
plied, " I was simply looking out for my own interest ;
it was this article I wanted, and I didn t think it worth
while putting myself to the inconvenience and delay of
going elsewhere for it." W. J. Hall s whole being was
so completely saturated with the spirit of the Lord Jesus
that it had become well-nigh impossible for anything but
love, patience, gentleness, kindness, forgiveness, to ever
show itself.
44
Hall had a clear, ringing voice which he used with
good effect in song and speech. His power as an ex-
horter was well known, and often taken advantage of by
overworked preachers of Athens and vicinity. I have
heard him say that on his way the first time to such a
service, I think it was at the Greenbush Church, he felt
so weak and unable to perform the duty that he had to
kneel by the roadside and pray for strength. Mrs.
McLean, at whose home he had his room, said she always
heard him praying in the kitchen Sunday afternoons
before going upon these appointments. He had also
a great faculty in getting others interested in praying
for him at such times. His cousin, Alice R. Rowsome,
relates how, one Saturday afternoon, when she was in
vited to take tea with him at Mrs. McLean s, the minis
ter called to get him to take one of the services the next
day. Before she left for home he said to her, " Now
you must pray for me, because you know I have that
service to-morrow." And though but a little girl at the
time she was deeply impressed with the responsibility
placed upon her, and never forgot it.
One cold night in winter, crisp and clear, one of those
for which eastern Ontario is famous, a preaching service
was due in a schoolhouse a few miles from Athens.
But the minister was down with a heavy cold, and Hall
was asked to take it. No thought of refusal ever en
tered his mind at such a time. It was a matter of
principle with him never to say NO when a call to duty
came. Here was a glorious opportunity to do a little
work for Jesus ! But he could not content himself with
going and holding the service by himself, as he could
have done with perfect satisfaction to the people. He
must work in a couple of those raw recruits. G. E.
Hartvvell (now Rev. G. E. Hartwell, B.A., B.D., of
45
the Canadian Methodist Mission, Chentu, China) and I
must needs go along to help and be helped. It was
arranged that Hartwell should preach, while I read the
Scripture and hymns, and Hall should pray. He liked
no other part better than that assigned him, and in none
could he work with better effect. His faith seemed to
reach right up to God, and as his clear, strong voice
rose in fervent prayer, the crowded congregation in the
little schoolhouse was lifted to the very presence of the
Saviour. A great blessing fell upon everyone present
that night. And as we rode homeward, with the stars
shining brightly overhead, and the hard snow sparkling
and glittering beneath, our songs of praise rang out
strong and joyous on the clear night air.
Hall got his teacher s certificate in July, 1883, and
spent a good part of the next two years in teaching,
mostly in the public school nearest his own home, Glen
Buell.
The following extracts from a brief diary kept by
Hall for a few months in 1884 will best give an idea of
his life at this time:
"January i. Praise God for the blessings of to-day !
This has been the happiest New Year s Day I ever
spent. O , one of my dearest and best associates,
staid with me last night. We were on our knees before
God as the old year went out and the new year came
in. God blessed us, and we gave ourselves afresh to His
service. I have written a whole sermon since six o clock.
It is not my words, but God s. O, that He may
enable me to deliver it with more than mortal energy,
and to Him be all the glory !
k January 3. Just commenced teaching to-day. I have
earnestly asked God to help me to faithfully discharge
all the duties that devolve upon me, and I know He
46
will. Went to see Uncle Boyd Hall (his great uncle)
to-night; he is very poorly ; did not know me.
" January 8. Uncle Boyd died this morning at 6:30. I
stayed all night. Went to Brockville to see about cof
fin, etc. Uncle Boyd is at rest. He toiled faithfully
for Christ for many years. I remember him as an
earnest worker in the Sunday school.
"January 12, Saturday. Got my room arranged, book
case and stove set up, and everything handy, so I am
now quite comfortable. Went down to the school-
house this afternoon and put up some mottoes on the
walls.
"January 14. Missionary meeting to-night ; appointed
poor me to fill the chair ; did the best I could; signed
$4. I am glad I can help the cause of Christ more
than before.
"January 16. This is my birthday ; twenty-four years
old. How time flies ! but none too fast for the Chris
tian. Got a letter from O . No outward influence
does me as much good as O s letters, there is so
much of Christ s spirit in them. I am glad I have such
a noble friend.
"January 17. At school I am beginning to learn more
and more that the teacher needs a great deal of grace to
enable him to order himself aright. It is the hardest
work I ever did. I have to be quite stern, but I think
I can relax after a while. I love my pupils, and I am
endeavoring to do them all the good I can. I want to
set that example before them that shall be worthy of
imitation, and to impress upon their minds truths that,
if followed, will lead them to lives of usefulness. I
desire to live very near my blessed Redeemer when I
have so many little minds to help to mold. I feel the
need of spending more time in prayer O, for more
47
of the Holy Spirit to enable me to rightly discharge my
duties ! I want to make this year count for Christ.
"January 23. At school ; was nearly sick all day; I
never needed to walk closer to my Saviour than this
year. It is a year of battling with the stern realities of
life. I have not the same influences thrown around me
this year that I had last. I find it difficult to do just
right. But God s grace is sufficient. His blood does
cleanse. I am glad my anchor is cast. Christ is very
precious.
" January 25. At school ; did my first whipping to-day,
but did not have much trouble. I do bless God from
the depths of my heart that I am His child.
February 12. Took one of my pupils, whom I whipped
yesterday for swearing, aside and prayed with him.
" February 13. At school. I feel very weary, bodily,
but praise the Lord I am not spiritually. I find I need
lots of sleep in order to be prepared for my work.
This has been a good day. I have been very near my
Saviour. I praise God His grace is sufficient for me,
although outward circumstances would tend to disturb
my peace within. But glory to God ! they can t drive
His love out of my heart. When I think of the state
our neighborhood is in I would be discouraged did I
not know God is all powerful. Praise His name !
" February 16, Saturday. At Kingston; left Brock-
ville at 2:10; arrived at K. 4:15; reached Omar s
7 A. M. Went down to the market, and from there to
college ; went through arts and medical colleges, in
cluding dissecting room. After dinner went to the peni
tentiary ; it looked dismal enough. In the evening went
to hear the " Salvation Army," and enjoyed the meeting
splendidly.
" February 19. At school. Told the pupils all about my
48
trip; have a full school now; pupils working hard. I
wrote out some items for ihe Recorder and Times.
Mr. Gilroy is quite sick ; got a letter from W. J. Drum-
mond ; he is soon going back to college. [Christ is all
in all to me. His blood cleanses from all sin. I want
to do more for Him.]
" February 24, Sunday. I took charge of Sunday
school for Mr. Gilroy. Mr. Blair preached ; we had a
glorious fellowship meeting; my soul is full of the love
of Christ; am to preach for Mr. Blair at Sheldon s next
Sunday.
u March 7. Social to-night; had a very good time ; the
lecture was good ; Mrs. Gilroy in the chair. Took in
$16.13. I stopped at R. Sturgeon s to-night; had a
good visit and grand time at family prayers; living very
near my Saviour; His love does fill my heart."
His holidays and vacations were occupied in various
ways, now in bookselling, again in life insurance, and
at another time in the manufacture and sale of a well-
known and much-used copying machine.
At the same time he was always the most energetic
worker in the Sunday school, and no one was more
regular than he in attendance at prayer meeting.
These institutions could never languish while W. J.
Hall remained in the neighborhood. Should the spirit
of revival take hold of the people, then Hall was fore
most in the fight, cheering, encouraging, and leading
the weaker Christians out into a fuller life in Jesus, and
yet working most earnestly and successfully for the
salvation of the unsaved. Small wonder that people
everywhere marked him for the ministry, and great was
their surprise and disappointment when he declared
his intention of studying medicine. Many talked with
him, warned him of the sadness of finding when too
49
late that he had made the great mistake of his life in not
choosing the sphere for which he was evidently so well
fitted, and urged him to reconsider. But he quietly
followed the dictates of his own sanctified judgment,
and after life showed that as a medical missionary, so far
from having made a mistake, he had, on the contrary,
chosen the very sphere which the Lord intended for him.
October, 1885, found Hall in Kingston ready to
begin his long anticipated course in medicine. October
2, 1885, he writes in his diary: Left home to-day for
college; reached Kingston 5 p. M. Had many serious
thoughts. I have consecrated myself afresh to God."
" October 3. Found a boarding place ; think I will
like it. Glad to meet old friends again."
The press of his new work soon forced him to drop
his diary, but the last entry in it is characteristic :
" November 9. Went for a walk ; spoke to Isaac
Oser about his soul ; he wants to be a Christian ; I am
to call for him 9 A. M., Sunday."
The medical college had never, up to session 1885-
86, had any organized Christian work. There was no
medical Young Men s Christian Association, nor was
there a prayer meeting of any sort. There was a flour
ishing university Young Men s Christian Association,
but meetings were always held in one of the class rooms
of the arts department, and it was commonly looked
upon as an "arts" institution. It remained for W. J.
Hall to organize, or at least to be the leading spirit, in
the organization of the first Young Men s Christian
Association of the medical college at Kingston. Early in
November, 1885, the organization was complete and the
first regular weekly meeting held. The president for the
first year was J. F. Smith, afterward medical missionary
to the province of Honan, China, while the recording
7
secretary is now a medical missionary to the Indians of
British Columbia, Dr. A. E. Bolton. Dr. D. A. Galla
gher, now practicing in the United States, was vice
president ; Dr. T. J. Jameson, practicing in Ontario,
was treasurer; Dr. Hall was recording secretary; Dr.
A. G. Allen, practicing in Ontario, was librarian. Dr.
J. C. Council, M.A., now an eye and ear specialist in
Kingston ; Dr. W. H. Downing, the gold medalist of
the class, and myself formed a committee. Though
Hall was quite content to fill one of the minor offices
of this infant association, his was never the disposition
to be content with looking on and doing nothing. At
that time there was a very small percentage of Christian
students in the institution, and a still smaller percentage
who were willing, amidst such surroundings, to show
their colors bravely and work faithfully for Christ and
his cause. And as Hall s genius for organization had
shown itself just as when in the high school at Athens
so now, also, his faculty for getting hold of the young
men began to manifest itself at once. He selected
several of the younger students, and by preference
from the earlier years at college, and began to pray in
private for them, just as he had done for his fellow-
scholars years before. Presently his active brain was
busy with plans for helping them, whether collectively
or individually. He took the greatest pleasure in
showing them little kindnesses, especially if he had to
go out of his way in order to accomplish his object.
Before the young man knew what he was about, Hall
would have him, in the most innocent and agreeable
manner possible, inveigled off to some meeting ; or
more likely, perhaps, would have him in the privacy of
his room engaged in a most earnest conversation on the
all-important question of his salvation. More than one
52
young student, now practicing physicians of several
years standing, trace their conversion to God direct to
the influence of W. J. Hall during his two years in the
medical college, Kingston, while many more who
were Christians at the time received invaluable help
and permanent stimulus from his consecrated walk and
conversation.
"Hand-picking," "Personal work," "All at it and
always at it," "In season and out of season," were
some of his favorite mottoes. And while he never
neglected the regular work of attending lectures and
his home study, yet he managed at the same time to
accomplish an almost incredible amount of Christian
work. His daily routine in class room and hospital
wards was marked by unfailing punctuality and regu
larity in attendance at lectures. These were a matter
of principle with him.
Under date of February IT, 1886, he wrote to his
cousin, Alice R. Rowsome, who was then in high school
at Athens : " It always does me good to hear from
the dear friends where I spent many days that have
been among the brightest and best of life. I always
look back to my school days in Farmersville with a
great degree of comfort. There I formed ties that will
only be broken by death, to be again united on the
other shore. I like Kingston very much. I have
enough work to keep me busy night and day. I have
laid down definite rules for work, exercise, and sleep,
and I intend to stick to them. I find my college mates
very sociable, friendly, and agreeable ; they appear to
have great respect for the rights of their fellow-stu
dents. I find life, to a great extent, to be just what we
make it. If we are virtuous and true, our life will not
only be a blessing to ourselves, but to others."
53
In reference to the work of dissection, he did what
he could by word and example to combat a not uncom
mon notion that tobacco or drink is a necessity for
health or comfort in the dissecting room. He was, of
course, "total abstinence" to the core, and while he.
sought always not to make himself obnoxious by hasty
or ill-timed advocacy of his principles, yet when he
believed duty demanded it, he was ready to sacrifice
everything else to the determination to make a bold
stand for the right, whether for temperance or any
other Christian principle. His frank candor and patent
honesty, and the absence of anything bearing the
remotest resemblance to cant, always won him the
respect and admiration even of those who were in prac
tice diametrically opposed to him. Yet Hall was never
slow to join with his fellow-students in any and every
movement that had for its object the advancement of
the best interests of the college.
In Kingston, as elsewhere, during all the years of
preparation for his lifework, Hall was extremely eco
nomical. During the holidays he earned and saved
what was sufficient, with the greatest care in expenditure,
to put himself through the following term at school or
college. He denied himself almost everything that could
possibly be done without. He, along with two or three
kindred spirits, tried boarding themselves. They bought
such things as oatmeal, milk, and bread, and with the aid
of an oilstove they prepared in their rooms two very
plain but cheap and wholesome meals a day. For the
third meal they usually succeeded in obtaining special
rates at boarding house or hotel. It was a great satis
faction to Hall to be able in this way to support while
educating himself, and to cause his hard-working parents
no expense whatever on his account.
54
He chose for his church Queen Street Methodist,
and attended there regularly while he was in Kingston.
Among the congregation he made many warm per
sonal friends, in intercourse with whom he was often
much blessed and a blessing.
He was always fond of Sunday school work, and for
months he used to walk regularly to Portsmouth every Sun
day afternoon, a distance of at least two miles. There he
taught a class of boys in the little Methodist church.
"I do like to get hold of the boys, " he would exclaim,
with that peculiar warmth of manner that was all his
own. And he did get hold of them, for he always had
them loving him before he was with them two Sundays.
The secret of it was that lie loved them first with all
the warmth of his great heart, and they unconsciously
paid him back in kind. Many a boy in Portsmouth,
Kingston, and in Leeds County, Ontario, many a one in
New York city, and afterward many a boy in Korea
will never be able to forget the magnetic influence over
them for good of the consecrated personality of W. J.
Hall.
It was much the same in the case of "boys of older
growth " with whom he became intimate. " For genu
ine out and out GOODNESS, under all circumstances in
life, I never knew his equal, " is the testimony of every
one of that inner circle who were privileged, at one
period or another of his varied life, to count themselves
his friends.
The great turning point, or, perhaps, rather the great
culmination in the life aims of W. J. Hall, came in the
spring term of session 1886-87 while at college in
Kingston. He and some of his intimate fellow-students
had talked over the subject of foreign missions together
previous to this time, but he had not thought very
55
seriously of going himself as a foreign missionary. He
did not consider himself capable, but he was always un
derestimating his own powers. He had gone so far,
however, in his unselfish desire to further the cause of
foreign missions, as to offer to stay at home himself,
and support one of his intimate fellow-students, if the
latter would be willing to go. It was in February, 1887,
that Queen s among other Canadian colleges was
visited by Rev. John Forman, now a missionary in
India. That winter sa\v the beginning of the no\v
world-wide and world-famous student volunteer move
ment for foreign missions. As an immediate result of
Mr. Forman s visit to Queen s, twenty-one students
from arts, medicine, and divinity signed the pledge.
" We are willing and desirious, God permitting, to be
come foreign missionaries. " Hall was one of the first in
the medical college to put down his name, and from
that time forward, while he never allowed his new reso
lution and his consecration to the Master s service in a
foreign land to interfere with present duties, yet he al
ways held himself in readiness to take advantage of the
time when "God would permit," and the way would
open up.
In July, 1887, Hall was able to carry out a long-
cherished plan, that of attending Rev. D. L. Moody s
annual summer school for students at Northfield,
Mass. He traveled on the cheapest possible rail
way ticket, and took a tent with him (one of his own
manufacture), besides his own bedding and cooking
utensils. He camped out along with a great many
other students, and was at the smallest possible expense
during the twelve days session. While at Northfield he
met Dr. Dowkontt, director of the International Med
ical Missionary Society of New York, and from him he
56
learned of the advantages afforded by this society for
obtaining not only a medical, but a medical missionary
training in New York city. After a long, careful, and
prayerful consideration of the situation he decided that
the Lord wanted him to finish his medical course in
New York, and to New York he accordingly went for
his third and fourth sessions in medicine, graduating
with M.D. from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in
April, 1889. OMAR L. KILBORN.
57
CHAPTER IV.
In Training for Mission Service, 1887-1889.
Expect great things from God ;
Attempt great things for God.
\VM. CAREY.
Meeting at Moody s Convention in 87 "Orders from headquar
ters " Goes to New York city Introduced to life in the
Fourth Ward Roosevelt Street Medical Mission Given a
Sunday school class of two ! Later becomes superintend
ent An incident in self-denial Limited means Blackens
shoes and tends furnace An incident in faith His influence
The secret of his power The kind of a man fitted for labor
abroad Need of more means for training such men A tribute.
IT is usual to use the words "the late" when writing
of one who has passed from this earthly life. But it
seems difficult, nay, impossible, to write these words
concerning our departed Brother Hall. " To depart
and be with Christ, which is far better," so wrote that
veteran Christian warrior-orator, Paul, and so we
believe.
To write a sketch of our devoted Brother Hall is no
easy task for one who knew him, lived and labored with
him, as the writer did. Yet it is with feelings of deep
gratitude to God for the privilege of helping such a
man that these lines are penned to honor one who
honored his God, and was honored by Him according as
He has promised.
In the summer of 1887 the writer was spending a few
days at the Northfield Conference of Christian Workers.
He had given an address upon medical missions, and
59
invited any of those present whose hearts were turned
toward this twofold agency to confer with him upon
the subject. Among those who responded to the in
vitation was a tall, well-built young man, one of the
Canadian contingent in attendance at the conference.
His diffident and unassuming manner was the first
thing that impressed itself upon the mind, but the warm
welcome given soon dispelled the feeling of shyness,
and he spoke freely of his heart s desire to be a blessing
to his fellow-man in the most needy part of the world,
wherever God should in His providence call him.
There was no frothy excitement, no setting forth of
all the wonderful things he expected to accomplish, but
a quiet, steady purpose, having as a foundation the de
sire to be rather than to do. The hour spent in con
versation and prayer was not one to be ever forgotten.
The counsel given, to "obtain his orders from head
quarters," was not presented in vain ; and with a full
conviction that such guidance had been granted Mr.
Hall came to New York in September of that year to
pursue medical study and engage in actual medical mis
sion work in the great city, the better to fit him for
service elsewhere.
In company with a dozen other students of the Inter
national Medical Missionary Society, young Hall was u in-
troduced" to life in the Fourth Ward of New York city.
"Why, doctor, I never knew that there was any such
place as this, he remarked, as his soul within him
shrank at the awful sights and sounds of sin, sickness,
and sorrow around him. And yet this was the best
possible field and way in which to prepare him for the
work to which he was called.
With the first Sunday in the session came the re
opening of the Sunday school at the medical mission in
6o
Roosevelt Street a place that had been one of the
vilest liquor stores from the time the house had been
built, thirty years before, up to the day when, five years
ago, the liquor seller was moving out at one door, with
his whisky bottles and devilish business, and the doc
tor was moving in at the other, with his medicine bottles
and the Gospel.
Mr. Hall was given two small boys to take charge of
for his first class. Somewhat surprised, he remarked,
" Doctor, I think I can manage five or six ; I used to
have twice that number in my class at home." "Very
well, Mr. Hall, try your hand with these two first, and
we will give you some more."
Poor fellow, he soon found out the difference between
quality and quantity, for, coming to the superintendent
a few minutes later, he said, " Doctor, if you ll take one
of those boys away, I ll try to manage the other, but I
can t do anything with the two of them ; they beat all 1
ever saw or heard of."
Two years later, however, he was able to manage the
whole school as superintendent, a position he held for a
year at that mission, and for the two years following at
the Madison Street Mission, in the next ward. To-day
it would be safe to say that no name is better known
and revered in that whole neighborhood than that of Dr.
Hall. It was a very common sight to see our friend
surrounded by half a dozen or more of the very poorest
children, who would seek to clasp his hand, as they
saluted him with, " Hallo, Dr. Hall ; how are you ?"
Not only did lie win the hearts of the children, but of
their parents also. It mattered little to him whether
they "sent for the doctor" at 2 A. M. or at 2 p. M., he
was always ready, by day or by night, to help them in
their times of need.
6i
A straw will show the course of the tide as clearly as
a log of timber. One winter s night an old man called
at the Fourth Ward Mission at the close of the Gospel
service which Dr. Hall had conducted, and desired to
see the writer very urgently. Upon Dr. Hall giving him
the address, about three and one half miles distant, the
old man asked, " Do you think he ll be gone to bed by
eleven, as it is half past nine now, and I don t think I
can walk it in less than an hour and a half? " A word
to the wise is sufficient ; so, too, to the loving. The
doctor had but five cents in his pocket with which to
ride home, but he gave these to the old man, and
walked. He did not, however, let him know that fact,
and it was only discovered by close questioning on the
part of the writer, the old man having arrived so long
before the doctor leading to suspicion as to the cause.
Ah ! ho\v this sin-stricken world wants such men as
Hall, men willing to walk, that others may ride ! And
yet it was just like him. He would buy cheap clothes
and shoes, and really, at times, go shabby ; but he did it
to help some others poorer than himself, and he found
his greatest pleasure in so doing.
During his course of study his means were very lim
ited, and it was not possible for him, as with many an
other brave soul, to provide for all his needs and ex
penses.
"Doctor, can t you find me something to do, I don t
want to have anything for nothing ; and if you could
get me a place where I could go and work for a couple
of hours a day, I could get on first-rate, and you see
I need some exercise, and that would be my gymna
sium.
Such an opportunity opened up for our friend, and
he rejoiced in earning three dollars a week by cleaning
62
boots, getting up coals, and looking after the heating
furnace at the residence of Andrew Green, Esq., late
comptroller of New York city. Here he found warm
friends in Mr. and Mrs. Kneudsen, who took much in
terest in the medical missionary students. When he
took his degree of M.D. it was remarked, " Now, doctor,
you will have to give up that job." " O, no ! " he re
plied ; " I don t want to do so just yet, for although
now I am going to get an allowance from the Mission
Board for a while, yet I want to help so and so (mention
ing three young men), they re having a hard time get
ting through college, and you know they re good fellows
and we were boys at school together." Yes, when
at school he had been the means of leading those three
boys to Christ, and he had the joy of having all three
of them at the mission with him on more than one oc
casion, and he could well say, as he tried to say of
every day, " Friends, this is the happiest day of my
life"
Dr. Hall, was a man of great faith in God. It
was the faith of a child simple, implicit. At the time
of graduating from Bellevue College, he had not the
money to pay for his well-earned diploma. He said :
u This money must be forthcoming or I cannot grad
uate, I have exhausted all my resources in the endeavor
to raise the amount, but I have failed. I took the mat
ter to God in prayer. The college days drew to a close
without the money, the hour came for the gathering of
the graduates and still no money, but I had faith; I joined
the company, and just as I was leaving the house the
money was placed in my hand. From whom it came
I do not know, but my faith in God is stronger than
ever."
The influence of such a man cannot be measured
63
or stated. The students of the International Medical
Missionary Society would have indeed missed a great
deal had Dr. Hall not come to New York as he did.
The personal influence of the self-denying, Christlike
spirit of Dr. Hall upon his fellow-students, as also
upon his patients men, women, and children alike is
immeasurable by mortal man. Soon after he left for
Korea one of his fellow-students asked, " Doctor, what
is it about Hall that gives him such power ? " k> Doubt
less it is the power of God in him, but if you ask fur
ther I should say in a word it is because he is like
Nathanael, free from guile!" was the reply. When
the Saviour found such a man He asked all the world
to look at him, saying, " J3ehold" Just such persons
(rod is looking for to-day.
It was no wonder that a strong feeling should be
manifested against his leaving New York by those
amonu" whom he had lived and labored, when the time
S
came for his departure to Korea ; but it is just such
men who are needed in the lands of darkness and
heathenism, men of mark at home, men who have so
lived as to be missed when they go, are such as are best
fitted to labor abroad.
No greater pleasure may be desired or possessed
than that of in any way aiding such men to prepare
themselves for their lifework of devotion to God and
service to man. The writer desires no greater privilege
on earth than this, he only desires more means and
better facilities to do such work. Of the more than one
hundred young men and women students who, after be
ing trained with us, have gone out to the dark places
of the earth, there to heal sick and suffering bodies and
win dark and sinful souls to Christ, there has not gone
a greater or nobler soul than William James Hall.
6 4
When Sir Humphrey Davy in response to his friends
request made out a list of his many important discov
eries, he wrote at the bottom of the list in large letters,
"MICHAEL FARADAY, the greatest of them all" He
had aided a poor, struggling young man in his earnest
endeavors to succeed, until he eclipsed his teacher and
friend ; and in this he could and did rejoice.
GEORGE D. DOWKONTT.
CHAPTER V.
Medical Mission Work in New York, 1889-91.
" Said Christ our Lord, I will go and see
Ho\v the men, my brothers, believe in me.
He passed not again through the gates of birth,
But made himself known to the children of earth."
Necessity for medical mission work in New York city Doctor
Hall tells his own story Work among drunkards and thieves
Solving the problem Work among Roman Catholics and
Jews Testimonies Two families on Water Street Another
family relieved ; Fred s prayer Importance of winning the
children for Jesus A man of deeds, who worked while others
questioned.
WHEN the Master visited the great city there were
palaces, but they had no charms for him. There were
parks and gardens, but they attracted him not. His
steps turned toward the pool on the brink of which lay
a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, and
withered. It was not the great nor the wealthy, but the
Son of God
" Sought out an artisan,
A low-browed, stunted, haggard man,
And a motherless girl, whose fingers thin
Pushed from her faintly want and sin."
In our great cities, crowded with the poor and suf
fering, in far-away mission lands, he who seeks the sick
with words to cheer, sympathy to comfort, medicine to
heal, and Gospel to save, will find eager welcome and
garner large results in his Christlike service.
The masses of the people of New York are poor, liv-
9
66
ing in tenement houses where disease is always a guest,
the fires of fever never burn out, the cough of the con
sumptive is never stilled, children cry pitifully, moth
ers, with aching head and heart, drag themselves to
their work. Hospitals are always full, and multitudes
wait in their homes the touch of the healer, the medi
cine of the physician, the sympathy of the brother.
Dr. Hall, the beloved physician, a brother born for
adversity, went as an angel of light among the sick
and dying in the densely packed districts of lower New
York. His work was a romance of grace. Without
money and without price he went at the call of anyone,
at any hour of the day or night, his delight being to re
lieve suffering and alleviate pain. None were too poor
or vicious for him to serve. No cellar too damp, no
garret too high for him to visit. Among murderers,
thieves, thugs, harpies of vice and crime, he went in his
gentle, health-giving, Gospel ministry.
The spirit of our loved friend, the Christlike Hall,
still seems to linger about the tenements of the seventh,
eleventh, and fifteenth wards.
Why Kirke White ceased singing at 21, Summerfield
left his pulpit at 27, McCheyne at 29 stepped from the
altar to the throne, and Dr. Hall left off healing at 34,
while the old world, freighted to sinking with suffering,
sweeps groaning on its course who can tell ? But
" I wage not feud with Death
For changes wrought on form and face ;
Nor blame I Death, because he bear
The use of virtue out of earth ;
I know, transplanted, human worth
Will bloom to profit otherwhere."
Let us, gentle reader, while we turn back the pages
of the record, accompany Dr. Hall on his rounds
6;
among his dispensaries and the homes of his patients
in New York. We will let him talk as we walk by his
side. The doctor says :
" Not only do we meet the sick poor in the dispen
saries, but we go from cellar to garret, into their
wretched hovels, healing, feeding, clothing, preaching
doing all in the name of Jesus.
" As in heathen countries, so among the masses of
New York, the people must be won by disinterested
kindness. I believe this solves the problem of reach
ing the masses in our great city. Lay your lives along
side of theirs, and with a touch of genuine Christian
sympathy and love they can be won for Jesus. The
labor of love is never lost. The Gospel thus taught and
lived is the power of God. Through the medical work
we find an easy entrance into the homes of those who
would otherwise drive us away with curses, and if we
did not beat a hasty retreat the boiling water treat
ment would be applied to help us quicken our paces.
We deal personally with each individual, and our visitors
follow them up in their homes. Not a week passes
without souls being saved. They are all hand-picked.
Many of them have been rescued from the lowest
depths of sin.
" In searching for jewels our experiences many times
are heartrending. A few nights ago I was called into
a miserable home. The husband was a drunkard. The
poor wife had to struggle hard to support herself and
little ones. A couple of days before the youngest child,
through lack of nourishment, had been seized with chol
era infantum. The husband, after spending a great part
of the week s earnings, had come home drunk to abuse
his wife and children. I shall never forget the terrible
scene that met my eyes that Saturday night. On the
68
lounge lay the husband in a drunken stupor, on the
opposite side of the room lay the dead body of his child.
The broken-hearted mother and the rest of the children
were huddled together in a corner of the room."
Threading our way through crowded streets, we enter
the dispensary. Dr. Hall runs on with his experiences :
" Three months ago a poor, sad, dejected woman
entered this dispensary. Many a night, she said, my
husband has come home crazed with rum, and has
driven the children and me into the street, where we
have been obliged to stay until two and three o clock in
the morning. You see, doctor, those scars on my face ;
I got them from blows given by my husband when he
was drunk.
" I treated the woman, then followed her to her home,
and found it a typicar drunkard s home. The husband,
after considerable urging, came to our meeting con
viction seized his soul, and from that night he became
a regular attendant at our services. For several nights
he refused to yield to God, but finally he came to the
altar and found the pearl of great price.
" He next brought his wife and four children to the
church, and soon they were all rejoicing in a knowledge
of sins forgiven. They all united on probation, and are
now among our most faithful attendants and workers.
" I never enter that home now but I receive a great
blessing. A family altar has been erected, and Jesus
reigns supreme. The husband now holds a responsible
position, being foreman over seventy-five workmen,
over whom he wields an influence for good. I am not
ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God unto salvation to every one that believeth.
" But let me tell now of another one of my home
cases. Not long ago I was called to see a woman living
6g
in terrible quarters. When my knock was heard on the
door a boy of fifteen hid in an adjoining room. As
soon as I went in the mother said, Come out, Willie, it
is only the doctor, he won t touch you. The poor
woman was a widow with two children. As she was
unable to work, the boy was trained to steal what he
could to supply the needs of the home.
" I told them of a Friend who was rich, who supplied
all the needs of His children, and that I knew He was
willing to take them under His care. The mother said,
We are too bad for God to have anything to do with
us. Nobody cares for us. Did you know, I said, it
was for such as you that Jesus died. " He came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. " I knelt
and prayed that God would show them their sinfulness
and His willingness to save the vilest sinners.
"They promised to come to our meetings. True to
their promise they came. When the invitation was
given they responded, knelt at the altar, and were con
verted. They are now active workers for Christ, lead
ing consistent Christian lives. The boy has a good
position and is respected by his employer. The home
which was so dark and degraded is now shining with
the presence of God. Willie said to me a few days ago :
Before I was converted I would hide when I heard any
steps in the hallway. I used to be afraid to meet the
police upon the street, but since I have been converted
I am not afraid to meet or speak to anybody.
" One of the most painful and alarming features of the
New York problem is found in big lads, almost young
men, for whom life appears a lost battle, compelled as
they are to herd with thieves and beggars. Among
these I have been casting from my dispensaries the net
into the deep, landing within the circle of homes and
;o
industrial agencies hundreds who, but for such means
of escape, must have been forced into lives of desper
ation which bear bitter fruit in crime, vice, or habitual
pauperism.
U O blessed. work for Jesus! How wonderfully He
pours His blessings upon us as we endeavor to obey His
command, Preach the Gospel, heal the sick. Praise
God for the privilege of walking so closely in the foot
steps of our Master. He sweetens the bitterest cup and
smooths the roughest way. He comes nearest to those
who most need His help. How much easier it is to find
the entrance to the heart, when we show people in a
practical way that we love them. I have had Jews and
Roman Catholics take me by the hand, with a grasp I
knew came from the heart, and lift it to their lips and
plant the kiss of gratitude upon it. Is there any other
way whereby we could gain a greater influence over
these people ? The high wall of prejudice is soon
broken down, and their hearts are in a fit state to re
ceive the Gospel, and God will watch the precious
seed.
" A few weeks ago I was called to see a child of
Roman Catholic parentage, sick with pneumonia. I be
came very much attached to the children and got the
consent of the parents to let them come to the
Sunday-school. They soon began to attend our serv
ices, and when the invitation was given to take a
stand for God, two of the children, bright and intelli
gent boys of twelve and fourteen, came forward to the
altar. They found the pearl of great price, and are now
consistent Christians. They have been received into
the Church with the consent of their parents, who have
also sought and found Christ in our meetings. There
have been several bright conversions among the Roman
7 1
Catholics since the work was commenced. At the
Madison Street Dispensary I was called to visit a man,
a Roman Catholic, who was in the last struggles of the
king of diseases, consumption. I told him his time
was short for this world and he had better get ready for
heaven. After talking with him a short time he ex
pressed his desire to become a Christian. I pointed out
the way, and he was soon rejoicing in a knowledge of
sins forgiven. I visited him frequently during his ill
ness and always found him happy in his Saviour s love.
He remained steadfast to the end and left a bright evi
dence behind that he had gone to be with Jesus. . . .
Another Roman Catholic with a large family I am at
tending now ; he is suffering from a severe scald. I have
had several interesting talks with him about his soul,
and the last time I visited him he decided to give his
heart to God, and promised to erect the family altar
that night. The children will be gathered into the
Sunday school and the father and mother into the
church. Praise God !
" We have, every Sunday, Roman Catholics and He
brew children attending our Sunday school, brought
there through our dispensary work. We have a Gospel
service with the patients before they receive treatment.
The majority of our patients are nonchurchgoers, and
are composed of all nationalities and creeds. Jews and
Catholics alike listen attentively to the unadulterated
Gospel, and not without results A short time
ago a young Hebrew came to our dispensary, suffering
from an injured hand. As I dressed the wound he re
lated the story of his life. He had worked hard, and
had succeeded in building up a lucrative business, but
failure came. Discouraged, penniless, sick, he came to
New York. I told him of Jesus, the great burden-
7 2
bearer. Yes, he wanted some one upon whom to cast
his burden, but he was a Jew, and knew nothing of
Christ the Messiah. I showed him the prophecies
pointing to Jesus as the Messiah. He at once began to
read the Bible and search for the truth. He was soon led
to accept Christ as his Saviour, and to-day is a shining
light for Jesus. He was baptized and received into the
Church on probation. He is now preaching Christ to
the Hebrews with remarkable success.
" I was called to see a Jewish family upon Allen.
Street. I found the mother very ill and entertained little
hope for her recovery; but God blessed the means
used, and she has now fully recovered. The mission
ary had been trying to get a hold upon the family and
this proved the entering wedge. It was followed up,
and now the parents are members of the Christian
Church and the children attend the Sunday school.
Another family that we have been visiting upon Ridge
Street has been converted and to-day are earnest work
ers for Christ. Last night a Hebrew boy, sixteen years
of age, came for me to visit a Jewish family. Although
he was born in Jerusalem, still he knew nothing of a
Saviour s love until a few weeks ago. He is now re
joicing in a knowledge of sins forgiven and is an ear
nest follower of Christ. I had prayer with the family be
fore leaving, and my young Hebrew friend also led in
prayer. We left the sick man s house together, and he
asked if he might come a short distance with me, as he
wished to have a talk with me. He was all aglow with
the love of Jesus. How our souls burned within us as
we talked by the way. It was nearly midnight, and I
feared his friend would be uneasy over his absence, so I
urged his return. I shall never forget his reply. He
said, You were born a Christian, but I am only three
73
weeks old, and I would like to learn more about your
religion so I can work for Jesus. O the joy that filled
my soul at that moment ! I felt I would gladly spend
all night with him, instructing him in that knowledge
for which he was so deeply hungering and thirsting.
. . . Other Hebrews are anxiously inquiring the way.
You see as Jesus first healed their diseases, then pointed
the grateful recipients of this grace to the remedy for
sin, so we follow the medicine with the Gospel. Jew
and Gentile alike need and take both. Not a week
passes by but souls are saved through our dispensaries.
" How encouraging to listen to the testimonies, week
after week, of those who came for healing of the body,
and there met the Great Physician, and to-day are re
joicing in Christ their Saviour.
" Last night at our prayer meeting a young man told
how he had come to the dispensary a wreck, physically
and spiritually. But to-day he is clothed, and is in his
right mind. Instead of eyes burning with the fires of
drink they are now beaming with the love of God.
A poor girl came to our dispensary a few
days ago. She had wasted her days in sin ; she had
sunken to the lowest depths. We pointed her to Christ,
and now she is rejoicing in her Saviour, and has been
restored to her loved ones again.
"I was called recently to see a man who was suffer
ing intense pain, but his face was aglow with the love
of Jesus. He said to me : I am as happy as the day
is long. What a wonderful change has come to my life
and home since we gave our hearts to God ! When I
was converted I owed seventy dollars ; to-day I don t
owe the price of a loaf of bread. Before I was con
verted I would not have enough to pay my way across
the ferry ; now I could go to Europe and back, and take
10
74
a cabin passage. Doctor, I don t want you to think I
am a poor man, he said, as he brought out his bank
book. I have saved all this and put it in bank since
May. I looked over the account, and found he had
one hundred and twenty dollars deposited. With this
and Jesus he felt rich.
"A few days ago I was called to visit a family living
on Water Street, in an attic, in a crowded tenement.
The family numbered six, and were huddled together
in a room seven feet wide by nine long. The furniture
consisted of a bed, a small table, a cooking stove, and
two chairs. I had only been there a short time when
another was added to the miserable home. The hus
band was feeling unwell, and was shortly after taken
down with pleurisy. The rent is to be paid, children
fed. and father and mother sick, and no money. Sick
ness is hard enough to endure when one is provided
with the comforts of life, but imagine what it must be
to those destitute of those things ! I did all I could to
relieve their sufferings and to supply their needs.
"One afternoon one of their children, a bright little
girl of ten years of age, came to the dispensary for
medicine for her father. I said, Katie, how are you
getting on ? Not very well, doctor. What did you
have for dinner to-day? We had a little stale bread
and some tea. How did you get the bread? I
washed one of mamma s sheets and took it to a pawn
shop, and that got us a little. I wrote an order for
bread, gave her milk tickets and medicine for her
father. The poor child went home with a brighter
face than she had when she entered the dispensary.
Last night, as I was about to retire, this poor family
came up before me. The work had been heavy through
75
the day, and I was very tired ; but I felt I could not
rest until I saw them that night. It was just as I sus
pected ; I found the poor mother looking over her
bunch of pawn tickets, for everything had been pawned
that was of any value. I asked what was the trouble.
* O, I am about crazy, she said. To-morrow we are
to be turned into the streets. I went this afternoon to
see the landlady to beg a little time, but she refused to
listen to me. How much do you owe? Two dol
lars, she said. I assured her I would see the landlady
that night and go security for that amount. Their eyes
filled with tears which expressed their gratitude, and I
realized it a good time to tell them of the great Burden-
bearer, of the Friend who is always ready to deliver.
They manifested a desire for salvation ; and, as we
knelt together in that little room, they both prayed very
earnestly to God to forgive their sins and help them to
spend the rest of their lives to His glory. Thus we win
souls for Jesus.
...*..
" There is another family in Water Street that I am
deeply interested in. Their home was miserable in the
extreme. How different all is now. Both husband and
wife are soundly converted, and are bright lights for
Jesus.
" Among our dispensary patients there came a poor
woman who was suffering from dyspepsia, no doubt
brought on by improper nutrition. Her husband had
been out of work for some time, and the only support
of the family was a boy fifteen years of age, who was
earning three dollars and fifty cents a week. When
from this amount rent was paid very little remained for
food and clothing. I asked her to send one of the
7 6
children to the office in the evening, and I would see
what could be done to relieve them. The boy who was
the support of the family, and the sister aged twelve
years, came for the promised help. I asked the boy,
whose name was Fred, what they had to eat during the
day. He replied, This morning mother borrowed a
few pennies from a neighbor, and bought a few rolls
and some stale bread. What did you have for supper
last night? Nothing. Have you anything left for
breakfast? No, we had the last to-night. Their
clothes were old and patched, but clean. The little
girl had one toe out of her shoe; Fred s shoes were
almost falling to pieces. We gave them some meat and
an order for bread, then took them to the shoemaker to
whom they were to bring their shoes to be mended. I
then took them to the dispensary, and had a talk with
them about Jesus and His love. They were both anx
ious to become Christians. As we knelt together we
felt the presence and power of the Master. After lead
ing in prayer I asked Fred to ask Jesus for just what he
wanted. He said : Dear Jesus, forgive my sins, and
make me Thy child. I thank Thee for the good things
Thou hast given me to-night, and for the dear friends
that have been so kind to us. I have heard many
prayers, but few have touched me like the prayer of
that little boy. We cannot be too /ealous in leading
the children to Jesus. Those who are doing the most
to advance God s cause to-day were converted in child
hood. May our motto ever be, The children for
Christ. "
The shortest biography ever written of Jesus Christ
was, "He went about doing good." Like his Master,
Dr. Hall wrought daily to lighten men s burdens, ease
77
their pains, alleviate their sufferings, dry their tears, and
open for them the gates into a brighter, better, larger
life.
He wasted no time philosophizing or theorizing; he
was not full of words on social, labor, or religious prob
lems. He was a man of deeds gentle, loving, golden
deeds not vague, wild, impracticable theories. While
others questioned he worked.
" Will He come first ? or comes His kingdom first ? "
So spake the baffled thinker to his book ;
And then a little child, in running by,
Fell on the cruel stones with frightened cry.
The thinker turned impatient from his thought
To chide misfortune for its presence there ;
But, ere he spoke, a traveler, all untaught,
Unskilled in questions, and not long in prayer.
Had a whole work of kindness swiftly done,
Had raised and comforted the little one.
Then, while the weary thinker pondered on.
The loving Jesus had both come and gone."
J. SUMNER STONE.
CHAPTER VI.
Madison Street Mission.
" Nor knowest thou what argument
Thy life to thy neighbor s creed hath lent."
Extracts from "Historical Sketch " of the Madison Street Mission, by
Rev. Roger E. Thompson An open letter showing how
the work continued to progress Reminiscences by members
of the Madison Mission Corresponding Circle Dr. Henrietta
Donaldson Grier, Presbyterian Mission, China D. R. Lewis,
M.D., Whitestone, N. Y. Dr. Mary Macallum Scott, Ameri
can Board Mission, Ceylon Dr. Orissa Gould, Baptist Mission,
India Dr. Walter B. Toy, Presbyterian Mission, Siam Dr.
Ina Ross Anderson, China Inland Mission, Shanghai Dr.
I. B. Busteed, Methodist Episcopal Mission, Korea Dr. A.
H. Henderson, Baptist Mission, Burmah.
EXTRACTS FROM AN " HISTORICAL SKETCH " OF MAD
ISON STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
By REV. ROGER E. THOMPSON, its pastor in 1892, 1893, and 1894.
"THE building now occupied by the Madison Street
Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated to the work
of soul-saving October 17, 1886. The property had
been purchased by the New York City Church Exten
sion and Missionary Society in 1885.
" It was formerly used as a dwelling. The Alanson
Methodist Episcopal Church, on Norfolk Street, had
been given up, and the members went, at their choice,
either to Willett Street or to the new church at 209
Madison Street. The latter received about fifteen by
letter. Some of the furniture of the old and beloved
Norfolk Street was given to the new center ot Metho-
79
dist life. Among these were the pulpit suit now in use
and the Mason & Hamlin organ which still does good
service. M. F. Compton was the first pastor, and was
reappointed at the Conference of 1887. The little
church grew, and souls were added to the heavenly rec
ord. In the spring of 1888 Geo. N. Compton was ap
pointed to Madison Street. His ministry was success
ful. One of the evidences of material progress is the
piano which was bought at this time, and which has
added much to the enjoyment and value of the church
services, as the organ has to the mission and Sunday
school work in the room below. Dr. J. S. Stone was
the successor of Brother Compton, and his evangelistic
vigor, live methods, and loving heart gave grand im
pulse to the work. But Dr. Stone was called to the
larger work for which he was fitted, and old Asbury re
ceived, and is still receiving the blessing of his labors.
The missionary character of our downtown work was
emphasized by Dr. Stone, who put out the now famil
iar transparency, Madison Mission. During his pas
torate Mrs. Charlotte Leffler, formerly with the Church
of Sea and Land, Market Street, came as a mission
worker, continuing till the changes in the building in
April, 1892.
"The departure of Dr. Stone was a misfortune for
Madison Street, but the consecration and energy of his
successors gave continued strength to the work. For
two years, from April, 1890, to April, 1892, the name
of Stephen Merritt, as acting pastor, links Madison
Street with a long list of places upon which that con
secrated man has bestowed energy and money.
"And the name which will always be remembered
with his at Madison Street is dearer yet to the little
church for which he labored. Brother Merritt was
So
with the church hardly more than an hour per month
for the Lord s Supper. Dr. W. J. Hall, as superin
tendent of the mission, however, was with the people
literally day and night, in kindliest ministration both to
physical and spiritual needs. His coming to Madison
Street opens up a new and so important an avenue of
help to Madison Street in every department, and the
work was for these two years so completely dependent on
this help that our attention will now be directed to
the services rendered by the International Medical
Missionary Training Institute. This institution fur
nishes such training as its name indicates for workers
who have the foreign field in view. Dr. Hall had
graduated in 1889, but had been retained in the home
work, in charge of dispensary and mission work at Pitt
and Eleventh Streets, and at Asbury Methodist Epis
copal Church. Early in 1890, having been appointed
superintendent of Madison Mission, he gave up Pitt
Street to take the new work. Asbury and Eleventh
Street work was also soon given up. In sore need of
helpers, Dr. Hall soon added an undergraduate helper
from the institute, J. Bernard Busteed. About the same
time Dr. Walter B. Toy was associated with Dr. Hall in
the dispensary work. From this beginning grew the
large helpfulness of the students of the Institute. When
Dr. Hall sailed for Korea in the fall of 1891, Dr. Mary
Macallum took his place until April, 1892. In the
reconstruction period following, the dispensary was
discontinued, but was reopened in October, 1892, I.
Bernard Busteed, M.D., physician in charge. When Dr.
Busteed was appointed to Korea in March, 1893,
A. H. Henderson, M.D., was appointed to fill his place.
" The value of medical missions in the work across
the seas is not for a moment doubted, but we are
8i
strangely slow to perceive its true value at home. Its
value as a charity is not small, but its full value is only
realized as an adjunct to church work. The great
problem in our work is to reach effectively the un
churched multitudes. We make pastoral calls, and
are plainly told we are not wanted. We offer a tract
or a Testament, and have it pushed back in our faces.
We send our large-hearted deaconesses to sympathize
and help, and even their ministrations seem almost un
welcome. But when the sixteen-year-old daughter of
the home sickens with pneumonia, the attending physi
cian of our dispensary possesses the practical key to
the home which has repelled all other advances. His
skill opens the way for the visitor, the nurse-deaconess,
or the pastor, to second the ministrations to the body
with words of healing for the soul. This work our dis
pensary is doing, but we are unable to enter effectively
the splendid openings which it offers us. We need a
visitor, or several of them, who shall follow up faith
fully the initial advantage.
"We insert here a partial list, as complete as our
data will furnish, of the workers from the Institute who
helped to hold Madison Street for God, when the hour
was dark and defeat seemed almost inevitable. We give
denominational affiliation to thus commend still more
strongly their unselfish devotion to the hard, not infre
quently discouraging work at Madison Street. And
this work in dispensary, church, and Sunday school,
was performed largely, be it remembered, in connection
with the duties of a thorough medical course for the
degree of M.D. Madison -Street only gives honor to
whom honor is due when she recognized most grate
fully the whole-hearted service of her student-helpers.
The following is a partial list :
11
82
"W. J. Hall, M.D., one year and one half of
service as superintendent of the mission, physician in
charge of the dispensary, and supply for the pulpit.
Now (since September, 1891) in Korea.
"Dr. J. Bernard Busteed, M.D., served as Dr. Hall s
assistant in the work as superintendent of the Sunday
school, and, after Dr. Hall s departure for Korea, as
superintendent of the work just when the need was
greatest. Lacking a resident pastor, feeling sorely the
loss of so true a friend and faithful a worker as Dr. Hall,
and awaiting in suspense for several months the new
pastor, who was completing his studies, it was not
strange that the little church depended for its very life
upon the persistent labors of Dr. Busteed and his help
ers. When the dispensary was opened in October,
1892, Dr. Busteed added this to the duties of a super
intendent of Sunday school, filling admirably both re
sponsibilities. Dr. Busteed will join Dr. Hall in Korea
in a few weeks.
" Dr. Walter B. Toy was for about six months asso
ciated with Dr. Hall in charge of the dispensary. He
is now in Petchaburi, Siam.
" Dr. Mary E. Macallum was also in charge of the
dispensary, as well as a beloved teacher in the Sunday
school. Dr. Macallum is now Mrs. Thomas B. Scott,
and her address is Ceylon. Mr. Grier was another val
ued worker, now in China.
" Mr. Thomas Coote, an early worker at Madison
Street, is now in Africa.
" Dr. D. R. Lewis, one of our Sunday school workers,
expects to go to Burmah.
" Dr. Orissa W. Gould, now taking post-graduate
hospital work in Boston, is already under appointment
to India.
83
" Dr. Ross was also one of the earlier helpers, and is
now under appointment to China. Alexander McDon
ald is another worker whose name cannot be forgotten.
He is now in Africa.
" Dr. Henrietta B Donaldson, a valued worker in
our Sunday school and mission work, is now under
appointment to China, and expects to sail in September
next.
" Dr. A. H. Henderson, now physician in charge of
our dispensary, has been for long time the popular and
most helpful teacher of our Bible class. Dr Hender
son expects to go to Burmah after some further post
graduate work. His brother, J. E. Henderson, is still
in the Institute and is serving most acceptably as our
Sunday school superintendent, taking the place of Dr.
Busteed.
"Miss Emma H. Hodge and Mr. Ernest D. Vande-
bergh are earnest workers in Sunday school and Sun
day evening work. They are undergraduates at the
Institute.
u Drew Theological Seminary has sent us very valu
able help, and the names of Noble (now Professor W.
A. Noble, of Pai Chai College, Korea) and W. J.
Hayes (deceased). There are still others who have
rendered really valuable service in dispensary and gen
eral mission work, whose names we do not know.
" It was under the care of the students that the never-
to-be-forgotten Canadian trip took place in the summer
of 1891. Dr. Hall, with eight helpers, took out a Fresh-
Air Party of one hundred and forty children to Canada
for over two weeks of most delightful outing."
8 4
AN OPEN LETTER.
"January 25, 1894.
" DEAR FRIENDS IN THE FOREIGN FIELD: It is a very
pleasant task to convey to you very hearty greetings
from old Madison Street. And please, if possible, for
get that your individual copy is taken from the mimeo
graph, and realize that as I write this first copy I am
thinking of you who have helped us and have since
gone out into the broader work in which you are now
engaged. We think of you often, and when we talk
with our Father, both in private and in public, you and
your work are often remembered. Madison Street can
not easily forget the earnest, warm-hearted service of
her student-helpers. And what a band ! Some are in
glorious work on this side, some few already in glory
over yonder ; some across the seas, and some still bless
edly adding to the light and warmth which make people
about us feel that God is still at Madison Street.
" We cannot tell you how glad we always are to hear
from you across the seas. Whether our news is from
China, Korea, Ceylon, Siam, or Burmah our hearts are
gladdened, and we feel ourselves linked to the utter
most parts of the earth, as we almost hear you speak,
and as we pray for you. Some of you who were here
after our earliest helpers went from Madison Street
kno\v how eagerly all our people listen to every word
from the familiar hand. We want to hear often of your
work and of you. While we pray we are expecting suc
cess for you. We are expecting that you will have
health and strength sufficient. To hear the facts once
in a while will increase our faith.
"And I doubt not that a somewhat similar interest
attaches to any items concerning our work which reach
you. I am sorry that they are so few and meager. I
85
must plead guilty of being too busy to chat, with my
friends as often as I wish.
" With the new year God is blessing us with his pres
ence and power, and the work seems to prosper better
than at any time in my service here since July i, 1892.
The average evening attendance for three weeks just
past has been thirty-five. The interest is good. At
class meeting last Tuesday evening there were thirty-
five present, and seven came forward for prayers four
women and three men. Our Epworth League has
twenty-five members. Its prayer meeting on Monday
nights is good. I inclose a topic card which has a list
of our officers for this half year. Our Wednesday even
ing prayer meeting is always strong. Last night there
were thirty-two present and six requests for prayer.
On Thursday nights I have a Bible study class in the
life of Jesus. The class is Small, but there is more
real, delightful study of the old Book than I ever saw
in a church of this size. Our Friday evening temper
ance meeting is well attended, and we are proclaiming
Gospel temperance as the only way to victory. We
have now no English service on Saturday. Assistant
Pastor Gaebelein, who is in charge of the new and suc
cessful work for the Hebrews at Allen Memorial
Church, holds meetings in o ur upper room on Wednes
days and Saturdays. He speaks the Hebrew-German
jargon, and has written several tracts, hymns, sermons,
etc., in the same dialect. He originated here the first
Hebrew-Christian paper printed in the jargon. The
little sheet, The Hope of Israel, is widely spread and
read. The converts from this work are many.* On the
* 1896. The work at 209 Madison Street is now altogether for Hebrew^,
with Rev. Arno C. Gaebelein superintendent, and Dr. Zeckhausen, himself a
converted Jew, in charge of the dispensary.
86
afternoons of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Dr. J.
M. Weir has a clinic for treatment of diseases of women
and children, and on the alternate days Dr. Homer
Jones, resident physician at 91 Madison Street, has his
dispensary hour. Our Penny Provident Savings Fund,
open every day, has nearly 1,100 depositors enrolled.
Our Sunday school is in better condition since the hol
idays than at the same time last year. Attendance, Janu
ary 14, 100 ; January 21, 80. We have twelve teach
ers. Mr. James H. Welch, of Roselle, N. J., is our act
ing superintendent, and is a great help to us. Before
Christmas, this season, we announced that we should do
most of our giving to the poor, and neither then nor at
Christmas time was any dissatisfaction expressed with
the plan. We had an orange and a bag of sweets for
each of the 180 who were there, but the rest of our
$ 1 10 of Christmas fund went to fifteen of our poor
families. We gave no cash, but to each family one
half ton of coal, thirty-five loaves of bread, one dollar s
worth of meat (all these in the shape of tickets), and a
peck of beans, same of potatoes, one pound of tea, two
of coffee, three and one half of sugar, six bars of good
soap, and pepper and salt. With the tickets we put a
note of greeting like the inclosed. The distribution
was a pleasure. Our girls meeting at 7 P. M. on Sunday
is profitable. The Gospel service at 7-130 p. M., Sunday,
is the best attended of all our meetings, save the meet
ing for homeless men. Last Sunday night Mr. Town-
send and Dr. San C. Po, of the Institute, had charge of
the meeting, and the doctor s talk upon the difficulties
in the way of the Christian in Burmah, his native land,
was very interesting and gave great weight to his
exhortation. The Sunday afternoon service for men
only, in charge of Mrs. Sarah J. Bird, of Upper Mont-
87
clair, N. J., is overcrowded. We accommodate 300
from the crowd that applies, and give to each a bun or
Dutch biscuit, a corned-beef sandwich, and two cups of
coffee. Having used this bait to get men here, we give
them the Gospel. We are thus brought in touch with
the wretchedest crowd New York can furnish. We can
keep in touch with them during the week through our
free reading room, where we have from one to two hun
dred every day of our great unemployed army. When
a man really makes an effort to help himself, we give
him all the chance we can with tickets for work, lodg
ings, meals, bath even for a shave and with gifts of
clothing. We also have large opportunity for dispens
ing relief to poor families whom we help with orders for
groceries, coal, bread, and gifts of clothing. Since
July i, 1892, our friends have sent us over 3,700 articles
of clothing and over $1,085 m cash for this relief work.
This hard winter is offering us great opportunity for
showing people their real need and their great enemy.
Sin is the great curse, but in our work its stronghold is
the saloon.
" If I were to name the brethren and sisters who de
sire to be personally remembered to you, I should
need more space. Sister Miller speaks oftenest, I think,
of you all, but we all earnestly desire and pray for your
success. Lena Keller, Hattie Dean, Annie Dietz, Jennie
Veitch, Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Montgomery, Mrs. Pollard,
and Mrs. Force are a few of our people whom you knew
and who think of you.
"And now may God s blessing rest upon you in all
your efforts. Num. vi, 24-26. Most cordially,
" ROGER E. THOMPSON."
88
The following letter of Dr. Henderson explains the
origin and object of the M. M. C. C. Each member of
the circle has been asked to contribute some personal
reminiscences of Dr. Hall for this chapter, but as all did
not respond, some letters to the circle have been in
serted in place of the lacking contributions.
" 118 EAST 45th STREET, NEW YORK CITY,
" April 19, 1893.
" Madison Mission Corresponding Circle.
" FELLOW-SUFFERERS : Seeing that most of us are
either on the field already or expect soon to start we
who are still here have been perfecting the plan first sug
gested by Mr. Noble to form a corresponding circle in
cluding our Madison band of workers, namely, Drs. Hall,
Toy, Busteed, Ross, Macallum, Donaldson, Lewis, Hen
derson, Mr. Coote, and Professor Noble. All of these
have agreed to join except Dr. Toy and Mr. Coote, whom
we have not written to yet, so that there is no need
to say anything about the advantages. The plan as
it stands is this, Miss Davies has consented to be our
secretary. We each agree to write two letters a year,
posting to her. She agrees to copy them on the
mimeograph and send a copy to each. To meet the
first expenses we subscribe three dollars each the first
year, and one dollar each per annum afterward. In
this way we will receive eighteen letters each year, and
be enabled to keep in close touch with one another, so
continuing the pleasure and blessing which we so
much enjoyed when together we worked at JVladison
Street. Drs. Busteed, Macallum, and Miss Donaldson
have already paid in their three dollars. Dr. Hall
conveniently left a fund here from which we have
appropriated his amount, so with Dr. Lewis s and mine
9 o
we have enough to start, but must ask the rest to live on
pounded corn and dog soup (a la Dr. Hall) until you
can forward your subscriptions, which for your sakes
and ours we hope will not be long.
" I have asked Miss Davies each year to send us an
account of how we stand with regard to money, and
to take her share in the writing, that we may be kept
posted in the Institute News.
" I append a table which we have drawn up that our
letters may be regularly distributed evenly through the
year. I would suggest that we paste it in the front of our
Bibles or some other place where it will be often seen
(say the quinine bottle for those in Africa), for unless
we conscientiously carry out our part a great deal of
the pleasure and profit will be lost. Do let me urge
each to really make an effort to fulfill his obligation to
the others, for we have already had experience of how
much we may expect from promises to write soon.
(Don t blush, Noble.) Each is expected to post his let
ters that they may reach Miss Davies as nearly as
possible at the time stated on the table which is as fol
lows :
" Dr. Busteed, first part January and June.
Mr. Coote, latter part January and June.
Dr. Donaldson, first part February and July.
Dr. Hall, latter part February and July.
Dr. Henderson, first part March and August.
Dr. Lewis, latter part March and August.
Dr. Mrs. Scott, first part April and October.
Professor Noble, latter part April and October.
Dr. Ross, first part May and November.
Dr. Toy, latter part May and December.
" Please address letters to Miss Davies here. On be
half of the circle, Yours,
"A. H. HENDERSON."
" PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, CHINING CHOW, CHINA.
"As I sit in my Chinese home, so far, far away from
the busy, stirring city where I first met Dr. Hall, a
great crowd of happy, sacred, helpful memories come
rushing as a flood before my mind, and involuntarily
the pen drops and the question, Which shall I tell
about ? is asked.
" It was in 1890 in a little downtown mission in New
York that we became acquainted. For weeks I had
been hearing accounts of Dr. Hall s consecration, zeal,
and influence given by my friends who were already at
work with him, and naturally was anxious to see and
hear for myself.
" I think I must have formed an imaginary picture of
the man they so often spoke about. Surely it was so,
else why should a little feeling of disappointment have
been mine, when a tall, thin man, standing by a rusty
stove, surrounded by a number of dirty urchins, was
pointed out as Our Dr. Hall But the feeling of
disappointment only lasted a moment, for he turned
toward our group one of the kindliest of faces, and
coming over to where we stood gave us each a hearty
handshake, and in that way of his, which no one could
ever forget, because he felt the words to be truly sin
cere, said, The Lord bless you. From that mo
ment began Dr. Hall s influence over another life.
Some one has said, The nearer a life is fashioned after
the Great Pattern the more beautiful and wonderful it
is. The Master was Dr. Hall s pattern as well as his
most intimate friend ; therefore the likeness.
" How often in the experience meetings we Madi
son workers attended have we listened to his testi
mony ringing through the little chapel.
9 2
" Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour.
Trying to follow our Saviour and King ;
Shaping our lives by His blessed example,
Happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.
" Walking in footsteps of gentle forbearance,
Footsteps of faithfulness, mercy, and love,
Looking to Him for the grace freely promised,
Happy, how happy our journey above.
"And he was like the Master in many ways. How did
he become so ? Let me relate as nearly as I can recall
it, an incident in his life and a conversation which fol
lowed by way of answer. In a tenement house in New
York one member of a little family lay dying. Dr. Hall
was needed in that home and he was there. A priest of
the Roman Church was also there, striving in his way
to prepare the soul for its entrance into the unseen
universe. Protestant and Catholic stood side by side
in this home of sorrow. What happened ? After a
short conversation doctor and priest knelt at the bed
side, and Dr. Hall prayed to a common Father and
Saviour. The friend who related the circumstance ex
claimed as he finished, No one but Dr. Hall could
have done that down here in this neighborhood. * Why ?
Well, he has a power within him that the rest of us
have not. I m just beginning to realize what that will
do. You know I ve been rooming with him lately, and
often when he thinks me asleep, he quietly gets up and
spends the night in prayer. O, that was the secret !
The circuit between heaven and earth was never
broken. Then is it any wonder his influence for the
Master was great ; any wonder he was called a Jesus
man; any wonder that doors ready to be slammed in
the faces of other workers were stayed and a welcome
given because Dr. Hall s name was used as a pass
port ? Occasionally we workers would smile at the oft-
93
repeated phrase, * Shall we have a word of prayer,
but none of us doubted the sincerity of every petition
sent heavenward. Many a time have I felt that the
Master was truly present and that Dr. Hall was speak
ing with Him as friend to friend. I believe that our
little missionary circle, scattered over the world as it
is, would give and have given many times testimonies
similar to that spoken of Enoch he walked with God.
" It was the close walking with the Master and the
peace and gladness which comes to those who strive to
keep step with His dear feet that most influenced me.
" There were other very noticeable characteristics
such as self-denial, gentleness and his great love for
children ; but were these not the fruit of the other ?
" The death of our friend, though so sad, seemed to
me to be a very fitting end for as the Master lived
and died for others, so did His servant do. And be
cause he followed Him who said, The servant is not
greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater
than he that sent him, has he not long ere this heard
the blessed words, Happy are ye because ye did it ?
" HENRIETTA B. DONALDSON, M. D."
" BREEZEHURST TERRACE, WHITESTONE, N. Y.,
"July 9, 1897-
" The Madison Street Mission, that spot around
which cluster some of the tenderest memories of the
students of the International Medical Missionary So
ciety, constituted a field peculiarly adapted to Dr. Hall s
unique and varied talents. It was situated in the
center of a typical east side section, whose inhabitants
represented many nationalities, though the Hebrew
race was probably the predominant one. There were
native New Yorkers, descendants of the old settlers,
94
whose lives had been spent in continuous contact with
the influences of the Christian religion ; there were recent
emigrants from some European land, permeated with
the instincts and ideals and prejudices of their people ;
there were the wanderers, the great army of the unem
ployed, whose home is often in some hallway, or on the
settees in the parks, or, when fortune smiles on them,
in one of the numerous Bowery lodging houses. These
are the modern Ishmaelites ; their hand is against every
man, and too often, alas! every man s hand is against
them. And finally there was that ancient nation whose
is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and
the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the
promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ
as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for
ever. Here the mission stood as the shadow of a great
rock in a weary land, through its words and works the
light of the glorious Gospel was shed forth in an in
tensely practical way into the thick darkness around.
To it converged the currents of want and misery.
Here Dr. Hall came with a mind disciplined and a heart
all aflame with purpose to serve his Master. Here he
found a congenial field, and one whose duties and re
sponsibilities were commensurate with his abilities.
" In all its departments the regular preaching
service, the Sunday school, the special meetings, he was
an organizer and leader. His transparent godliness
was impressive, while his enthusiasm was positively con
tagious. In the healing of the sick he displayed a rare
and beautiful character, in which meekness and strength
were harmoniously blended and proportioned ; kind,
yet shrewd and practical, foreseeing and sagacious.
" As a preacher we well remember his clear presen
tations of the truth. The words of his mouth, being the
95
fruit of the meditation of his heart, came freighted and
vitalized with divine power to the consciences of the
people. The outstanding characteristics of his public
discourses yea, indeed, of all his discourses, public
and private were his unmistakable sincerity and
positive convictions. Here, indeed, was one who spoke
as having authority. He believed ; therefore he had
spoken. These qualities gave his sermons and ad
dresses a wonderful impressiveness and solemnity. He
used plain English, and did not allow his strength and
directness to be shorn by yielding to the seductions of
garnishing them with fancy flights of rhetoric. He
was too much in earnest. The King s business required
haste. He had felt the power of an endless life in his
own experience, and he must needs press the need and
blessedness of that life on others.
" He was not exempt from dark days and difficulties,
problems and obstacles. There was a vast number of
small details that did not appear to the casual observer,
all requiring his oversight and taxing his energies. The
complex character of the work at Madison would have
overwhelmed him had he not had the refuge of a strong,
abiding trust. Like the great Hebrew lawgiver, his
faith received its reward. He endured as seeing Him
who is invisible. This trust of his was not cold, labored,
and formal, but it was rather the artless confidence of a
child in its father. There was a delightful naturalness
and spontaneity about it it was a part of him. He
counted him faithful who had promised, and God
abundantly demonstrated the truth of His promise in
his case, He that honoreth Me, him will I honor.
" He was characterized by a cheerful, uplifting
optimism ; not that visionary, impractical optimism
which springs* from ignoring the unchanging facts of
9 6
life, but rather one founded upon his experimental
knowledge of the power and love of God. He could
give a reason for the hope that was in him. It ex
pressed itself, not in a short-lived, emotional joy, but
rather in a calm and settled peace that gave steadiness,
poise, and power to his life. He exerted a deep and
abiding influence on his fellow-students at the Medical
Missionary Institute. Indeed, it can be safely said that
in this respect he was unsurpassed and but rarely
equaled. Strong, transparent, genuine there was no
escaping his power. Gentle, patient, unassuming, and
at last giving his life as a sacrifice on the altar of his
Master, he has left a rich legacy to those who knew
him and loved him a legacy not of perishing riches,
but of that enduring wealth, the example and inspi
ration of a noble life. D. R. LEWIS, M.D."
"AMERICAN BOARD MISSION, MANIPPAY, JAFFNA,
"CEYLON, September 7.
" MY VERY DEAR FRIENDS : I quite expect my letter
to be a little late, a la Miss (I beg her pardon, Doctor)
Donaldson. I have begun several letters, and they
have all gone the way of the wastebasket. But
Dr. Hall s letter came last week, and to-day Drs.
Donaldson and Henderson, so now I feel quite in
the humor. How many changes have come already
in our little circle ! Mr. Coote gone home ; he always
made me think of that verse, Blessed are the pure in
heart, and truly now he does see God. Dr. Hender
son has joined the ranks of Svedded bliss. Accept my
heartiest congratulations. If I only knew when you
were to pass by Colombo I might have gone down to
spend the day with you, as the vessels usually stop there
about twenty-four hours.
97
"And so Miss Donaldson is away off to China by this
time ! Poor Africa ! so many of us were going there,
and now we have not a single representative there.
How strange that none of us should have gone where
\ve had planned !
" We reached Ceylon May 24, but did not reach our
station till June 13. We began housekeeping on my
birthday in a few packing cases. It reminds me of
Madison life, but in time things began to look a little
better, and now we feel quite comfortable. We have a
very pleasant house, and are very busy and happy in it.
We were forced to begin medical work almost at once,
though we would have preferred it if we could have
spent a few months on the language; but we just have
to pick that up as best we can. It s a great scheme
both being doctors. I have two rooms for seeing my
patients, and my husband has two more for seeing his,
and as we have our work at the same time, we can con
sult as often as we wish, which is possibly several times
a day. We have from one hundred to one hundred and
twenty patients a day, but we have shut the dispensary
three days a week, and have only three days for regular
work one day for operating, and I have Wednesday
for private patients. The people are pretty poor, and
live in miserable little huts, with precious few of even
the comforts of life. The other day I was called to a
Moor family to see a woman who was very ill. There
are about three thousand families of these Moham
medan people in Jaffna town, and as yet no missionary
has been able to get into the houses. They would far
rather let their wives and daughters die than call in an
English gentleman to see them; but they willingly
called me. And how my heart ached for these poor,
pale-faced, shut-in creatures! They are never allowed
13
outside their own yards, never see any men but their
own fathers or husbands, or any other woman but poor
creatures like themselves. They can never go to the
temple, for religion is for the men, not for them, and so
they lead these shut-up, aimless lives little interest in
this life, and no hope for the future. The case I men
tioned above was a bad one, but turned out splendidly,
and I hope it may lead to my gaining free access to the
homes of these people. If it does, 1 will feel that, after
all, that diploma was not earned in vain. We have no
long missionary tours to tell about like Dr. Hall. The
people mostly come to us. We have service with them
before dispensary, and then we have a Bible woman and
a catechist who reads or sings with the ones who are
waiting to be treated while we are treating others.
We find, however, as I am sure every medical mission
ary must, that the ones we keep with us in the hospital
are the ones over whom we can gain most influence,
and to whom we can carefully teach the way of truth.
"We had one man with us a little while ago, a car
penter by caste, whose eye Dr. Scott removed. The
operation proved successful, and the man went away
from here, I believe, a real Christian. We are espe
cially glad about him, because none of his caste, in all
the years the Gospel has been preached here, has ever
accepted Christianity, and we hope it may be the begin
ning of great things for them.
" After all, Miss Donaldson, I m not sorry I did not
go to Africa. These people here are nearly as dark as
the Africans, only they have much better features ;
some of them are really beautiful and very lovable. I
have as my special charge a young girl about twenty-
three years old. She is my interpreter in my dispen
sary, and assists me in many ways. It is very strange
99
about her. You know that in this country girls are
married when they are very young, and it is an unheard-
of thing for any girl to grow to be twenty-five or
twenty-six without being married. Some way and I
believe the desire was God-given this young girl years
ago had it strongly impressed on her that she must
study medicine and be a help to her countrywomen.
It seems strange that the wisli should come to her, for
there seemed no possible way of ever having it fulfilled.
There then had never been a lady physician here, and
nothing had been said as to there ever being one.
But the girl cherished the wish, and for years, morning
and evening, and many times in the day, lifted her
heart to her heavenly Father for guidance in what she
believed to be his will for her. Marriage after marriage
was planned for her, but she absolutely refused to
think of it. They tried to force her to marry, but she
stood firm, and when I came here and wanted an
assistant, some one told me of her. I went and saw
her, and now I have her in my own home, training her
in all that I do in medical work. I can t be thankful
enough for her; she is just what I wanted, and what I
thought it would be impossible to find in this country,
for of course such a thing is unheard of among them ;
but I feel as if the kind, loving Father had had us both
in his plan, and had just arranged us for one another.
But I am going on too long.
"I have heard nothing from Dr. Ross. I am anx
iously waiting till it is her turn to write to the circle.
And now I must say good-bye. May our great all
Father keep us very near to himself until the time
when we shall see him as he is.
"With much love to all, in which my husband joins
"Your friend, M. E. MACALLUM SCOTT.
TOO
" AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARY UNION,
" NELLORE, INDIA, June 25, 1895.
"MY DEAR MRS. HALL : I hardly know how to re
ply to your note of May 13, received by last mail.
Very gladly, were it in my power, would I contribute
something as a memorial of Dr. Hall and his work in
Madison Street, but I was not so intimately associated
with him in the work there as were the other members
of our circle, so cannot contribute any details.
"To those who knew Dr. Hall nothing need be
said of his genial, warm-hearted personality; to those
who knew him not no words will convey the tone of
voice and lighting up of the eye as he shook hands
with one of his fellow-workers and said, I am glad
to see you, even though interrupted at his busiest
moments.
"One of the strongest impressions which he made
upon me was that of a man of much prayer. I some
times thought there was no time or place but what he
would stop his work and hold a little prayer meeting with
two or three friends. How many times can I hear him
say, as we separated after some plan or phase of the
work was under consideration : Let us pray about it,
or Let us all remember it in prayer. In the interval
between the Sunday school and evening service, part of
which we always spent together at the throne of grace
before going down stairs, his voice was always most
earnest seeking for a blessing upon the scholars of the
Sunday school and beseeching for the poor, weak, and
downfallen ones that we were sure to meet in the even
ing; perhaps he had but just left his own room, where
he had gathered a few of the boys together for prayer
and talk. From the first of my acquaintance with him
at the institute this habit of much prayer was promi-
101
nent. When the interest of a few of us was centered in
Roosevelt Street, and we met together for a few moments
before the regular Saturday evening service, we all felt.
the power of his earnestness as he sought guidance and
power for the Sabbath.
" I wish I might add something more worthy, my dear
Mrs. Hall. I miss the doctor s letters very much from
the circle.
"May God bless you and guide you in the rearing of
the little ones he has given you !
"Your sister in Christ,
"ORISSA W. GOULD."
" PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, PETCHABUREE, SIAM.
"October 18, 1893.
" To the Friends of the M. M. C. C.
" MY DEAR FRIENDS : The time has arrived for me
to write you if this is to be received at the appointed
time. I am very busy at -present, being in the midst of
building operations, besides much general work outside
of the care of hospital and medical work. Petchaburee
at present is short-handed, which accounts for so much
of the extra work falling on my hands.
" Last year we had another male missionary here, and
I was able to get in considerable study, notwithstand
ing the amount of medical work I had to do, but this
year I have been able to study only about two months.
I "have often felt thankful for my early training, as I
have found it extremely useful out here, having to su
perintend the building of the new women s ward and
other buildings, and often have to do considerable of
the work myself.
" The carpenters here are not like the Chinese ; you
102
cannot get them to work by the job very often, as in Bang
kok, and they work at a snail s pace. I have a circular
saw and shaper (moulding machine), which is worked
by two or three men swinging a framework, one end of
which is attached to a crank on either side of a large
wheel and the other end suspended by a rope. I have
had to do a great deal of the work on the machines, as
the natives are inexperienced in the use of machin
ery. I have also a lathe and jig saw and mortising
machine.
" All the buildings are brick, with woodwork of teak,
oiled ; the roofs of old buildings are part tiles and part
chaak ; new will be teak shingles. They are c.lean, and
buildings of which no one of us would be ashamed
certainly better than any of I. M. M. S. dispensaries,
and better equipped. I have about all the apparatus
needed to compound drugs. We have to thank the
king and queen for most of the buildings; the king
gave the money to build the largest part of the men s
building, and the queen gave the money with which
I am building the women s ward, operating and drug
rooms.
" The city contains, according to statistics, 10,000
inhabitants, but I doubt if it reaches that. We have
some very good roads, so that in visiting patients I am
able to use a cart during the dry season ; in the wet
season, however, I am forced to go on horseback, and
oftentimes through water four or five feet deep. Now I
have given you a pretty fair idea of my hospital, and" I
must say something about the work itself. The hos
pital work is not so brisk at present, but is picking up
again. We have five patients in the hospital now.
This being the wet season, when most of the land is
under water, very few of the country folks can come in,
103
so there is less surgical work ; for during the dry season,
when the roads are all open, the farmers come to mar
ket and drink Chinese whisky, and the result is usually
a cut head, arm, or chest. Very often two or three
join together on a cutting expedition, and cut up any
body they meet, especially if they hold any old grudge
against them. They always endeavor to pay anyone
back that has injured them in any way. The knives
they use are of all sizes and descriptions, but the usual
one for carving at night is about three feet long, includ
ing the handle, which is about ten inches long. The
wounds inflicted by these knives form the greater bulk
of our hospital patients, syphilitic troubles forming most
of the dispensary patients. Besides knife wounds, we
have those inflicted by spears, sharpened bamboo, and
gunshot wounds. Some of the cases we receive I feel
sure would have little chance of recovery at home, but
they heal nicely here without the trouble that would be
necessary to bestow upon them at home. It is common
to have patients brought with broken skulls, and often
times with large parts of the brain surface exposed, and
sometimes lacerated, arms and hands all butchered up ;
but they usually all pull through, even when Siamese
doctors and others declare that they must die; in fact,
if I remember aright, I have only lost one case of this
kind, and he came weeks after having been shot in the
back, and gangrene and pneumonia had already set in.
Besides patients of this kind, we have plenty of skin
diseases, syphilis, and syphilitic ulcers, hemorrhoids?
and diarrhoea. We do not have much call for the gen
eral run of medical work at home, as there are scores of
Chinese and Siamese doctors here. Well, as to the gen
eral work I cannot give such an encouraging account.
The work is hard and very little apparent results.
104
"Touring I consider to be of the greatest value, but
we are limited in regard to that work here on account
of the small number of workers, one male member hav
ing to stay on the compound to protect the ladies and
property. Our chapel and Sunday school are fairly
well attended, but there is the tendency for only those
who are more or less in our employ to attend. We have
every Thursday night an English prayer meeting, which
we find very profitable and helpful. Besides this, we
meet for prayer every day at noon in my house, which
is a great help in keeping up the tone of spiritual life.
I was delighted to hear so much news in the last from
Madison and 118, but sorry to hear of Brother Coote s
death. Well do I remember the talks we had together
at 118, and especially at Madison, where we were so in
timately connected in the work ; but we sorrow not, for
our loss was his gain. Pixley, too, has gained his re
ward. How good the Lord is to us, unprofitable serv
ants as we are, in continuing to spare us to labor in his
vineyard. Has anyone heard anything from Malcolm ?
W r hat is the matter with him ? I have heard nothing
from him since he left Vancouver. Briggs was down
to Bangkok, ninety miles from here, getting tied up
again, but could not come to visit me. I must now
close. I fear you will not enjoy this letter very much,
but it will give you some idea of the work in Siam. I
hope to give you something more interesting when I get
some of this extra work off my hands. I pray that
God s richest blessings may rest upon every member of
our circle, and that we may all be used in the blessed
work of bringing the world to the feet of its Redeemer.
" Yours in the work,
"WALTER B. TOY."
105
"CHINA INLAND MISSION, SHANGHAI.
"In the summer of 1892 it was laid on Dr. Hall s
heart to gather together the children of the downtown
Sunday schools in New York with which he was at that
time associated and take them to the country for a few
weeks in connection with a fresh-air fund.
" Ever on the alert for ways of getting at souls to win
them for the Master, he thought this was a means of
getting at the boys and girls which ought to be made
the most of. One hour a week in Sunday school with
the children is all too short to affect its purpose. The
home influences surrounding the majority of them dur
ing the rest of the week are such as go a long way to
undo the influences of the Sunday school.
" Eleven helpers gathered around Dr. Hall to help in
carrying out his plans. The writer had the privilege of
being one of them. About one hundred and thirty
children were gathered together. A lovely spot near
the Charlestone Lake, Ontario, Canada, was chosen as
the camping ground. Tents were prepared and provi
sions stored. Each child took a cup, plate, knife, fork,
spoon, and bedding. We started off on a warm night
in June. We had not gone very far when the train
stopped, and on inquiring what was the matter, we
found there was a landslide ahead, which was being re
paired, but would take several hours for the repairs to
be finished. To keep the children in the train and
from running about the track was a task, but we did so,
and in a few hours started off again. Next day, when
we got to a stopping place where we ought to have
made a connection, we found that we had missed the
train we ought to have connected with, on account of
the stoppage of the previous evening. Four more
hours were spent in entertaining the children and keep-
14
io6
insr them out of mischief. This work was more difficult
O
in daylight. One little girl managed to get a deep cut
in her head.
" Food was getting exhausted, and we were turning
over in our minds how to get more to supply our one
hundred and thirty children when the Secretary of the
Utica Young Men s Christian Association came along,
and directing Dr. Hall to a restaurant nearby, asked that
the children have lunch at the expense of the Young
Men s Christian Association. Gladly accepting the
generous offer we marched the children off in two lots
just half an hour before the train should start. All
the teachers had to become waiters. Some hard work
and quick eating was done, and the children were then
hurried back just in time to catch the waiting train. In
the evening came our next unlooked-for stoppage. A
train ran only once a day from Brockville to Athens,
and we had missed that by a few hours. No other
train ran till next day. Friends met us, took us all to
a nice little Methodist chapel, where lunch was again
provided for us, and then arose the question where we
should spend the night ? Dr. Hall and the friends
arranged to have cots brought into the basement of the
chapel for the girls and ladies, and let the boys and
gentlemen spend the night in a hayloft. An old gen
tleman rose to tell those who were present what ar
rangements were thought of for our accommodation,
saying at the same time that if any present wished to
entertain two or three or more of us for the night, kindly-
say so. Offers came in until all the girls and ladies,
and nearly all the boys, had homes provided for them
instead of basement and hayloft. The few remaining
boys and one or two gentlemen had comfortable
cots in the chapel basement. It was 4 p. M. next
day before our train was due, and we were loath to
trouble our kind friends further, so a picnic was
planned for the children in a grove just outside the
town. Swings, bats, and balls, etc., were brought out
and we had a jolly time. After the picnic we had
about an hour in the train, and at length alighted at the
nearest railway station to our chosen camping ground.
Again we were met by friends, taken to a church lawn,
where lunch was awaiting us.
" After a happy hour or two spent there, we accom
plished the remaining five or six miles, some on foot
and some in the carts of kind farmers. We found our
selves at the end of our journey the third night after
leaving New York, instead of the second as we had an
ticipated. Our camping ground was a piece of unculti
vated land, plentifully supplied with trees, by the side
of a lovely island-dotted lake some few miles in cir
cumference. The night of our arrival it was too late
to have tents pitched, etc., so we slept (?) in a little
frame house that Dr. Hall had engaged in case of
emergencies, such as rainy weather. It was a tiny
house, two rooms up stairs and two down stairs were at
our disposal. We got all the girls tucked into tight
sleeping quarters up stairs, and the boys down stairs. It
was very late before all settled down to sleep, and very
early when they awoke.
" The beautiful lake soon became a source of anxiety
to some of us, lest some of our lively youngsters should
manage to drown themselves. However we soon got to
know the safe and the dangerous spots for children,
and forbade any going to the latter. Saturday, tents
were erected, a dining room with a carpet of grass
chosen nearby, the children separated into families of
from nine to twelve, each family having a teacher to
io8
care for them and a tent to live in. Arrangements
were just made for spending a happy and profitable
two weeks together, when rain began to fall, slight at
first, but getting heavier as the hours went by, until, to
city children, everything around us looked very deso
late.
" Then began a time of homesickness for the majority
of them. A teacher here and there, in the tent door,
with a group of crying children about her or him, looking
out dolefully into the rain, and refusing to be comforted,
formed the program for the closing hour or two of that
day. Dr. Hall was to be seen moving from tent to
tent, cheering teachers and children, and discussing the
advisability of spending the night in the tents and risk
ing the children getting cold, or spending another night
crowded into our little cottage as on the previous night.
At last it was thought best to put as many as was
thought safe into the tents, getting all bedding away
from the sides where it was most liable to get damp, the
rest of the children being taken to the cottage. The
night passed without anyone taking cold. Next day
the sun was shining brightly, and all vestiges of the
previous evening s gloom had disappeared. We had a
happy Sunday. Services were held for the children
out of doors morning and afternoon. Many people
from surrounding farms and villages joined us, and
these meetings sometimes took the form of Gospel
services.
" On Monday arrangements for entertainment of the
children were completed. Some twelve or thirteen
boats were hired. A nice beach for bathing was dis
covered some twenty minutes row distant, and a trip
thence for the girls every morning, and boys every after
noon, formed part of each day s proceedings. Two
109
weeks were spent happily and profitably. Opportuni
ties for personal dealing with the children were many.
Dr. Hall was assiduous in his efforts to win the
young souls committed to his care for those weeks to
the Master. He used to say, " Be in earnest about
taking these opportunities of seeking to lead these boys
and girls to Jesus. We will never have these opportu
nities again." Some of them, we had reason to believe,
took Jesus as their Saviour. Over all an influence was
obtained such as we had not managed to gain in two
or three years of simple Sunday school teaching. The
work became easier and more full of interest to children
and teachers since we had spent these weeks together,
and got to know each other so well. The loving will
ingness of Dr. Hall to spend and be spent for others
was beautifully shown, while his thought and care, both
for the bodies and souls of the children, were splendidly
rewarded. INA Ross ANDERSON, M.D."
"METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSION, SEOUL, KOREA,
"December 4, 1895.
" Although writing from the last field of Dr. Hall s
labors, I like to turn to another field and recall the
days of our early acquaintance in New York.
"I had just arrived in the busy metropolis to com
mence my medical studies, and the difficulties and
temptations through which one must pass in obtaining
a medical education were ahead of me. Dr. Hall had
passed through them all, and like a father he started
Dr. Henderson and myself on the road. Many times
the doctor would stop in the midst of his work to help
us over difficult places, to make hard things plain, and
to pray with us in times of need. In fact, he seemed to
take a delight in it, and would often supply the needs
110
of others without thinking of his own. A downtown
dispensary became a sacred place when the attending
physician, together with the medical students, lifted
up their hearts to the great Physician for direction
in the work of the day, and sought help in preach
ing the Gospel to the poor. Few realize what influ
ence those months spent with Dr. Hall had on my after
life.
" Day and night I have been by the doctor s side
while he consoled those in trouble, lifted his hand to
soothe the brow racked with pain, or taking a host of
children from the foul air of lower New York to enjoy
with him the country air of his Canadian home. Even
if it were five hundred miles away from the city of New
York the difficulty was soon overcome. Or, while with
him in the meetings at Madison Mission, raising his
strong voice in song,
" I will meet you in the city of the New Jerusalem,
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb ?
he exhorted tramps, thieves, and outcasts to turn from
their sins, I have learned lessons in devotion to work,
consecration, and zeal which I shall never forget.
" I might speak of the rich fellowship in those little
gatherings of the Madison Mission Band of which Dr.
Hall was the leader. They were truly soul inspiring,
and we perhaps then little realized what a preparation
they were for our life work. Discouragements, diffi
culties, all fled as the words of Draw me nearer rose
from earnest hearts in unison.
"At the closing hours of Dr. Hall s life, on that chill
November day, we joined in prayer for the last time,
and the words of the song which so frequently echoed
and reechoed from the walls of the mission chapel, I
will meet you in the city of the New Jerusalem, came
Ill
back to me. Yes, doctor, we will meet in that city, and
those of us who remain in that little mission band will
exhort others to meet you and us by and by, where
Africans, Burmans, Hindus, Chinese, and Koreans will
join in the great song of redemption.
"JOHN B. BUSTEED, M.D."
"BAPTIST MISSION, MONE, BURMAH.
" In doing what I can to honor and perpetuate, to
some small degree, the memory of one to whom I owe
much, it has seemed best to try to present the picture
just as it is. It is a difficult matter, often, to do what
seems so simple, for friendship always wishes to em
phasize what is best, and to minimize what may appear
faulty. So it is that often in biographical sketches we
have presented to us men and women who seem far
beyond our reach. They stand on a pinnacle with no
steps leading up to it, and though we admire and may
long to emulate them, unconsciously forgetting that
they fought the same nature which is our bane, we feel
that we can never reach that height. Perhaps we may
not ; yet what is a life worth that does not show the
way through the difficulties with which we are all beset
and hindered to heights that we are all striving after,
so emphasizing the fact that victory may be won by us ?
Was not this a part of the work of Christ, stepping
down into our fallen human nature, then beating down,
one by one, the enemies which opposed Him as they do
us, till by His fallen foes He had marked out the path
leading up to the throne of God, in which we now feel
pit ossible to follow ? So in men whom we know, ad
mire, and love, we see much that is very good, but we
are very bad, so that it is rather their human nature
cropping up which gives us hope ; it is a connecting
I 12
link between them and us; why, then, hide it? It is
the more easy to be truthful here because truth does
so little violence to friendship. Dr. Hall s life has few
marring spots.
" My first impressions of him were not very favorable.
Sitting, cramped in a corner, he said rather awkwardly,
what little he did say. He did not seem brilliant, though
he did seem kind. He left with an invitation to come
down and see the dispensary, which invitation was
afterward accepted because it was the only one I had,
rather than for any special pleasure that it promised.
He was, too, it afterward appeared, by nature rather
timid, though this was not often seen. Once a tooth
had to be drawn, the property of a strapping young
German, who, in the midst of the operation emitted
such a blood-curdling groan that Dr. Hall was glad to
leave him in possession of it. Yet as we grew together
his life became a constant marvel, a constant study.
Where was his power? Why should this man succeed
where others failed? If we can but find out his secret
we too may succeed.
" One factor in his success was his patience.
"As far as I can remember, I cannot recall one
instance of impatience. My memory may play me
false, but I recall none. Occasionally he spoke
sharply, but only when it was needed. Truly as one
thinks of it, a life among children filled to the brim
with mischief and wickedness, work where for years he
was surrounded by young lads bent on provoking, older
men and women drunken, untruthful, degraded, and at
first so bitterly hostile that they would furtively stone
him as he walked along the street, to be unable to re
call one impatient scene is marvelous. Yet it was not
his patience that struck one ; given his character and
you would expect patience, just as given a good apple
tree you would expect apples. The roots of patience,
humility, and obedience were there. Pride and self
ishness, the roots of impatience, were not, or, if they
were, it was known only to himself; we never saw them.
He lived in an atmosphere of love, his one thought
concerning these people seemed to be how they might
be rescued to better things, and in such an atmosphere
impatience withered and died. God s infinite patience
toward us is not grounded on our goodness nor on the
promise of better things to come; it rather rests on His
infinite pity, because, blinded and bound, we are led
captive at the will of the devil. The worse we are the
more He pities and bears. This servant of His in this
had caught his Master s spirit. We can trace it every
where in his work.
" Besides this he had a great deal of tact. One is
accustomed to think of tact as born rather than
won. We sigh envious sighs when we meet those
brilliant people who seem always to know exactly what
to say and just how to say it. But there is a tact of
another sort, one which is neither so brilliant nor so
envied, and which is far more the result of the will than
the wits. This kind Dr. Hall possessed in an eminent
degree : the power of getting the best out of everyone.
We had a handful of uncohesive church members as a
center from which to work. With a few honorable ex
ceptions who were a comfort and encouragement in
every time of trial, each one seemed either to have his
own private grievance, old or new, or to have espoused
that of somebody else, so that the most energy was
spent in tearing one another to pieces. This was his
first task to face in taking up the organized work of
which I chiefly speak. Spurgeon used to say he
15
thanked God he was pastor of a large church, for he
feared he would not have had grace enough to be pas
tor of a small one. If ever tact is needed it is in a
place like this. We knew nothing of it till twelve or
eighteen months later. We only saw different ones
whom we afterward learned to know and appreciate
coming in and taking an interest in the meetings. God
only knows what arguments he used ; his plan of work
was to * keep at them. He sympathized in their
trials, visited them constantly, won their hearts, and
lived Christ before them. This, together with the con
stant recognition and encouragement of what was good
in a person, gave him the key to people s hearts. I
speak from experience when I testify to the immense
power for good which this loving habit of a loving
heart possesses ; namely, the recognition of what is
good and blindness to what is bad. With his great,
generous heart he would overestimate your character
for good, and it gave you courage to try and be equal
to his estimate. An incident of which he never knew
the inner history may serve to illustrate. We had not
worked together long, and I was yet but a slow hand
at putting up prescriptions, much slower than he was
at writing them. One day, when away behind and in
wardly fuming at every fresh prescription he added, I
felt very much like throwing some of the bottles at him,
or relieving myself in some less pugnacious way. How
ever, we got through at last, and on our way home he
said : You ll be able to do a lot of work ; you don t
worry over things ; you just go quietly on and do
them.
"We were thrown together every day in dispensary
work for about eight months, and the lessons of a beau
tiful Christian life were constantly before me. He
H5
would put his arms around the dirty little children who
came in, and talk to them so kindly and lovingly that
in a very few minutes he would win their hearts.
" Here is a specimen of his plans : One summer at the
beginning of his work in the New York slums he spent
working single-handed in Roosevelt Street. He tackled
the Sunday school, with all that that means when the
ruling force is short-handed, and then for his breath of
fresh air he would take ten or a dozen children to spend
the afternoon in Central Park, paying their carfare out
of his small means. That these were none too plentiful
may be imagined from the fact that when an intimate
friend wrote him asking for a small loan he sent it
along, adding in confidence that some of it had been
earned blacking boots and carrying coal.
u We have now touched another marked trait in his
character; namely, his self-denial and consecration.
These two words were the keynotes to which his life
was pitched. They show well in a scheme of his for
the children which was carried out one summer. It
might be taken up and made an untold power for good.
Some one hundred and thirty children were collected
from various Sunday schools and taken off for a two
weeks stay in Canada. The plan differed from the
ordinary summer outing for poor children in the fact
that in place of quartering them in different homes, we
made one camp with seven or eight tents, each worker
becoming responsible for one tent. To gather them on
Sunday under the trees and tell them some Bible story,
to play with them during the week, to go at bedtime
into the tent and after a few earnest, loving words, to
quietly pray with them in the twilight, forged a chain of
influences round them that was golden in its possibilities
for good. The responsibility rested very heavily upon
u6
him at times. The first night, before we had had time
to get them properly housed, the rain fell steadily, and
it was impossible to keep all dry. Visions of bronchitis
and pneumonia rose up before him, aggravated by the
weariness of a very tiresome trip. He spent the night
in prayer, and his fervent Praise the Lord, as he went
from tent to tent at daylight finding not one sick, still
lingers in our minds. It was a characteristic of his to
spend long seasons of the night in prayer. He would
often, almost always in fact, after we had been talking
over study or work or plans end up with, Well, let us
have a word of prayer, but until we heard of those
night seasons it was often a puzzle how this never-ebb
ing spiritual life was kept at flood tide. His whole
working life was a communion with God, yet this is
more often a result than a cause of a deep spiritual life,
the source of which is found in the secret chamber
where the soul meets with God alone. One thing is
O
surprising, he seemed to be neither a deep nor constant
student of the Bible ; that is to say there were not in
his life the regular hours of quiet study and meditation
which form the foundation stone in the lives of so many
holy men. Apparently he depended more on prayer.
Many of the workers were better versed in Scripture,
better versed in medicine, better educated altogether ;
but it was his entire self-abnegation, his preeminence
in practical godliness, and his never-ceasing self-denial,
which made all willing to yield the first place without
question and follow in all his plans. To give anything
like a comprehensive account of his self-denial would
simply be to give a detailed account of his life. He
lived in it and he died in it. It was just as natural to
him in the slums of New York as it was on the battle
fields of Korea; the same spirit sent him tramping off a
mile or two in the dark to serve a child in the Western
city as sent him in the face of danger to treat the wounded
soldiers in the East. He would share his last cent with
anyone who needed help. God was the provider, he but
the steward. On this principle he undertook to share
his salary with some six others of us, that we might all
work during the summer months in the tenement districts
of Xew York, where we had plenty of prodigals and
rejoicing, but, from the nature of the case, very little
fatted calf. Poor Dr. Hall ! those are never-to-be-
forgotten days. What memories cluster round them !
What lesson seed were sown there ! Nothing seemed
too costly to give. Money was his least gift. Drunkards,
thieves, or any friendless man was received into his
home and to his table. If he could only feel that any
one wanted to do better he was willing to befriend
him with all that he had. Whether any may question
the wisdom of his methods or not, none can question
his heroic unselfishness. Yes, he was sometimes im
posed upon. What good man is not? Who gives more
to men that are unworthy than God does ?
"And now that those times are forever at an end, what
have been the results of it all? Time has rolled by now
sufficiently to gauge them more justly than we might at
first. If you have ever worked downtown you know
of the difficulties of the work. So many depend far too
much on the magnetism of the moment, and far too
little on their own personal effort and responsibility.
They cling like so many iron filings, some to the mag
net, some to each other, so long as the magnet is there.
They stuck to us, and I presume are sticking on some
where else now. Of the inner circle of these there re
main a small number of souls redeemed or sanctified.
But to estimate the results of his work in New York,
to this you must add the sweet savor of a holy life
found in many a home in that ward, the blessing of
many a poor mother, the love of many a poor little
waif whose career we will never know until we meet
around the throne of God in heaven. Time and again
letters arrive which tell of streamlets of good influence,
running in different directions, which trace their
source to conversions due to his work. In a large city
with such work as he carried on results can never be
tabulated ; it is more like salt dropped in and spread
ing everywhere as populations go and come. We can
more readily trace his influence on his fellow-workers.
Two work in China who were brought to Christ by
him ; others in Brazil, China, Korea, Siam, Burmah,
India, and Ceylon, as well as at home, with thankful
hearts cherish his beautiful memory and can constantly
trace both in woof and warp of their work the golden
threads which God chose him to weave in.
" It would be very far indeed from my desire if, in
writing this little fragment, any standard impossible of
attainment to others has been held up. Rather the
lesson of Dr. Hall s life is that all may do a grand
work. Tact and patience like his are prizes to be won
by everyone, and the beautiful little blossoms of self-
denial are budding in every life, only waiting our per
mission to open and fill each one with fragrance. His
face may be lost, his presence gone, his form laid by to
rest, but ever as paths of self-denial and holiness open
before us we will hear his voice behind us saying,
This is the way, walk ye in it.
"A. H. H. HENDERSON, M.D."
CHAPTER VII.
Introduction to the Mission Field of Korea.
" Happy, thrice happy, everyone
Who sees his labor well begun." LONGFELLOW.
Walk of twenty-five miles from the port to the capital Superin
tendent Appenzeller measures the new missionary by three es
sential standards Advises a country trip Appointed to Pyong
Yang A grand beginning Rev. Jones s description of that
first trip into the interior Witnessing heathen worship First
experiences in a Korean inn Began missionary work at Ko-
Yang A Sunday in a snowstorm at Songdo The kind host
at Chin Tan A bitter cold journey A week of medical and
evangelistic work in Pyong Yang Another of work in Wi-ju
Unflinching endurance of hardship Capacity to make the
most of things Tenacity of purpose An amusing outcome.
DR. HALL S ENTRANCE UPON MISSION WORK IN KOREA.
DR. HALL arrived in Korea in December, 1891, and
was heartily welcomed by the Mission. I well remem
ber when he came to my house on a Thursday evening,
after a walk of twenty-five miles from Chemulpo.
Brother Jones, of our Mission, went down to the port to
meet him. When they were ready to start for the capi
tal, with that perversity sometimes met with in other
countries besides Korea, for some reason I do not now
recollect there was only one horse for the two men to
ride on. We know that the pioneer Methodist preacher
to New England, Jesse Lee, because of his avoirdupois,
was compelled to travel with two horses and to change
off. Had two horses by some happy accident been sup
plied for Dr. Hall to ride on to Soul, it would have
121
been more appropriate than for these two brethren to
ride one horse. Notwithstanding the protestations of
Brother Jones, Dr. Hall insisted upon walking all the
way to Soul. When I welcomed him there to the
Mission and to Korea there was a warm response in the
hearty "Amen " and the grasp of the hand.
A few days later we counseled together as to the
work to be assigned the new missionary. A few things
are absolutely essential in order to be a successful mis
sionary. They may be repeated here, for I think that
Dr. Hall possessed these in an eminent degree.
1. Deep spirituality. Great faith in God. Implicit
confidence in the Bible as the inspired word of God.
Personal knowledge of sins forgiven. There must be
welling up from his inmost soul a mighty, a glorious, feel
ing that God s Spirit bears witness with his spirit, and
that he is an heir of God and joint heir with Christ.
" What we have felt and seen
With confidence we tell ;
And publish to the sons of men
The signs infallible."
Nothing can take the place of this experience. The
missionary must know that lie has " religion." It was
not necessary for one to be long in the presence of Dr.
Hall to find out that he was not only thoroughly
grounded in the faith, but that he had a deep, warm,
joyous Christian experience. In prayer he was fervent ;
in singing, hearty; in experience, clear.
2. Aptitude for language. The difficulties in the
acquisition of a new language can only be properly
appreciated by those who have spent years of hard labor
in their efforts to acquire it. The words, the thought,
the construction of the sentences are all different from
his own. The missionary not only enters a new country
10
122
with strange habits and customs, but the thoughts, the
ways of thinking, and the matter thought about, are all
equally new and strange. He is bewildered. He has
truth lie wishes to impart, a message he is anxious to
deliver ; but he has no means of communication until he
has acquired the language, in some part, at least. Dr.
Hall was not preeminently successful in this respect.
Like Savonarola he was essentially a man of action.
He did not care much for the desk. If he burned the
midnight oil it was not in extracting a root of a verb,
but in relieving the pains and groanings of the sick and
dying. He was an early riser, but the multitudinous
endings of the Korean verb " to be " did not disturb
his slumbers so much as the desire to spend the first
part of the day in earnest study of the word of God
and prayer. He studied at the language, he worked
hard here, as at everything else, but his progress was
slow, and, though I never heard him say so, could not
but have been unsatisfactory to himself.
3. The missionary must be a man of sound judgment,
good common sense, and not afraid of hard work.
Measured by this standard, Dr. Hall came up to the
full measure. Before my departure on furlough to the
United States, I had not had much opportunity to be
come acquainted with him other than to recognize in him
an earnest worker. But after my return, in the summer of
1893, 1 was more intimately associated with him in impor
tant work, and I soon began to rely on his good judgment.
Shortly after his arrival I suggested to him to make
a trip to Wi-ju. His answer was prompt, and in less
than three months after his arrival in Korea, in com
pany with Brother Jones, he was off on a country trip
of three hundred and fifty miles to the north.
In his report to the Annual Meeting in August, 1892,
I2 3
Dr. Hall strongly recommended opening mission work
in Pyong Yang, the principal city in the northern in
terior, which I myself had visited several times since
1887, but where PS yet no mission had a foothold.
Bishop Mallalieu promptly appointed Dr. Hall to this
new field. Immediately at the close of the Annual
Meeting the doctor again visited Pyong Yang, and en
tered upon his work there with great enthusiasm.
Not only did he give his whole time to this work, but
he planned for its permanency by presenting its claims
to his friends, and raising a fund for it, which, sub
scribed to generously by himself and devoted wife,
through his faithful representations, received dona
tions from British, American, German, and even Chinese
friends. It became sufficient so that as early as April
i, 1893, he was able to purchase two fine sites one
known as the "Tree House," and the other as the
" West Gate " property. Bishop Mallalieu s own great
interest in Dr. Hall s project at Pyong Yang is shown in
the following letter, which greatly encouraged the doc
tor s heart :
" BUFFALO, N. Y., August 22, 1893.
" MY DEAR DOCTOR : I write you to say that I have
succeeded in raising $350 (gold), to help the Pyong
Yang work. As I understand the case, you put in $350,
the Missionary Society $350, and I have raised this
350. My thought has been that this would enable
you to pay for the property and still have $350 to fit
it up and make such improvements as would help
make you comfortable. You can draw on Dr. S. Hunt
at any time for the $350 which I have raised.
" My kindest regards to you and to all the friends, and
especially to your wife.
"Truly yours, W. F. MALLALIEU."
124
He administered his " Pyong Yang Fund " with the
greatest care, and after making repairs, carrying on for
over a year the first Christian school in Pyong Yang,
and opening regular medical and evangelistic work,
there was left at the time of his death over six hundred
yen. At the Annual Meeting of the Mission, held in
January, X 895, by the request of Mrs. Hall, this fund
was carefully set aside, to be devoted toward the erec
tion of a building to be known as "The Hall Memorial
Hospital." While writing these lines I am on my way,
in company with Edward Douglas Follwell, M.D., Dr.
Hall s successor, to begin this pious and, to me, ex
ceedingly pleasant work. The work he commenced in
Pyong Yang will be continued. We who remain will
lay the foundations, and build that for which, in the
short time he was with us, he made so much prepara
tion.
In the three short years Dr. Hall spent with us he
made a grand beginning, which promised great things.
His sun went down while it was yet day; but the work
for which he lived, and for which he died, will go on.
We feel his absence. We long for the hearty welcome.
We miss the warm grasp, but the inspiration of his life,
his devotion, will remain as ointment poured forth.
H. G. APPENZELLER.
SOUL, KOREA, May 5, 1895.
THE FIRST TRIP INTO THE INTERIOR.
"There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew
them how we will." Such was the experience of Dr. Hall
and myself, only the divinities in our case were mortal,
the future Mesdames Hall and Jones. It was the plan
of our future wives, then workers under the Woman s
Foreign Missionary Society, that Dr. Hall and I should
125
unite our forces until some other unification became
proper, and this was strictly adhered to. Dr. Hall
arrived in Korea in December, 1891, and he and I went
to housekeeping together. I had planned to make an
extended trip in the spring of 1892, and invited Dr.
Hall to accompany me. This greatly pleased him,
and we arranged that he should go as far as Wi-ju with
me.
We left Soul in the afternoon of March 2, 1892. It
was a beautiful day, though windy and cold. The sun
was bright and the road dry, and we felt in high spirits.
Our party consisted of Brother Han, Korean helper in
the hospital, and a couple of stranded Koreans from
Wi-ju, the state of whose exchequer led them to look
upon the journey of two foreigners to their native city
at that time as a special dispensation of Providence.
Our intentions were that the trip should be largely a
pedestrian one, though we had our packs so arranged
on the horses that, when tired, we could mount and ride.
So we started in to walk, chatting away and enjoying
the sights of. the north approaches to the Soul of
Chosen. Just beyond the "Peking Pass" music (?) at
tracted us to the shrine which had been erected to the
deities of the metropolis, and as the doctor looked in
on the painted and brutish gods and the mummeries
of worship, sadness struggled with interest upon
his face, and we both of us turned away with audi
ble protestations that the people of the land of our
adoption should not remain in such darkness if we
could find a way to enlighten them.
Having sent our pack horses on ahead, we plodded
on, hoping to catch up with them. But, of course, we
didn t. We intended to walk on the trip, but before
we caught up with the train we concluded that there
126
was a conspiracy to make us walk enough the first day
for the entire trip. At last, after a weary tramp of
seven miles, we found our baggage put up for the night
at a small hostelry on the confines of the Metropolitan
prefecture. Here we found quarters secured in advance
for us, which were so cramped the doctor had to sit
with his feet out the door, and so dirty you might have
thought it was in Cholla-do somewhere. This inn was
presided over by a woman who was a sight to behold,
and a sound to charm a swarm of bees with. We
managed to get some supper and turned in for the
night. And the last remark was a murmur from the
doctor : " Say, Brother Jones, doesn t it occur to you
that there is a noticeable difference between a stone
floor and a feather bed as a sleeping appurtenance ? "
And thus we roughed it together. The next day was
dismal beyond description. We traveled on through a
drizzling rain, plunging along roads ankle deep with
mud, chilled with the rain and the cold, but happy and
light-hearted, the doctor s lusty voice shouting out the
songs of Zion until the echoes awoke and the Koreans
listened in astonishment, and a stray dog fled like mad
across the fields, nor ever stopped till he jarred his back
bone against the top of the hole in the door of his own
er s house.
We began our missionary .work at Ko-Yang, fifteen
miles out from Soul. Here at an inn, but a slight im
provement on the one at which we had spent the pre
vious night, we opened our packs ; some books were
sold, and then the news of foreign medicine brought
some patients, and to the intense joy of the doctor, he
did his first work in the interior. It was then I dis
covered how real was my sainted companion s mission
ary spirit, for the simple administration of physical
127
relief to these suffering country people gave him intense
joy. The administration to the spiritual wants of our
callers fell to me, and God gave us a most cheering and
hope-inspiring experience in that misnamed magisterial
town of Ko-Yang.*
Reaching the magistracy of Pa-ju, we climbed to the
top of the hill crowned by the colossi, those relics of
the palmy days of Buddhism. But we were more in
terested in the sight of the tops of Puk-han, twenty miles
to the south of us. A few minutes of rest, a few ten
der thoughts of our friends ju&t beyond the three tow
ering crowns so plainly visible, and then we swung
ourselves down the mountain and turned our faces per
manently northward.
We arrived in Songdo early on Saturday, and put up
at an inn where previously I had been kindly treated.
The weather was very cold ; the sky became overcast
with gray clouds, and finally a heavy snowstorm set
in. And our welcome at the inn harmonized with the
elements without. Everything and everybody was
either frozen or freezing. They gave us nothing to eat,
and no fire to warm our room. We had only two meals
on Sunday, and in the afternoon were driven to violent
exercise to keep warm. We went for a walk about the
city in a snowstorm, and after a while found ourselves
where, through a deep cut in a low ridge of hills, we
caught a view of a vast amphitheater in which had once
stood the palaces of the mighty Wang dynasty. Five
hundred years of neglect had done much to obliterate
all traces of that once powerful family, and little but
*Rev. Dr. C. F. Reid, superintendent of the mission of the Methodist Epis
copal Church, South, baptized twenty-seven persons at Ko-Yang on Sunday,
May 2, 1897. This is a good beginning for this mission, which is hardly a year
and a half old. The chapel was the gift of a Korean from Soul, but the cost of
repairs on it was met by the Koreans of the place. The Korean Repository.
128
the site is left. We paused a moment and looked over
the deserted gardens, now barren, bleak, and desolate,
and as we looked the storm seemed to increase in vio
lence and drove the sifting snow in wild whirls and
gusts about the amphitheater. Amid such scenes as
this, in this city where everything seemed out of touch
with us and our object, we prepared our hearts and did
such work as we could. We managed to gather a few
people in our cold room in the inn, and together preached
the unsearchable riches of Christ. Neither weather nor
a "weathery" frame of mind produced any depressing-
influence on my sainted brother and colleague.
From Songdo our experiences changed a little for
the better. The weather improved and opportunities
sprung up every three or four miles to preach the Gos
pel and administer relief to the sick. Failing to reach
So-heung, we put up for the night at Chin Tan Mak, and
here our host vacated his own apartments and sur
rendered them to us, leaving his cash box unlocked
even in our room.
Passing Pong Son, we descended through the Tong-sol-
ryong to the great plain which stretches to the banks of
the Tai-dong. At this point we met the severest hardship
of the entire trip. It turned off bitter cold with a high
wind. Against this wind we forced our way, finally
reaching Whang-ju, where we put up for the Sabbath.
Monday morning we started out with that terrible north
west gale still in our faces. At first we were light-
hearted and courageous in spite of it, feeling quite gay
as together we put our faces down and defied it. But
it kept on blowing, steady, keen, bitter cold, biting our
faces and hands whenever exposed, forcing its way inside
our wraps, numbing us so that we were driven to walk to
keep from freezing, and unable, even with that exercise,
129
to keep warm. Several times in that dreary march we
struck small hamlets, shivering in the gale, and as we
entered them there was a general dash of everyone for
sheltered corners and such open rooms as we could get
into. Both the doctor and myself suffered intensely.
Our feet became sore with the walking, and yet we did
not dare take to the horses for fear of freezing. T uis
we struggled on over thirty miles, and finally reached
the welcome banks of the Tai-dong. The river was
frozen two feet thick, and on this carpet of ice we crossed
into the great city of Pyong Yang, and Doctor Hall was
for the first time on the field for which he was to give
his life.
We reached Pyong Yang March 14, 1892, and found
quarters in the home of a most amiable old gentleman,
who enjoyed some local distinction from the fact that
his daughter had become the concubine of the all-pow
erful head of the great Min Clan. Pyong Yang was
then large, prosperous, and enterprising; a great over
grown city, unclean physically, mentally, and morally,
internally and externally, and noted for its rough,
ragged, rabid mobs. Its population was then roughly
100,000, a people proud of the hoary age and wicked
ness of their town. What a history it had seen ! And
as we visited together the relics of the past we talked of
the historic inheritance of Korea. We drank from the
well of Ki-ja, dug by that sage king 1,100 years before
our era, 800 years before Alexander conquered the
world, 500 years before Confucius taught, 400 years be
fore Isaiah prophesied, 100 years before King David
sang, and thus by a draught of water we were carried
back to the days when Egypt was in her glory, Greece
occupied by rude savage tribes, and Rome still 400
years in the distance.
17
130
But from morn till night we were besieged by visit
ors, and to one and all we preached the truth, cared for
the sick, and spent a busy, happy week. Our Korean
brethren had an exciting time. Opening a book coun
ter in an accommodating store, in one day they sold
eighty Christian books. This brought down an edict
from the governor of the province prohibiting the
sale. But this didn t worry us much, and we kept right
on selling. We attempted to organize a class for in
struction, but it proved abortive, for as soon as we left
the men that joined disappeared. In the five days that
we were there we accomplished our object, and left
sufficient social dynamite in the form of over one hun
dred volumes of Christian books to effect the moral re
generation of that wicked city.
The following week was spent in busy work of a
pioneer character on the road from Pyong Yang to
Wi-ju. We reached the latter place Monday, March
28, 1892, after an absence from Soul of twenty-six days.
Here, for over one week, Dr. Hall remained with me,
busy with medical work, and then he took the same road
we had come back to Soul, while I plunged into the
wild mountains amid the wilder people to the north of
the great Soul-Peking turnpike.
In addition to the many amiable qualities of my
sainted colleague, which will occur readily to the mind
of all who knew him, such as his good nature, affection
ate disposition, hearty good fellowship, and cheerful,
courageous spirit, I was impressed with several things
which go to make up the ideal missionary. First, he was
unflinching in enduring hardship on that trying trip ; he
never flinched once at Songdo, or in that terrible gale
on the plain, nor during the long hours and trying ex
periences of the Pyong Yang, An-ju, and Wi-ju.
Then he showed an inventive capacity to make the
most out of everything at his command. He seemed
willing to attempt to mend anything, from a broken
bottle to a dissevered jugular. This showed itself in
his improvement of our larder. He was all the time
poking about the markets in the towns we visited, and
generally came back with something to vary our dimin
ishing bill of fare. One day in Wi-ju, returning in
triumph from a trip in town with a bowl of raw oysters,
such a fry as we had] When we started out Dr. Hall
was all enthusiasm to eat straight native diet, and though
at first I tried to argue him from it, he stuck to his pur
pose like a hero, eating two meals a day of Korean food
and one meal of our stuff; and more than once, when
the dish was particularly fragrant or the flavor accen
tuated, I have watched him twist his face into a broad,
happy smile. This continued until one day, after we had
been out about three weeks, he had found the soup at the
inn a suspicious mystery. After the meal we strolled
into the yard, and noticing some hides drying on the
roof, I asked the innkeeper what they were, and he
said, " Dogs hides." I then asked what had become of
the dogs, and he told me that he had served the last of
the last one to my companion as soup. This I faith
fully translated to the doctor, and it proved too much
for him. He swore off native food for several days.
Dr. Hall appeared in one of his loveliest aspects by
his faithful devotion to his calling. As a medical mis
sionary he was never too tired to go and see a sick
Korean, and no home was too far away to be visited.
He held nobly to his work, and " no changes of seasons
or place made any change in his mind."
GEO. HEBER JONES.
UTICA, N. Y., August 10, 1896.
132
CHAPTER VIII.
Various Topics of Korean Life and Customs.
" Vet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns."
TENNYSON.
The Korean bride The Korean Ne\v Year A New Year s story,
translated from the Korean The Korean pony The Korean
cooly The Korean power shovel Glimpses of medical
work in Korea The native doctor in Korea The status
of woman in Korea Esther Kim Pak Two Korean fables
Hats in Korea A testimonial Mission work for Korean
women.
THE KOREAN BRIDE.
BY MARGARET BENGEL JONES, IN Korean Repository.
THE life of a nation is but an expanded expression of
the life lived by each individual member of that nation.
The true life of each individual finds its best and most
genuine expression in its home life, and home life always
centers around the wife and mother. Any estimate of
a people s condition which fails to give proper weight
to the treatment it accords its women is therefore nec
essarily imperfect. It is our purpose in what follows to
exhibit the ordinary experiences of a Korean woman
from the time she enters womanhood by marriage.
The wedding festivities are over and the bride is on
the way to her new home. While she is being borne
there slowly on the shoulders of sturdy Koreans, or, it
may be, on the back of a sturdier ox, should she
be a country bride, let us precede her and take a peep
into the home in which she is to spend her life. As
the wife of a wealthy Korean of rank, her home in Soul
will be large and pretentious. Instead of an alley
three feet wide, one six feet wide leads up to the front
gate. Just inside of this gate we find a courtyard,
on two sides of which extend the hang iiaug, or
apartments occupied by the servants and hangers-on
of the house. In the middle of this courtyard is a
large well with washing stones about it, and the prin
cipal drain of the establishment running close by. Be
yond this lies another courtyard bounded on the
farther end by the house itself. This house is quad
rangular in shape, inclosing an open court. Its chief
constituents are mud, stone, tile, and wood. There is
no glass in the windows, its place being taken by paper.
Instead of carpets there are straw mats, and in the place
of chairs, nothing we sit on the floor. The rooms
facing the front court are the apartments of her hus
band. From these she is excluded, for here he re
ceives his friends and transacts his business, which is
chiefly smoking a long pipe and gossiping with his
neighbors. Beyond these, on the farther side of the
quadrangle and facing the inclosed court, are her
apartments, the an-pang. The two sides of the quad
rangle are also open to her, being occupied by the
women of the household. In this house the distinc
tions of dining room, bedroom, sitting room, and par
lor are unknown, for any room may answer all these
purposes. There is always a kitchen, the floor of which
is the bare earth, and the walls unpapered mud. Of
kitchen utensils there are few, the principal ones being
the rice kettles, which are firmly imbedded in rude
masonry, beneath which are fireplaces connecting with
the flues, which underlie the floors of the other rooms
and heat the house. The other rooms contain a pro-
134
fusion of native furniture, beautiful changs, or chests
with brass or iron trimmings, boxes of various sizes and
pretty screens. On the walls hang bright banners
inscribed with mottoes or quotations from classical
poetry.
Our description of the household would be incom
plete were we to omit the provisions made for the re
ligious observances of the family. In a special room,
generally kept closed, is the paraphernalia used by her
husband in the worship of his ancestors, but with this
she has little to do. In the entrance to the court hangs
the Kol-Jip, god of luck. To the main beam of the
house is tied the Sdng-ju, major-domo. Just outside
her window at the back of the house stands the To-ju,
god of the site, while in various nooks and corners
absurd fetiches wait to be honored. The women of
the household perform the services rendered these
beings.
All this, as above noted, belongs to the privileged
few, the ranks of wealth. In describing the home of
the ordinary woman we must omit the hang nang,
the front court with its well, etc., the inner court, at
least one side of the house and, it may be, the right
angle of it, the pretty furniture and screens, and reduce
the furnishings to the barest necessities of the simplest
kind of living. Instead of a tiled roof we find a
thatched roof. There is, however, the inevitable inside
court, the bride s own little world of nature, with a
patch of blue sky above, and saucy sparrows as visitants
from the great outside world. These are the mechan
ical elements of the mold in which the Korean woman
is formed. Amid these she grows up to maturity and
old age, and they must have an influence upon her
mental and moral character.
135
When the bride comes to her new home she does not
find it empty, neither does she become mistress of it.
She is received by her mother-in-law, and now becomes
a member of her husband s family and his clan, losing
all connection with her father s family and his clan.
Being a mere child, in most cases she is treated as such,
and is expected to wait upon the mother-in-law and do
her bidding. If there are servants in the home she is
relieved from the household duties, but in the middle
and lower classes servants are not found in many of
the homes, and the bride comes in to do her full share
of the work. She must arise early in the morning both
in winter and summer, build the fire under the rice
kettles regardless of the smoke and ashes which fill her
eyes, and prepare breakfast for the family. After all
the other members have finished eating she sits down
and eats her breakfast alone. Yet, strange as it may
seem, she is relieved from the unpleasant task of doing
the family washing by her mother-in-law, being prohib
ited by her youth from going out to the springs on the
hillside, where washing is usually done. In the evening
she goes through the same ordeal of preparing the
evening meal, for the Koreans eat but two meals a day.
After the day s work she goes to her room, and until
the wee hours of morning is busy with her needle,
mending stockings, making new garments, or, to the
rat-tat-tat of her ironing sticks, polishing her husband s
best coat.
The love and sympathy which a young wife of Chris
tian countries finds in the companionship of her hus
band is unknown in Korea. Instead, of spending his
evenings with her in pleasant conversation of the things
which transpire in the outside world, or in reading to
her while she sews, the husband spends his time with his
36
friends, and she sees little of him and knows less of his
life. This treatment of his wife is forced upon the hus
band. Were he to show any affection for her or prefer
her company to that of his friends, they would make
his life miserable by ridicule. The bride also has her
noncompanionable obligations. According to custom
she must not speak to her husband for the first few
days after their marriage. The Koreans tell of one case
where the wife did not speak to her husband for eight
months. Perhaps he was away from home, but the
Korean did not mention that fact.
Sewing occupies a great part of the Korean woman s
time. If she is diligent and sews nicely, all well and
good ; if not, she will incur the displeasure of her
mother-in-law and woe be unto her. Who has not
heard of the cruelties of the mother-in-law in Korea ?
Her power for good or evil is great. So deeply have
we been impressed with this fact that, in seeking hus
bands for the girls in our mission schools, we considered
ourselves fortunate in finding one without a mother.
Koreans themselves have told us that much of the un-
happiness of early married life in Korea is traceable to
the mother-in-law. Possessed with supreme power
over her son s wife, should the young woman have a
will of her own there is sure to be a clash sooner or
later. If the wife does not become submissive the
trouble continues, and in all probability she will be
sent back to her home in disgrace, for one of the causes
for which a woman may be divorced is incompatibility
with her mother-in-law. About twenty-five per cent of
the divorce cases in Korea are caused by troubles be
tween the daughter and the mother-in-law.
Judging from the size of their homes and their sim
ple manner of living one would be at a loss to know
137
how the Korean women occupy their time, but when
we remember that the Koreans wear white clothes both
in winter and summer, and that to launder them each
garment must be ripped to pieces, we can readily under
stand their busy and laborious routine and sympathize
with them. An occasional visit to her relatives, if they
live near, is the only relief for the monotony of this
daily routine. Were she able to read she might find a
pleasant variety in reading, especially now that we have
a Christian literature in the native character. But the
percentage of those who can read is very small. Their
ignorance, however, is not due to their inability to
learn, but to the lack of opportunity to study. In my
work among the women I have found a number who
have learned to read after they were thirty years old,
and one woman learned to read after reaching the age
of fifty. From my experience in the school I feel con
vinced that if Korean girls were given the same advan
tages for study as their brothers enjoy they would take
their place beside them as their equals in scholarship.
But she is only a woman. Why should she know any
thing beyond cooking and sewing ? So say the Koreans.
Viewed from our standpoint the life of a Korean
woman seems very barren. She is shut off from the
broadening influences which contact with the outside
world and intercourse with friends would give her.
We would expect to find them discontented and un
happy, but on the other hand they certainly appear con
tented and even happy. A Korean woman s pride is
her children, and as a family grows up about her and
her cares increase her happiness also increases. The
appearance of the first tooth, the first attempts to walk,
and the babbling words of baby give the Korean mother
as much pleasure as it does the foreign mother. She
18
CHE CLASSMATE.
THE KOREAN MOTHER S PRIDE.
139
takes great delight in decking her children in gay col
ored garments and providing some luxury for them on
the New Year and other holidays. She attains a new
dignity. Where she was before known as Mr. So and
So s taing-noi, "house," she becomes the mother of
such a child. The name may be the most unpoetical
one imaginable, as " The mother of spotted dog," " The
mother of the rock," " The mother of the mud turtle,
the monkey, the pig," etc.; but be it what it may there
is always l the mother " attached to it, which is sweet
to her. These little toddlers become her inseparable
companions. Visit her at any time of the day and you
will find her with one strapped to her back or lying
snugly in her arm, or sprawling on the floor beside her.
As the babes grow up her troubles begin, and from what
one may learn on acquaintance with the boys of Korea,
human nature is certainly the same the world over.
They tear their clothes, soil their faces, quarrel and get
into all sorts of mischief. They involve their mother
in disputes with her neighbors and, motherlike, she
always thinks her boy is all right while her neighbor s
boy is the greatest rascal on earth.
By and by the old folks in the home go the way of
all flesh, and the husband and wife, who have occupied
a secondary place, become the heads of the family group.
The daughters, just at the age when they could be most
useful, marry and leave the parental roof, and the sons
bring their wives into the home, and the wife now occu
pies the enviable position of mother-in-law. As she
grows older she gains greater respect and consideration
from her children, for the Koreans have great reverence
for old age. Indeed the last days of a woman s life in
Korea seem to be her best days. She is free from all
responsibility and duties, and is well cared for by her
140
children. This reverence of Koreans for old age,
whether in man or woman, is worthy of note, and may
well teach the boastful West a lesson. No matter of
what station in life, a younger person would not venture
to subject her to any rudeness. While she may not com
mand yet her wishes are law, at least to her posterity.
Etiquette demands both respectful language and atti
tude in her presence. This reverence for the aged pro
duces practical results. In walking through the streets
we meet on every hand well dressed old people, show
ing evidence of care and affection. The greatest sin a
Korean can commit is poul-hyo, lack of filial piety.
This is the one unpardonable sin of the Korean code.
I have attempted to describe the life of an ordinary
Korean woman of the middle class. Of the high class
women I can say very little. But their lot must be an
unhappy one. In the first place the law of seclusion is
more binding upon them than upon their more humble
sisters. We are told of one case where a woman had
not been outside of her compound since she had en
tered it as a bride thirty years previous. Then the
knowledge of the existence of one or more concubines
must rob her life of all happiness, for, although as wife
she occupies the first place in the home, yet in the af
fections of her husband she is only secondary.
Our review of Korean woman would be incomplete
did we ignore a new force which has been introduced
among them. Christianity has come with its proclama
tion of release to womankind, and already the first
fruits of Korea s redeemed women may be seen. Our
girls schools are the beginning of this great work, which
shall go on until woman shall reach her God-given
sphere. These schools are object lessons to the Ko
reans, proving to them that their girls are as capable
and worthy of intellectual training as the boys, and that
education does not unfit them to become-good wives
and mothers. They certainly make better companions
THE FIRST CHRISTIAN KOREAN BRIDE AND GROOM.
for their husbands. They have studied about the dif
ferent countries and peoples and of the wonderful things
of nature, and can converse with their husbands upon
other topics besides those of a domestic nature.
1 4 2
Some of the happy marriages from our Christian
schools prove that if we Christianize the soul and edu
cate the mind, the result will be happy homes. In one
of these homes, where both husband and wife are Chris
tians from our schools we saw them studying the Scrip
tures together ; in another home the wife was teaching
her husband, while in both there was love and happiness.
These homes are great powers for good, and are living
testimonies to the heathen populace about them of the
power of Christianity to lift up and ennoble the life in
the home.
What to do for the wives and mothers of to-day is a
problem which confronts us. We cannot educate them,
although in many cases they may learn to read. But
we can give them Christianity, which works such mar
velous changes in the hearts and lives of men. As
husband and wife become Christians a change is soon
visible in the home. The old fetiches which they have
worshiped all their lives are torn down and a family
altar established, around which they worship the one
true God. Among our Christian families we notice
that where formerly the husband ate alone, he now has
his wife eat at the same table and out of the same dishes
with him. We have also seen the husband and wife
coming to church together. I have made inquiries of
the women at Chemulpo as to the change in their family
life. " We don t quarrel any more at our house, and I
think my husband loves me since we have become
Christians," says one woman. "My husband is a very
different man now, and he treats me much better than
he formerly did," is the testimony of another woman.
I know the same has been true in other homes.
To me there seems but one way in which to reach the
women of Korea, and that is to visit them in their
1 43
homes, meet them as their friends and not as superiors,
and to win their love and confidence. To show an
interest in the things that interest them, listen to their
stories of sorrow and hardships and sympathize with
them, accomplishes more good than many a sermon. An
especial effort should be made to reach the wives and
families of our professing Christians. Christianity
which confines itself to the chapel and is not shown in
the homes is not worth much. But Christianity will
make itself manifest in the home, and this will open the
homes to us.
CHEMULPO, KOREA, February i, 1895.
THE KOREAN NEW YEAR S, AND How IT is OBSERVED
IN THE LAND OF CHOSEN.
Though Japan has introduced our Western calendar
into the " Hermit Nation," and it has been used by the
government officials, yet the common people and offi
cials alike will, no doubt, join this year, as they did
last, in observing the old, time-honored ante-bellum
holidays.
For nearly three hundred years Korea has reckoned
time after essentially the same system as that used in
China. They use a cycle of sixty years instead of the
century, and each year is known by a name and not by
a number. This year is called Eul-mi j it is the forty-
first in the present cycle, and the calendar is the same
as that used an the Eul-mi years of past cycles. Thus
a series of sixty calendars having once been prepared,
all that has to be done now is to reproduce the proper
one as the years of the cycle roll round. Their months
correspond with the moon, and to correct the difference
between lunar and solar time a leap year is introduced
once in about three years; but the leap year, instead
144
of having one extra day, has one extra month. The
present year, Eul-mi, contains thirteen months. It be
gan, according to our calendar, January 26, 1895, and
will end February 12, 1896. So the Korean New Year
begins somewhere between the middle of January and
the middle of February each year.
There are many holidays in Korea, but that of the
new year surpasses them all. It is really celebrated for
fifteen days. All who can afford it shut up their shops
KOREAN WOMEN IROMNG.
or close their work for this whole period of time, and
everybody, be they rich or poor, high or low, must
manage somehow to come out in a new suit of clothes
at the New Year time. The last moon of the old year
is a very busy one for the good Korean housewife, for
if, as it often happens, the chu-ene, or lord of the
household, can afford to purchase new clothes for him
self only, then she must rip apart the old garments for
H5
the other members of the family, send or take them to
the mountain streams to be washed, then carefully
mend, dye, and starch them, and, rolling them very
smoothly around a wooden cylinder, she irons them by
pounding with clubs until they shine like silk ; and
when they are made over this way Korean garments
appear quite as well as new. As the old year draws to
a close, all day long and at night into the small hours
of the morning, one hears the rat-tat-tat of these ironing
sticks all over the land of Chosen.
The last day of the old year the women of the house
hold are very busy preparing much food for the offer
ing at ancestral worship at daybreak, New Year s morn
ing. Boiled chestnuts, meats cooked in different ways,
native bread, which resembles the heavy dough that
we sometimes find in our potpie, bread soup, kim-cJie,
a sort of sauerkraut, pepper sauce, and other kinds of
salty sauces made of turnips, beans, and breaks, and
eaten with their staple article of diet, boiled rice ; dried
persimmons, sweet wine made of rice and honey, and
the ordinary sule, fermented wine, are the dainties
that every thrifty housewife likes to have on hand at
this time. Portions of these foods and wines are ar
ranged in brass dishes upon the small Korean tables,
and set before the tables that the ancestral spirits may
regale themselves with the flavor, the men of the house
hold at the same time prostrating themselves five times
before the ancestral tablets ; then all is removed to an
other room, and forms a part of the New Year feast.
The men, dressed in shining, spotless white or deli
cately tinted silk, linen, or cotton, now go out to make
their New Year calls upon their gentlemen friends or
relatives. They say, "The old year has passed and the
New Year has come," and they congratulate their
19
146
friends upon having entered it safely, and hope they
will have a peaceful year. If there are children in the
family they remark how happy the father must be be
cause their children have grown a year older. This
alludes to their custom of counting a child s age
according to the number of New Years he has seen.
If he be born the last of the old year, when the New
Year comes he is said to be a year old, and when the
next New Year s Day comes he is two years old, although
in truth, perhaps, but a few days over one year. While
making these calls upon their gentlemen associates,
they are treated from the abundance of food and wine
each house has prepared. It takes so long to do any
thing in Korea that these calls cannot all be made in
one day, as with us, but they spend the whole two
weeks at it.
Men often take their little sons with them, and larger
boys go in groups together and call upon relatives or
intimate friends of their fathers. These boys have their
long, shining black hair parted in the middle, gathered
on either side into small braids, and then these side
braids caught together with the back hair into one long
braid which, at the New Year time, is always tied with a
new purple ribbon stamped in gold Chinese characters,
wishing them long life or riches. Korean boys do not
wear hats until after they are married. Their stockings
and pants are always of white muslin, and at this time
of year wadded with cotton batting to keep them warm;
so is also their jacket, for no one wears undergarments
in Korea. Boys jackets are of the brightest colors;
pink, green, red, or purple, and often a fond mother will
make for her little son a jacket of as many colors as
Joseph s coat consisted, the sleeves being pieces of
from ten to thirteen different bright colored strips,
H7
much upon the plan of a log cabin block. Thus gaily
decked, and with a new pair of rope shoes, or wooden
rain shoes, according to the state of the roads, the boys
go and bow to their grandparents, uncles, and aunts,
and friends of the family. Each one gives the boys a
few pieces of " cash," one piece being worth about one
tenth of a cent. They often get 50 or 100 cash in a day
this way, and then return home and enjoy themselves,
telling about who they have seen and counting over
their money. Some save their money to help their
parents buy their books or shoes with, others spend it
for candy and nuts or kites.
The first thirteen days of the New Year is the time
for flying kites in Korea. It seems as if little boys and
big boys, and even men, have nothing else to do all day
long. One can scarcely pass along the streets without
getting entangled in somebody s kite strings. The kites
are made of thin but strong paper over a light frame
work of bamboo splints. They are square, with a large
round hole in the middle, and they have no tails. They
are generally white, but often have one or two bright
red or green spots painted on them. They use very
long and strong strings, having them wound upon a sort
of wooden reel. Each boy tries with his friends to see
who can fly the kite the highest ; and they try to cut the
other boys kite string with their own, and then they
have that kite. After the thirteenth of the New Year
kite flying is deemed a nuisance until the next year,
and the evening of that day each boy writes down upon
his kite the names of some diseases, and hangs a piece
of money upon it, and throws it away. Some poor boy
picks it up for the money, and it is supposed he will
also get all the diseases.
Girls cannot fly kites, and only girls under seven
149
years of age can be seen upon the streets at any time ;
however, at the New Year time, through the back
courtyard, or somehow, each girl manages to get an
other girl with her. They cannot go early like their
brothers, for it is said if a girl or woman enter another
person s house early upon New Year s Day it will bring
bad luck. The chief amusement of the girls when they
meet at this holiday season is to play "see-saw" out
in the women s court. Often the women join in too,
and they all have a gay time. They do not sit upon
the teeter, as American girls do, but they stand on
either end, and they jump alternately, the spring of the
board giving such impetus that they jump very high
and fast, and become much exhilarated. The girls
must have some way to get rid of their diseases, too; so
they buy three chyo-rong; these look like tiny wooden
bells ; they sew these wooden chyo-rong with a piece
of cash upon one of the strings that tie their jacket, and
wear them until the night of the fourteenth day, when
they throw them out, together with the cash, to be
picked up by boys who, though they get the money, will
bear the diseases.
There is thought to be a certain devil for each year
of the cycle, who will come in and take up his abode
with the members of the family of each house. To pre
vent this dolls about the size of a baby, and made alto
gether of rice straw, are bought, a certain amount of
money placed inside the doll ; then, after staying all
night near the head of the mat they sleep on, it is thrown
away early in the morning, and the devil will enter into
whatever person picks it up.
Tai Poram Nal, or Great Fifteenth Day, is the last of
the festival. The evening before the Koreans bathe
themselves from crown to toe, then they dress and
spread their nicest matting out upon the mountain side
and bow to the moon and stars. The women buya lot
of red silk thread and tie in their jacket strings or hang
over the door with the hope that brightness and hap
piness will follow them like a thread all the year. At
daybreak, the morning of the fifteenth, sacrifice is again
offered to the dead. The Korean housewife will try
and have prepared twelve different kinds of vegetable
food, and many knickknacks, and the people are said to
eat nine times and to sleep nine times this day. There
are so many customs for this last day of the New Year
festival that one is at a loss to see how one person can
observe them all. They buy two or three kinds of nuts
and play a game of chance with them ; they seek a for
tune teller, and telling the year and month and day in
which they were born, they learn, for a small sum of
money, what is to befall them through the year, and how
to avoid ill-luck. Farmers climb the nearest hill toward
night, and watch anxiously to note the color of the moon
as it rises above the horizon. If it is pale it is the sign
of much rain for the coming summer, and consequently
of a good rice crop ; but if it be a fiery red it means a
great drought and the rice a failure, and they exclaim,
"Ae ko cJmk kacs so!" ("We shall all die.") This
evening, also, in the moonlight, the Koreans "walk the
bridges." The word ta-re is used for both bridge and
leg, and it is supposed if anyone crosses a bridge upon
this day as many times as he is years old he will have
no pains in his feet or legs throughout the year!
Thus we see that the character of even the New
Year customs in Korea shows how much this people
are in need of the truth of the Gospel.
ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL.
LIBERTY, N. Y., January i, 1896.
152
A KOREAN NEW YEAR S STORY.
TRANSLATED FOR THE Liberty Gazette BY ROSETTA S. HALL, M.D.
King Chyong Chong was a wise king in Korea. One
night he walked to the Royal College, where the schol
ars are. The time was the end of the year, and all the
scholars had gone to their houses except two men who
were talking to each other. One man said, " The others
have all gone to their houses to celebrate the New-
Year holiday, but we two have nowhere to go; how
pitiable we are." "Yes," said the other; " then you also
have no house and family; how does it happen ? " The
man answered: " I will tell you the reason. My parents
arranged with the parents of a suitable young girl that
we should be married, but before the wedding ceremony
could be celebrated, the bride s father died, so \ve could
not be married for the three years that she had to wear
mourning clothes. Just after three years my father
died, and again we had to wait the three years of
mourning; then after that, the woman who would have
been my mother-in-law died, and again we waited for
three years; then my mother died also, and we waited
three years again; this was four times three years or
twelve years, thus we were becoming old. Then the
bride was taken sick and was about to die. Her brother
came and said, My sister is very sick, and even though
you could not celebrate the ceremony of marriage, you
should have been husband and wife, and you may go
to see her. Therefore I went, but she died soon after
she saw me, and since then I did not care to marry,
consequently I do not have any family or house." The
other scholar said : " My house was very poor, and we
were starving as often as others were eating. But I
went to every examination, and my wife would manage
to get a handful of rice, and one cash worth of charcoal
153
with which to boil it, and she sat by the fire pot to wait
for me. Every examination she did so. One time
when at last I passed the examination, I went home
with delight, and I found my wife had made the gruel as
before, but was sitting by the fire pot dead. Since then
I have had no mind to keep house." The king heard
these stories and was very much touched with pity.
He came back to his palace and sat upon his throne.
He sent for these two men and asked, " The other
scholars have all gone to their homes to celebrate the
New Year festivities; why did not you go ? " " We have
no houses to go to, sir," replied the two men. " How is
that?" said the king; "dogs, children, cows, and horses
all have a place to live, and also birds have their nests.
Can a man have no house ? You ought to have a
reason; you must tell me." Then the two scholars re
peated exactly the same as they had talked in the col
lege. The king heard these stories again and felt the
more pitiful for the men, and he gave them high ranks
and good houses to live in.
The above illustrates several of the Korean customs.
1. The parents arrange, through a " go-between," the
marriage of their children the prospective bride and
groom never seeing each other until the marriage day.
2. While mourning three years for parents, men are
not supposed to enter into any business relations at
all. 3. Men who belong to the upper class will let
their wives do all the work, before they would lay aside
their chance of getting office and work with their own
hands, which would degrade them and debar them from
obtaining rank. 4. Men without families are an excep
tion in Korea old maids are unknown. 5. Though,
men may be away from their families studying, or upon
business during the whole year, they always return at
the New Year time. 6. There is no word in the Korean
language for our word "home." R. S. H.
20
154
THE KOREAN PONY.
BY REV. JAS. S. GALE, IN THE Korean Repository.
Among the creatures that have crossed my path, the
one that has had the most influence on my personal
character is the Korean pony. It would be impossible
to recount the varied experiences through which he has
led me. Instead of lifting my hand, and pointing to
some noted professor or eminent divine, as the master
spirit of my life, I stand a safe distance off, and point to
the Korean pony, and say, " He has brought more out
of me than all the others combined."
In his company I have been surprised at the amount
of concentrated demon I have found in my heart.
Again, as he has carried me safely along the dizziest
edge, I could have turned angel, and taken him on my
back.
My usual pony has been not one of your \vell-groomed
steeds from the palace stables, but a long-haired, hide
bound object, for which your whole heart goes out in
pity. " Weak creature," you say ; " how easy it would be
for it to expire," but after a little experience of its com
pany you change your mind, for you find its heels are
charged with the vitality of forked lightning, and that
on slight provocation he would bite through six-inch
armor plate. These things have taught me to treat him
carefully, as I would an old fowling piece, loaded to
kill lock, stock, and barrel and in danger of going off
at any moment.
Korean ponies hail principally from the southern is
land Quelpart, from the group off the west of P yung
An, and from Ham Kyung Province. A Manchu breed
is being introduced of late, but they are more bulky,
harder to feed, and not nearly as good roadsters as the
ordinary Korean pony.
155
Breeding districts are under the charge of officers
named Kamnwk. They have with them keepers who,
twice each year, lasso a certain number of ponies and
send them to the palace. There they pass their palmy
days. When their hair grows long and they take on a
sheeplike look, they are turned out through the back
gate, and become pack ponies, carrying goods along the
four main roads of Korea. They keep this up until
they develop ringbone, spavin, rawback, windgalls, and
heaves. Then they are bought by a Korean living near
the " New Gate," and are used specially to carry for
eigners for the remainder of their mortal existence. The
fact that the creature is dangerously ill, and the risk so
much the greater, accounts for the double charge made
to all foreigners by the man at the "New Gate."
But to return to the subject. The Korean horse fig
ures in literary and scientific ways as well. He is the
animal of the twenty-fifth constellation, and appears
specially as the symbolical creature of the seventh Ko
rean hour (n A. M. to i P. M.). This doubtless refers
to the fact that he eats his chook at that time, though
IT A. M. to 2 P. M. would have been a more correct divis
ion. We read that his compass point is South. Probably
the inventor of the Horary table was on his way North
at the time, and finding that his pony naturally gravitated
the other way marked it South. His poetical name is
tonchang (honest sheep). While the noun here is well
chosen, the adjective is purely fictitious, as we say
" honest Injun."
In size, when alongside a Western horse, he looks like
a ten-year-old boy accompanying his grandfather.
His gait is a peculiar pitter-patter, and rides very
nicely, until he reaches the raw-backed spavin age,
when he stumbles every few paces, calling forth remarks
1 5 6
from the foreigner. The so-called Chinese ponies are
all rough, awkward creatures. A pack on one of them
heaves up and down like an old-fashioned walking
beam, while a Korean pony in good condition glides
along like a palace Pullman. For a journey over such
roads as we have, a small Korean horse, astride of
which Don Quixote s feet would drag along the ground,
will use up a large Chinese pony in less than three
days, as I have found in more than one case by actual
experiment.
Their sure-footedness is a marvel. If you have been
fortunate enough to escape the man at the " New Gate,"
and have really secured a good pony, then give him his
way over all the danger of ice and precipice that you
may chance to pass. Sit perfectly cool on your pack,
for the danger is less when trusting to him than to your
own feet. How my heart has risen to the occasion and
taken up its quarters in my mouth, as I have felt him
glide along an eight-inch path, overlooking a chasm
with twelve feet of green cold water below me ! But
never a failure, never once a slip. At such times if I
had been in need of a proper joss to crack my head to,
I should have enshrined my Korean pony.
And yet in spite of all these excellencies my opening
remarks are true, for in heart and soul he is a perfect
fiend. Obstinacy is one of his commonest character
istics. He will have his own way as assuredly as any
Korean cooly will have his. When the notion takes
him, his neck is of brass, and his ideas fixed as the
king s ell.
His diet is chook and chopped millet straw. Chook is
boiled beans and rice chaff, and is fed to the pony in a
trough of water. The beans are very few, and the water
is very deep. The long lips and nose of the Korean
157
pony is an evolution of nature to capture that bean in
the bottom of a trough of water. He has been after
it for generations, and another result is, the pony can
breathe through his eyes when his nose is a foot deep
in chook water hunting beans.
The fact that the water is always colored leaves it
uncertain as to the amount put in, and grievous are the
disputations that arise over an equal division of these
beans. On one of my journeys, I had for mapoo a huge-
trousered, pock-marked fellow, whose disposition
seemed to be to get into disputes and difficulties on the
way. The pony I rode was a long-nosed, dejected crea
ture, that required three hours to feed. On one occa
sion I went out to hurry the animal up, and found it
eye-deep in its trough apparently having an extra good
time. The innkeeper happening by saw the twinkle
in the pony s eyes, and concluded that the mapoo had
" squeezed " his beans. Immediately a most interesting
conversation took place, that passed rapidly through
the various stages of the first three acts of a tragedy,
and beheld the innkeeper wild with rage, the mapoo
meanwhile currying his pony. " To perdition," says he,
"you and your beans." With that in a burst of tragic
frenzy, the innkeeper seized the brimming trough of
chook) poised it in the air as a Scotchman would his
caber, and let fly at the mapoo. With all the centrifugal
force of a projectile the trough grazed the pony s back,
and shot by the mapoo. The water taking the centrip
etal route showered down over the head and shoulders
of the innkeeper, the beans gliding gently down his neck.
People speak of a " horse-laugh," but a pony s smile
is something that, in watery richness of expression, sur
passes everything. That dejected-looking pony smiled,
and we resumed our journey.
158
They never allow the pony to drink cold water. It
is " sure death " they say ; neither do they allow him to
lie down at night, but keep him strung up to a pole
overhead by ropes, so that the creature is perfectly
helpless, and all the cocks of the village warm their feet
on his back, and crow into him the delights of pande
monium.
The work of feeding ponies seems endless to one un
initiated. For a seven o clock start in the morning, you
hear them up at half-past one slopping, dishing, crunch
ing, jangling. "Wearying the life out of the miserable
ponies," I said to myself, when I first heard it. I begged
and implored, but it was all in vain, for when a Korean
pony and native combine in some pet scheme it is as
useless to remonstrate as it would be " to pick a quarrel
wi a stone wa ."
By way of poetic justice, I love to see the pony shod,
see him pinioned teeth and nail, bound head, feet, and
tail, in one hard knot, lying on his back under the
spreading chestnut tree, with the village smithy putting
tacks into him that brings tears to his eyes. But sea
sons like this are all too short to square up with him
for the sins of his everyday existence.
To conclude by way of illustration. I was on a
journey through the South and had reached the city of
Tagoo, the capital of Kyung Sang Province. There
my pony took sick, and not being able to find any for
hire, I asked one of the mayor of the city. The morn
ing I was to leave he sent me round a perfect whirlwind
of a pony. This w r as number one of a courier service,
which necessitated changing horses every five miles.
In the fourteen or fifteen animals that I enjoyed for
the next three days I had an excellent demonstration
of the merits and defects of the Korean pony. As men-
159
tioned, the first horse was a great success, the next one
also was in good condition and fairly well proportioned.
On mounting, however, I found he had a peculiar gait,
a limp that defied all my efforts to locate; it seemed, in
fact, to possess his entire being, a jerking that left one s
inmost soul in shreds. The inconvenience of this five
miles was indescribable. Taken all in all he was the
most uncomfortable horse I ever had anything to do
with. Glad was I to hand him over at the next post-
house.
Pony number three was soon in waiting. He carried
me out of the yard brilliantly. The road skirted the
bank of a river. * A magnificent view," thought I, " and
a pleasant pony to ride on," when suddenly the creature
stopped, reversed all his ideas, and began backing up
at a dangerous pace directly for the edge. I man
aged to get off just in time to save myself, and then
thinking to teach him a lesson by a good shaking up,
I attempted to assist him over the side. But no ! he
skillfully grazed the -edge, at an angle sufficient to have
dumped anything from his back, and righted himself
again as neatly as though he had done it a thousand times.
Evidently it was a premeditated scheme on his part to
take my life. I tried him summarily, found him guilty
in the first degree, and sentenced him to as many
lashes as the whalebone in my possession would mete
out. I used it up, the only thing in all my personal
effects that the natives admired, and then on the ad
vice of Mr. Yi, I decided to walk until the landscape
was a little less picturesque. When we had left the
river and gained the open fields, I tried him again,
thinking surely that his spirit must be broken by this
time, but it was not long until the old sensations took
him, and he was again backing up at terrific speed. As
i6o
there was no immediate danger, I thought to let him
back, which he did until he had run me into a bris
tling shrub, that lifted my hat off, combed me up gen
erally, and marked my face. Having no more whale
bone I gave him up entirely and footed it for the
remainder of the distance.
Then came three indifferent animals that just man
aged to make their five miles. Mr. Yi in every case
gave special orders to provide good horses, and the an
swer of the posthouse keeper was invariably so bland
and righteouslike that I could have seen him caned,
knowing how little these answers meant. After one of
the most immaculate keepers on the whole way had
professed to have gotten in his case an excellent pony,
we again moved on. When the creature was far enough
away from the stables to protect his master against any
assault on our part, he peacefully lay down in the mid
dle of the road. There he remained, until lifted bodily
by tail and ears, and then he refused to put his feet
squarely on the ground, Mr. Yi and the two pony boys
straining themselves to the most to hold him erect.
The last one that I felt particularly incensed against
was a ragged-looking beast that was troubled with a
weakness in its forequarters. It went down on its nose
without the slightest provocation, all the time, however,
its hinder parts keeping perfectly erect. If its strength
could have been divided a little fore and aft it might
have made a passable pony, but as it was no forelegs
at all would have been the only honest turnout. The
creature hobbled along, kept me in a state of constant
suspense, played on my hopes and fears most cruelly,
and at. last, in utter collapse, pitched me clean over its
head to the total destruction of my personal appearance.
SOUL, KOREA, May i, 1895.
THE KOREAN COOLY.
BY REV. JAMES S. GALE IN THE Korean Repository.
Few subjects present more of interest to a foreigner
in Korea than the cooly. He it is who exhibits in his
person those peculiarities of race that have been smoth
ered out of the gentry by fumes of Confucianism. The
latter, having inhaled this teaching from childhood,
have gradually lost their natural traits and have be
come more and more artificial, ever striving to mortify
the man that they are by birth, and to put on for new
man a ghost of antiquity. The cooly, however, is not
in any such bondage, but exhibits a host of character
istics that make him in some respects the most interest
ing figure in the Land of Morning Calm.
From the first glimpse you have of him you recog
nize that he is a creature of repose. Nothing should be
more restful to a nervous, impatient foreigner than the
sight of a cooly by the wayside, sitting on his heels or,
as we say, squatting, sometimes long rows of them,
motionless as sea fowl, indifferent to the heat of the sun,
to the flies that congregate upon then], or to the pes
tiferous gutters that crawl beneath their feet.
While other mortals are in constant commotion,
fearful of this and that, yet aching for change, the
Korean cooly continues throughout the ages to squat
on his heels, never growing tired, sniffing all the while
odors that would depopulate a Western city, or by way
of diversion, eating melon rinds, and all in the face of
cholera and other plagues of Egypt.
It is an atmosphere of repose rather than indiffer
ence that envelopes him. Indifference suggests an
environment with which one is not in harmony, while
repose indicates perfect agreement. Not only can he
sit in a painful position for ages, but he can sleep with
21
i6 3
head downward, and mouth wide open under the
fiercest sun of the Orient, and rise as refreshed as
though he had had a night on a spring mattress and a
morning bath. This is proof that it is not a matter of
indifference with him, else he should have had sun
stroke. The fact that he rises refreshed to enjoy his
pipe proves the repose.
Undoubtedly he is the greatest living example of the
absence of all excitement or animated interest of any
kind whatever. He can eat an astounding dish of pap
(rice), and be asleep with his head on a wooden block
in less time than a foreigner would trim his toothpick.
Nothing short of a bowl of kuksu (vermicelli) or the
crack of doom, can create the slightest interest in him,
or prove that he has nerves at all.
This characteristic, while highly to be commended
in some respects, has frequently proven a source of dif
ference between the cooly and the foreigner. The lat
ter proud of his watchword, action, runs full tilt into the
cooly who sits heavy in repose. It is like the railway
train taking a header for a mud embankment, when
newspapers announce next day, " Smash up," not of
the embankment, but of the railway train.
In view of this danger to the foreigner, the cooly
has, of late years, done considerable to change his
ways, though, of course, even in foreign employ he
still feels old sensations come over him, and falls at
times into his native repose.
Only once do I recollect seeing marked animation in
a cooly s eyes. It was at a stone fight such as they
used to indulge in in the brave days of old. Several
hundred of the best marksmen of the capital chose
sides, and armed with stones weighing one and two
pounds assembled for the fray. When I arrived, mis-
164
siles \vere flying through the air, any one of which, had
it struck, would have done for a man as easily as a
fifty pound projectile. They were all awake to dodge
these, and the rush and scramble to escape was like a
stampede of wild beasts. The throwing was magnifi
cent. It seemed in truth a little war of giants. The
fight grew fast and furious. Grimy with dust and sweat
each side drew in the closer and sent rocks flying
among the enemy in a way simply appalling. Then
came a shock of cessation and shout as though a goal
were scored. One of the best marksmen of the enemy
had been struck squarely and was killed. His body
was carried off the field and again the fight began.
Before evening closed one had fallen on the other side,
and thus the score was even.
Such is the cooly, and yet a gentler, more lamblike
creature never lived. Apart from this one ancient
custom he is peace itself; even his personal wars are
merely threatenings. One of the amusing sights of the
street is a fight, the combatants of course always being
coolies, as no gentleman would soil his garments who
has a servant to engage for him. It begins usually in
dispute, passes through different stages, each marked by
a special pitch of voice and rapidity of utterance, and
at last ends in a climax of fury. A perfect stream of in
vective is poured forth, accompanied by appeals to men
and angels to behold the object of depravity. The
foreigner is horrified, convinced as he is that nothing
short of one life can relieve the pent-up condition of
affairs, when suddenly the whole case collapses, and
the combatants are seen on each end of the piazza
smoking as peacefully as if all within the Four Seas
were brothers.
The question has often arisen, Is the Korean cooly
1 6 5
an arrant coward, or is he the bravest man alive since
Jack the Giant Killer? Evidence is not lacking for
the support of either supposition. On the first an
nouncement of the Japan-China War we saw him, with
personal effects on his back and considerable anima
tion in his feet, making for the hills. We have seen him,
too, in the capacity of trespasser, being whipped out of
a compound with a small willow switch, and writhing
under the blows as though they had been sword cuts,
repeating with imploring look, " Igo ! You ve killed
me ! You ve killed me ! "
A small foreigner of hasty temperament once resided
in the Land of Morning Calm. I had the pleasure of
seeing him marshaling his men on a journey. The
coolies he had were noted for strength rather than
agility, and as speed was the chief consideration fric
tion resulted. Matters came to a climax at last, and
the small foreigner made a round of those coolies with
his right foot, spreading consternation at every kick.
No great damage was done, as a Korean s padded dress
serves much as a bird s plumage would under a similar
form of attack. The group bowed to the inevitable,
simply remarking of the foreigner that an offspring of
that kind was a caution (ken noinciti cJiasik maknanio).
But there exists just as strong evidence as to the
cooly s pluck. He will undergo a surgical operation
without flinching, where a foreigner would require an
assistant to administer an anaesthetic. It has been
said that he has no nerves and so does not feel it,
but he felt the willow switch as keenly as you or I
would. Considering his weapons and opportunities,
he gave a good account of himself in the old days in
the defenses at Kangwha. Often still with a wretched
flintlock or fuse gun, he will steal his way among the
1 66
rocks and beard the tiger, capturing his game and re
turning home in triumph.
Not being able to find a definite example of more
than ordinary courage, I referred the matter to my Ko
rean friend and he told me the following, which in his
mind bespoke a heroism rarely seen among mortals.
A number of coolies had imprisoned a huge rat in a
grain bin. Now the question was, who would venture
in, barehanded, capture and despatch the rat ? One
stout-looking fellow smiled broadly and volunteered to
go, amid the admiration and applause of the onlookers.
He pulled his jacket tight, tried his fingers as if to see
that all were in working order, and advanced to the
attack ; meanwhile the rat, facing about, resolved to die
game. The parrying lasted a few minutes, then a pass,,
then a rush of confusion and sudden leap into mid-air,
all quick as lightning, and the cooly held the lifeless
rat by the tail amid renewed applause. "Your common
cricket ball," says my Korean friend, " is nothing ; but to
catch a live rat, which is equal to a cricket ball charged
with dynamite, requires courage indeed."
Not only does the cooly exhibit at times surprising
agility, but his strength is phenomenal. With a rack
made of forked limbs fastened together so as to fit the
shoulders, he will carry a bale of piece-goods weighing
four hundred pounds, or bring a perfectly paralyzing
load of deer hides all the way from Kangge, four hun
dred miles.
In Korea there are practically no carts or wheeled
means of transportation. Many of the roads will not
permit of beasts of burden, so the strength of the nation
has gone into the cooly s shoulders. With a load such
as we often see he reminds you of the Titan Atlas
lifting the world.
1 67
It has been a sorrow to many a foreigner that the
cooly should be so slow in his mental movements, so
obstinate about changing his mind or responding to an
order, but it is easily explained. Like his body, his
mind moves under a pressure of from one to four him-
^ ^
KOREAN COOLY WITH "jIGGV" ON HIS HACK.
dred pounds, which accounts for all its slowness of
motion. Run violently against his inclinations, and he
goes obstinately along, feeling it in fact as little as if
you had collided with him when carrying his load of
piece goods. In disgust, and with all your timbers
shivered, you resolve to avoid him forever, neglecting
1 68
the one way to manage the cooly, which is to take him
softly and gently at first, but with increasing pressure
as his being comes into motion, and you can run him
this way and that, physically or mentally, as by the
turning of a rudder, for his condition is not of obstinacy
but of inability.
Independence is a new thought to Korea, and a new
word is coined to express it. The native has never
dreamed of existence apart from that of others. In the
Western world, a man may bear his own burdens, just
as a house may stand by itself in a wide expanse of
country ; but in the Orient men work in groups, and
houses draw together into hamlets and villages. The
great forces with us are centrifugal, marked by exten
sion, separation, and the like; while in the East life
tends toward the center, and is characterized by con
traction, limitation, the cooly being one of the largest
contributors to this end. The sphere of his usefulness
is so contracted, in fact, that he will undertake nothing
without an assistant. He eyes the simplest task with a
look of hopelessness, unless you will permit his friend
to engage as well. Should it be the handling of a wood-
saw, he must have a cooly at the other end, not from
necessity, nor specially by way of ornament, but because
it is established custom and convenient withal. His use
of a shovel, too, is striking ; with one man at the handle
and one or two others on each side holding ropes
fastened to the same, he creates a union of forces that
vividly explains why the sun and moon drawing at the
same angle, and at about the same visible degree of
motion, should influence the tides.
No amount of money can tempt him to break faith
with custom. He regards money as a convenience, but
in no case as a necessity. Other things being satis-
i6g
factory, he will agree to accept of it, will demand more
at times, or will regard with a look of scorn the largest
amount you can offer him. He never descends to purely
business relations. When you engage him for a piece of
work, he comes simply with a desire for your conven
ience, while in the evening you present him with cash,
expressive of your friendship and appreciation. Should
the relations during the day become strained, he will
probably demand more; should friendship be strength
ened, he will accept less ; should mutual disagreement
break out, he will not work for you for any money, and
in all probability will have you boycotted by others of
the village.
The cooly s religion consists in a worship of an
cestors and a hatred of all officialdom; not that he really
loves the former or dislikes the latter, but custom re
quires that he attribute success to the virtue of his
forefathers and failure to the depravity of the district
mandarin, hence expressions of reverence for the one
and sworn hatred for the other.
In the first prefecture I visited the coolies of the vil
lage spent a large part of their time squatting on their
heels, anathematizing the ivon, prefect, who lived over
the hills in \X\eyamen. It seemed to me that they were on
the eve of an uprising that would leave not even cotton
wadding enough to tell of the fate of the hopeless mag
istrate. During the course of the season we became
acquainted, and a more sleek, contented official it has
never been my fortune to know ; wholly oblivious he
seemed to the storm brewing about his ears. The
storm continued to brew, but never broke. Visits to
other parts of the country have since demonstrated,
beyond doubt, that this discontent is the normal condi
tion of affairs in Korea, and that the won would never
22
be happy or safe without this centripetal force to keep
him .within a reasonable orbit.
While cherishing such hatred on the one hand, the
cooly is quite emphatic in his loyalty to the king on the
other. To him his majesty is the peerless perfection
of wisdom and benevolence, one who cannot sin, in fact,
who, though as wicked as Nero and unscrupulous as
Ahab, would be spoken of as the Son of Divinity, the sin
less jade ruler, etc. ; while the officials who surrounded
him from ministers down are regarded as public goblins,
veritable fiends of state.
The cooly s relation to his deceased ancestors I have
never been able to define. That he is devout in the
performance of the sacred rites is unquestioned, but
that he lias a clear understanding of their purport is
exceedingly doubtful. A proof, however, of his grasp
of the situation is seen in this, that he can point you
out every grave of his ancestors to the fourth gener
ation, or can talk as familiarly of a great-grandfather s
second cousin as we would of a half-sister. No spirit
is forgotten in his round of yearly sacrifices. As to what
it all means he leaves you in doubt. Prosperity in some
mysterious way hangs on it, and there the subject rests.
Calling himself depraved existence, unconscionable
sinner, the cooly mourner wanders for three years, with
a burden on his heart and the shade of a wide hat
over his countenance.
The cooly s home life is simple; a mat or two on a
mud floor with a fire underneath is comfort enough
for the most fastidious. His iron-jointed, supple-
sinewed wife keeps all in motion. The Korean would
long since have been reduced to dust had it not been
for her. While her husband sits and smokes she
swings her batons or makes the kitchen ring with cook-
ing and the sounds of her voice. Though unacquainted
with the embroidered side of life, she is a faithful, decent
woman, and does honor to the Far East. True to her
husband and kind to her children, in spite of her unat-
THE COOLY S WIFE.
tractive appearance and emphatic manner, she takes her
part in the struggle of life bravely and modestly, and
does credit to womankind the world over.
One cooly stands out prominently before me as I
conclude this paper, a little man with brown face,
172
who accompanied me on trips into the country, keeping
the way clear, and acting throughout in our interests.
One evening, after a bleak day of nearly forty miles,
we entered quarters for the night, and were informed
that they had no room, nothing to eat, and no use for
a foreigner. All the town apparently had come out to
tell us so. There I was alone in the world, no one to
depend on but the little man with brown face, and
he had run forty miles already. Not wearied, but
shortened in temper, he spent about eight seconds
arguing the question with the townspeople, and when
that did not avail, turned on the chief speaker, a tall,
lanky fellow, and taking a double hold of the after part
of his garments, ran him down that street as though
propelled by a locomotive. This was conclusive proof
to the inhabitants that we were running the town, not
they ; so they yielded us a room, and strings of eggs,
and comfort for the night.
Many a day since all my hopes have been centered
in the little man with brown face, and never once has
he failed me, but has carried me on his back over
streams, stood by me through rain and snow, ever for
getful of his own comforts; trustworthy as one s brother
and faithful as the sun. All for what? a few cash, that
he could have earned with much less labor on his own
mud floor at home; but down in his cooly s heart it
was for him a matter of friendship and honor.
It is long since a difference of location compelled us
to separate, but frequently still, by post or courier, comes
a thick-wadded letter, written in native script, on coarse
paper, wishing long life and blessing to the recipient,
saying that he still lives and is well, signed awkwardly
and humbly by the little man with brown face.
YOKAHAMA, JAPAN, November 15, 1896.
173
THE KOREAN POWER SHOVEL.
BY REV. G. H. JONES, IN THE Korean Repository.
This interesting invention occupies a front rank
among the labor saving machines of Korea, for it saves
from three to five men a vast deal of work. It consists
of a long wooden shovel armed with an iron shoe to
cut into the earth properly. The handle is about five
feet long, and is worked (to a certain extent) by the cap
tain of the crew.
Two ropes, one
on each side, are
attached to the
bowl of the shovel,
and these are man
aged by the men
who seek to save
their labor.
When in opera
tion the captain
inserts the iron-
shod point of the
shovel as deep into
the earth some
times as three
inches, and then the crew of two or four men give a
lusty pull and a shout, and away will go a tablespoon-
ful of dirt fully six feet, if not more, into the distance.
This operation is repeated three or four times, and then
the weary crew take a recess and refresh themselves
with a pipe. It is a beautiful sight to watch a crew
working these power shovels; everything is executed
with such clocklike regularity, especially the recess.
Then the crew sometimes sing in a minor strain, for
BY PER. OF THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, NEV
KOREAN POWER SHOVEL.
174
the Korean day laborer can always be depended on to do
it in as pleasant a manner as possible.
That this implement belongs to the class called
labor-saving machines there can be no doubt. It takes
five men to do one man s work, but entails no reduction
in pay. In fact, the number of its crew can be ex
tended to the limits of the shovel s ropes without risk
of a strike among the laborers. Many interesting
stories might be told to illustrate its name of the power
shovel, one of which I will tell. We had a small patch
of garden we wanted turned o.ver, so we hired a cooly
and put in his hand a beautiful new spade from Amer
ica. He attached two straw ropes to it, hired four
other coolies, at our expense, of course, and did the
job in triumph. Such is the power of this instrument
over the Korean mind !
GLIMPSES OF MEDICAL WORK IN SOUL, KOREA.
BY ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL, M.D., IN The Post-Graduate.
What would The Post-Graduate think of a doctor s
carriage without wheels, of a dispensary waiting room
without seats, and of hospital wards without beds !
Such is our style in Korea.
The carriage is a native palanquin, which has a
wooden framework of about 3x3x3 feet, and is covered
with cloth upon the top and sides; a wooden grating
forms the floor upon which the doctor sits; the front
door can be raised or fastened down as one pleases,
and there is a small paper window at each side. Ex
tending before and behind, from the bottom of the
palanquin, are two poles, by means of which two men
carry it, or, if the doctor is going a long distance or
wishes to put on a little more style, four men are thus
employed. These men travel from three to four miles
1 7 6
in one hour, and receive about fifty cents for a day s
work, boarding themselves. If the doctor closes her
eyes upon the squalid mud huts and the naked chil
dren, she might imagine she was being borne swiftly
along upon an elevated car in her home city, but the
odor ever arising from the filthy streets rudely awak
ens one from such day dreams. Imagine mud-walled
hovels with thatched or tiled roofs so low that the
eaves are within six feet of the ground, all built with
their backs to the street, and with their chimneys pour
ing out their smoke just on a level with your nose ; the
privies, built so that they overhang the ditch at the side
of the street, only used by the women, the men and
children commonly using the street itself, which is
without sidewalks, and is practically but an open
sewer, fortunately washed out annually by good Dame
Nature at the time of the rainy season. If you can
imagine these things, then you have before you a picture
of the average street in the capital city of the Hermit
Nation. No doubt the seclusion of women, as practiced
in Korea, accounts for a great deal of this condition
of affairs. Picture to yourself the probable appearance
of our own streets if women had not been allowed to
appear upon them for the last five hundred years.
Now look into the dispensary waiting room. The
floor, composed of stone and mud, is covered over with
Korean oiled paper, which by use has taken on a polish
like marble ; there are some pictures and Scripture
texts on the walls, but when you have mentioned these
you have spoken of all the furnishings within the room.
The women and children you find waiting there to see
the American doctor sit upon the floor, as they do in
their own homes. Were you to offer them chairs, they
would not know how to sit upon them would probably
177
climb up in them and sit down upon their feet. If it
be winter, you will not find them all crowding about
the stove or register or steam heater, for no such thing
is in the room ; but each is made comfortable by the
floor upon which she sits being warmed. The fire is
built just outside and underneath one end of the room,
and it draws through channels in the floor to the low
mud chimney on the outside of the opposite end of the
room ; thus the floor, when once heated, keeps warm a
long time, like the old-fashioned brick ovens. In their
own homes the Koreans have their rice kettles set over
the fire, so that their rooms are heated when cooking
their morning and evening meals.
Enter the consulting room while the Bible woman is
teaching the waiting patients, and here you find a re
volving armchair for the doctor, placed before a table,
upon which lies the large record book. On one side
is a handsome Korean cabinet whose numerous drawers
contain everything necessary for the doctor to use in
such a general outdoor clinic, while through the open
door the well-stocked shelves of a drug room appear,
and in the operating room may be found a really good
assortment of surgical instruments. As a rule, both
instruments and drugs come from America.
A patient enters ; the doctor asks her name, and,
though all Korean women are married, she replies by
giving the surname of her father. A Korean girl is
called by her ; baby name " uni.il she is married, some
where between the ages of twelve and sixteen, after
which she is nameless until she becomes a mother,
when she is known as the mother of such a child. The
next question, " How old are you ?" if asked of a child,
literally means, " How many years have you eaten ? "
"Eat" is a favorite word. The doctor never says, "Take
23
1 7 8
your medicine," but always, "Eat your medicine." If a
patient wants to tell you she is deaf, she will say she has
eaten her cars.
A glance through that big record book will tell you
that the American lady doctor, assisted by the Korean
girls she has trained, treats from four thousand to seven
thousand cases yearly. The great majority are dispensary
patients only, but a good proportion are out-calls and pa
tients cared for in the hospital wards. Quite as great a
variety are treated as in a like number of women and chil
dren in New York city, but the order of frequency would
no doubt be different; there is much less gynaecological
and obstetrical work. The majority of the diseases
could be grouped under the following heads, and in
their order of frequency : Digestive, surgical, ocular,
venereal, lymphatic, skin, respiratory, nervous, gynaeco
logical, febrile, aural, and circulatory. A description
of some of the interesting incidents met with in such
general practice would make this paper too long, but
may form the basis of another some time.
The hospital wards are built Korean style, about an
inner court. Koreans use only paper windows, but
those in the foreign doctor s hospital contain some
glass. The floors are warmed in the way before de
scribed. As Koreans both sit and sleep upon the floor,
they need neither chairs nor beds. Though it is rather
hard on the doctor s back and knees to count pulse,
make physical diagnoses, attend to obstetrical cases, and
do surgical dressings with patients lying upon the floor,
yet after all it has its advantages. It is cleanly; the
smooth oiled paper covering the floor is wiped up with
an antiseptic solution everyday, and oftener if necessary.
There is no chance for those vermin which, with the
best of care, often infest the beds in hospitals of the
i So
home land. It makes it very easy to sweat a patient
without the use of hot-water bottles. It is safe the
patient cannot get out of bed without the doctor s orders,
and last, but perhaps not least, especially in a mission
hospital, it is economical.
LIBERTY, X. V., December, 1895.
THE NATIVE DOCTOR IN KOREA AND His WORK.*
BY ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL. M.D., IN The Post-Graduate.
The medical man in Korea dates back over six hun
dred years before Hippocrates was born. No doubt
the god of their healing art is even more ancient than
Esculapius.
Medicine was first introduced from China, and all
remedies were divided into twelve classes, one kind es
pecially for the king, another for the highest official
class, and others for the lower grades of officials and the
common people in their respective order. A Chinese
classic in medicine, consisting of nineteen volumes, and
a work on therapeutics, also written in Chinese, are used
by the regular Korean doctor, but the principal part of
his instruction is handed down orally from father to
son. There are many doctors, however, who have not
had even this much instruction, buthave picked up their
knowledge of the healing art for the money there is in
it, and they try first one remedy after another until
they cure or kill.
Korean doctors are generally paid by the month.
Rich officials often employ more than one, and keep
them the year round, so long as they give satisfaction.
If, however, there is but little sickness in the household
* This article may not be quite fair to the Korean doctor. No doubt he uses
many good methods with success, but, of course, these cases have not come to
me, and I confess I have had little time to investigate his methods, aside from
what my patients have told me or I have seen.
iSi
for a month, they may pay him less, or if he has had to
use very expensive medicines another month, they may
pay him a little more. It is also customary to make
the doctor numerous presents. The quantities of eggs,
chickens, pheasants, chestnuts, cherries, persimmons,
preserved ginger, and sauerkraut that have been be
stowed upon me by grateful patients I am sure would
astonish even the country editor. Here is a sample of
the letters that often accompany such gifts. As nearly
as it can be translated it reads: "Letter take up in the
presence of the doctor lady. I am thankful for the
benefit received, though I am not able to pay back ; it
will be difficult for me to forget till my bones turn
white. Sorry I am poor, consequently can only send
up eighty eggs for you to make sauce of."
There are no native hospitals. Some of the apothe
cary shops are kept by doctors, and these form sort of
dispensaries. They are well stocked with dried herbs,
roots, and barks tied up in paper bags and hung over
head, with the Chinese name of the drug written on the
bottom of the bag. The rhubarb used is from China,
like our own, and there is a fair quality of castor oil of
native manufacture. Here, also, may be obtained the
bones of the tiger, a soup made from which is one of the
best tonics, and the pulverized skull is a specific in hy
drophobia. Various insects ami small mollusks are also
kept on hand to use in poultices and ointments. Small
cubes of iron pyrites are also on hand to be swallowed in
case of fracture. Ginseng is, perhaps, the most valued
tonic. It will restore the vigor and strength of youth to
the aged or infirm ; next to it in value ranks deer-horn
sprouts. It is most too much of a task to undertake to
enumerate all the strange drugs in the Korean pharma
copoeia, and it might not prove particularly edifying.
182
Here is a copy of a prescription for an ointment used
by the native doctor for eczema: "Disintegrated rock,
licorice root, willow, orange-peel, bark of the mulberry
tree, root of the pine tree, four spiders, and five centi
pedes, all ground into a powder and mixed with honey,
and applied to either acute or chronic cases." Many
of the black, sticky pastes and ointments that decorate
most of our patients when they first visit us are very
difficult to remove.
One thing the Korean doctor must observe in his
practice, and that is to work in harmony with the
Chuk-il-in-sin, or the guardian spirit in each person.
This spirit daily changes his residence from one part
of the body to another, and any attempt to treat a part
on the day in which he is residing in it is sure to anger
him and increase the trouble. His round through the
body is a monthly one, and as he returns to the same
part on the same day in each month of the year, the
table given in their calendar answers for the whole year.
The Lang-moon, or death s door, is supposed to be in
the West. Dying Koreans are always laid with their
heads to the West, that the spirit, which is thought to
leave the body through the head, may travel a straight
line into eternity.
Variola in Korea is quite as common as rubeola with
us, and is considered a child s disease, that does not re
quire the attention of a doctor. It visits the large cities
every spring; we often meet cases of it in the street,
for if the child is fretful, their best method of quieting
it is to strap it to the back of the nurse, or some older
member of the family, and send it out on the street. I
have had such cases enter my dispensary, not on ac
count of the child, but because its nurse needed some
medical attention. Koreans think it very strange that
183
adult foreigners should fear smallpox, supposing, natu
rally, we must have all had it in our childhood. Korean
children that do die with smallpox are not buried, but
wrapped in some matting and hung up outside the city
wall until the epidemic for that year has passed. I have
not been able to learn their reason for this custom, but
it certainly answers the purpose of giving all a fair
chance to contract the disease.
Midwives are numerous, and there are said to be many
Korean widows who are general practitioners ; and it
would seem necessary, for none of the higher class women
can see any man outside of her own family. However,
so far as I know, I never happened to meet a woman
doctor in any of my work among the Korean people.
In obstetrics a midwife is usually employed. Her
duties are very simple. The child is not bathed until
the third day, and the mother is supposed to lie in bed
only three days, and then goes about her work as usual.
In malpresentations, where nature cannot effect a spon
taneous delivery, the patient generally dies, as the
native doctor knows nothing really of the science of ob
stetrics ; and the people are only just beginning to learn
that the foreign doctor can help them.
One of the favorite treatments of the Korean doctor,
for ills too numerous to mention, is burning with a red-
hot iron or with the moxa. I suppose, in some cases
where a strong counterirritant is needed, this treatment
must do good ; at any rate the majority of my patients
bear the scars that such treatment produces. One wom
an, for a pain in her arm, was burned so deeply that
the tissue sloughed down to the muscle, and she had
erysipelas in her whole arm and shoulder. Many cases
of ascites had been burned nearly through the abdom
inal walls. Another patient, with lateral curvature of the
1 84
spine, had been given a decoction of snakes after the
doctor had failed with the red hot iron treatment.
Many of the remedies of the native doctor are almost
too revolting to speak of even in a medical journal.
Urine is an eyewash in common use. I have treated
abscesses that have been poulticed with human fceces,
and one poor sick woman gave the history of having
been ordered by the doctors to suck the syphilitic
sores of her husband to cure them!
Korean doctors have little idea of either surgery
or anatomy. All doctors do general practice, but
some become more famed in certain lines. Acupunc
ture generally demands a specialist. In common with
some specialists we have before heard of, he impresses
the people with the idea that his needle can cure every
pain that flesh is heir to. In rheumatism, the knee,
thigh, and lumbar region are pierced every day for
seven days. In hemiplegia, the ankle and calf of the
unaffected side are punctured every seventh day un
til relieved. Even sprained ankles and wrists receive
this treatment; and as the Korean doctor s needle is by
no means aseptic, bad results following this method
are frequent. Abscesses are opened with the needle
and a seton of twisted Korean paper inserted. This
does not give very complete drainage, but is better
than none. Very few parts of the body are exempt
from acupuncture the abdomen, the super and infra
orbital spaces, and even the eyeball itself. I know of
one instance in which an aneurism was punctured.
As it was once my privilege (?) to see a native
specialist in acupuncture at his work, I will try to
describe it. I was called one day to the house of one
of the higher class to see a child who had become very
sick two or three days before, after being carried a
i85
long distance, strapped to the back of his nurse, his
bare head and nape of neck exposed to the fierce heat
of a July sun. I found him in convulsions, and, after
a careful examination, it proved to be a severe case of
meningitis, and I told the father I feared there was lit
tle or no hope of recovery. Both father and mother
bowed before me in oriental style and begged me to
" give life." I told them only God could do that, but
w r e would do all we could, and I left them medicine,
with the necessary directions, and the promise to re
turn early in the morning. Now, this was the only son
of these people, and their love for him was quite as
strong as that of fond American parents ; and, like them,
they wanted to leave nothing undone for their darling.
They had sent for the Korean doctor before they called
me, and when they saw the child surely growing worse
they thought they would try the foreign doctor; but as
morning dawned and no improvement was visible, they
again sent for the Korean doctor, who arrived shortly
after I did. After examining the little boy, I told the
father he was dying ; that I could do no more for him;
God was surely going to take him very soon to his
heavenly home. Then the father bade the Korean
doctor to again try his skill. The first thing he did
was to burn a moxa of brownish-looking powder upon
each breast of the child; as it began to burn the ten
der skin, I begged the father to have it removed, and
said to the doctor, " The child is dying; you know it
can do him no good," but he only calmly smiled, as he
obeyed the now almost frantic father to go on with his
treatment. He then took from its sheath a needle,
half-way between a darning needle and a surgeon s
probe in appearance, and this he proceeded, with a
sort of twisting, rotatory motion, to stick through each
24
1 86
little foot, through the palms of the hand, the thumb
joints, and through the upper lip into the maxilla just
beneath the nose. Again I tried to make him stop,
but he said it was "Korean custom." I replied, "It
is a very bad custom ; " and then I could not refrain
from delivering him, perhaps, the first medical lecture
he had ever heard, explaining that, though the child
was in a deep coma and did not feel it, yet it was use
less and cruel, and that in cases where recovery from
the disease might occur, inflammation of those punc
tured joints was sure to follow, and often suppuration
with death of the bones; that such cases had frequently
come to me in the hospital, where amputation was the
only radical cure. He listened with a bland smile,
wondering, no doubt, at the impudence of a Western
barbarian undertaking to instruct him. A few days
later the mother sent a servant to me with a message
that the child had died and was buried; she sent me a
present and an invitation to visit her again. There
are many such doors open to receive us, but our work
ers are so few we are often unable to enter them. In
a number of cases where we have thus followed up our
work whole families have been won for Jesus.
How much more medical missionaries are needed for
this poor people ! What a privilege, not only to relieve
the poor suffering bodies and sin-sick souls of those who
come to us, but to train young native helpers, who will
do much to teach better ways even in this generation,
and whose influence upon the coming generations will
be felt in ever-widening circles. Phillips Brooks wrote,
" If I can only place one little brick in the pavement of
the Lord s pathway, I will place it there, that coming
generations may walk thereon to the heavenly city."
Lir.KRTY, X. V., March, 1896.
THE STATUS OF WOMAN IN KOREA.
BY GEORGE HEBER JONES, IN THE Korean Repository.
The status of womankind in any nation is not to be
determined by the experiences of one member of the
sex. It would be easy for anyone acquainted with
Korean life to cite the case of some woman and con
tend that the position of the sex in Korea is either all
that can be desired or anything but what it should be.
But this would not be a fair handling of the matter, for
in either event the case cited would prove to be an ex
ception rather than the rule. To reach a just conclu
sion we must inquire as to what views obtain among the
people concerning the sex as a whole ; what customs,
usages, and laws govern her, and what experiences ap
pear to be common to her in the various levels of social
life. And prefatory to our discussion, it is well to note
that in the general upheaval of 1894-95 a change has
been provided for, but has not yet taken effect to any
great extent. With a few exceptions, the position of
woman is the same as it was ten or ten hundred years ago.
The following appear to be the chief facts in evidence
with which we have to deal. Woman is regarded theo
retically as man s inferior, and her proper attitude in his
presence is one of submission and subjection. She is
kept in seclusion, given no intellectual training, and en
joys customary rather than guaranteed legal rights. As
a result, her theoretical status is one of inferiority, but
by force of character she has risen superior to circum
stance and occupies a higher position than man would
grant her. These facts wear different aspects in the
different classes of the Korean social scale, but they meet
us universally and form the basis upon which to deter
mine woman s standing.
1 88
i. Inferiority. A Korean s views of womankind are
based on a dualistic philosophy which dominates his
mind. All nature appears to consist of pairs of oppo-
sites, though he does not hold with the Zoroastrian that
these opposites are also antagonists. These categories
run as follows : Heaven and earth, light and darkness,
strength and weakness, superiority and inferiority, virtue
and iniquity, male and female, and so on. The first
member of each couple is always the superior, the second
the inferior; as scientific categories, they appear to be
based in the very constitution of nature, and are thus
necessarily correct.
Nature having thus marked woman as inferior, a man-
made philosophy hastens to ticket her to that effect, and
the Korean is educated in the same from his earliest
school days. He reads it in the Youth s Primer, it
confronts him in the Historical Summaries, and the
Little Learning fills his mind with uncomplimentary
notions concerning the sex. These views are further
reinforced by the views which he imbibes from the
young men about him, until man certainly is lord as far
as his estimate of himself is concerned and woman the
subject. Where a man and woman meet who are of
the same rank, the woman will be expected to use a
higher form of language to the man than that addressed
to her. Woman is incapable of understanding a man s
business, friendships, or life, and is continually exhorted
to confine herself to " woman s sphere." The follo\v-
ing quotation from the Youth s Primer exhibits the
accepted view: "The husband must manifest dignity
and the wife docility ere the house will be well governed.
Should the husband be incompetent to govern alone,
not able to follow his way (of propriety), and the wife
encourage him in his incompetence, departing from
1 89
righteousness by not sewing the Three Following
Ways (proprieties governing woman s submission) will
be obscured, and though there be Seven Reasons for
Divorce through which the husband may find relief,
his house will be annihilated by his personal incompe
tence. A man honors himself by governing his wife,
and a woman honors herself by subordinating herself
to her husband." Man is then regarded as intrinsically
superior to woman, and the very existence of the home
is made to rest on this superiority (called competence).
The happiness of married life is bound up in assent to
this dogma, by the husband exhibiting and asserting his
superiority, and the wife subordinating herself with
docility and gentleness !
2. Seclusion and Subjection. One of the baneful
effects of the dogma of inferiority has been the seclu
sion of woman. Her inferiority is a barrier to her en
trance upon public life, and the best way to exclude
her from it has been deemed the measure of confining
her to a proper sphere "woman s sphere" and sur
rounding it by such impassable safeguards that outsiders
have no entrance to it, neither has she an exit. The
complete seclusion within the inner apartments of the
homes of all young women and all older women, except
those of the low class, is an inexorable law in Korea.
Foreigners just arrived have doubted this until they
learned that the young people with long braids of hair
down their backs and feminine features, so frequently
seen in the streets, were boys. But all young women of
respectability are carefully hidden from the eyes of
males, whether strangers or friends. The rat-tat-tat
of her flying ironing sticks may be heard in the streets,
the smoke of the green pinewood fire she is cooking by
be seen ascending above the roof, and possibly her voice
be heard by a passer-by, but her face and form are
never seen.
In noting this seclusion of women one commendatory
feature must not be ignored. It is in the nature of pro
tection to a young woman and a safeguard of the family.
The theoretical inferiority and weakness of woman, and
the superiority and strength of man render some such
protection necessary ; the facts of history point to pro
tection of some sort as highly desirable. The previous
dynasty had no law of seclusion, women enjoying great
public freedom. In the final decades of the dynasty
women became the special objects of violence. Bud
dhist priests were guilty of widespread debauchery of
homes ; conjugal infidelity was estimated the lightest
of crimes; the most popular sport of court and provincial
nobles was a raid upon a home known to contain a
beautiful woman. These onslaughts on the home did
more to ruin and destroy the state than anything else,
for the prevailing corruption and debauchery finally
engulfed royalty itself. The present dynasty tried to
remedy this evil by withdrawing woman from the public
eye.
In a country like Korea, where the distinction of be
ing a patrician carried with it privileges and preroga
tives of a most substantial character, even the protection
gained by seclusion has not always been sufficient. We
might multiply instances, to which our notice has been
called during the past decade, where men clothed with
power have not hesitated to invade the "seclusion"
and possess themselves by violence of a woman whose
fame had reached them. We have in mind a case, in
1892, where the parties involved were a prefect of the
first order, Moksa, of a northern town, and a young
widow aged twenty-three years, and famous for her
beauty and constancy. The woman was dragged from
the " seclusion " of a relative s home, and force, even to
personal violence, used tocompel her toconsent to become
a concubine of her persecutor. She finally escaped by
suicide, while the prefect escaped by a dead run for the
woods with a maddened populace at his heels seeking
for his life s blood.
Granted that this " seclusion " is necessary because
of woman s inferiority, the necessity for it is a terrible
comment on the awful dominance of vice in man, not
on the weakness of woman s virtue. A Korean frankly
told us that men seclude their wives not because they
distrust them but because they distrust one another.
Distrust is an important factor in this seclusion of
woman. The Korean men know Korean character
better than a foreigner can. Concubinage and prosti
tution have long undermined male virtue and the
man measures woman by himself. The very idea of
common friendship and association of the two sexes
for helpful and cooperative purposes only is not deemed
a possibility.
The effect of this seclusion has been to fasten upon
woman the stigma of inferiority. At the age of six or
seven years she is taken away from all outside associa
tion and confined in the inner apartments of her father s
home. This she leaves at the age of sixteen years (a
late provision which was formerly as early as twelve or
thirteen years of age), a married woman, for the seclu
sion of her husband s home. Thus the days which are
spent in Christian lands in delightsome association with
young friends, in healthful and instructive converse with
elders, in study to deepen, and travel to broaden the
mind, are spent by the Korean young lady in strict se
clusion. The only mental or other stimulus she has is
192
a routine composed largely of cooking rice, sewing,
gossip, and combating the abounding sorrows and diffi
culties of life. If of the patrician class she will learn to
read the native script (in rare cases Chinese even) but
the literature this opened to her, until Christianity came
to enrich and ennoble it, was of a depressing character.
It is not surprising that the young Korean, finding his
wife s mind undeveloped, concludes rather that it is
dwarfed and dark. Their association together, in the
majority of cases, hardly rises to mental and spiritual
plains, and from his own experience " young Benedict "
often concludes that the native dogmas are correct.
The manner of contracting marriage is an outgrowth
of the law of seclusion. Men and women may not see
each other, consequently the element of mutual choice
in the matter of a wife or a husband is impossible. The
match is made by the parents, and the two most inter
ested parties never see each other until the fatal mo
ment which binds them together for life. There are
many evils which flow from this, but among the chief
is the cheapening of woman. The struggles, the con
quest of difficulties, the hopes and the fears which form
such an important experience along the road to mar
riage in Western lands, the Korean never has to face.
The woman who becomes his wife costs him little more
than a few dollars, a ride on a white horse, and four
bows. It is not surprising to find her estimated cheaply
in consequence. There are undoubtedly many happy
marriages in Korea, but these might be infinitely more
so, and the number greatly increased if marriage cost a
Korean more than it does.
3. Rig/its. The rights granted woman in Korea are
customary rather than legal. This is not to be de
plored, for Korea is still in that stage of development
193
where custom has the force of law, and customary law
is always a step to statute law. This has proven true
recently in the case of remarriage of widows. For cen
turies remarriage of widows has been frowned upon,
but custom has tolerated it in cases of necessity. This
custom of tolerating the marriage of widows is now
taken up into the new constitution, and one of the first
rights conceded to woman is that of remarriage. Still
another legal right granted her is that which establishes
the age of sixteen as the earliest at which she need
marry. Aside from these her rights are as a rule cus
tomary. Property rights, social standing, control of
children, redress in case of damage, protection, etc.,
custom only recognizes her. The matter of divorce is
legally entirely controlled by her husband. He may
cast her off for any one of the following seven rea
sons : (i) Incompatibility with her husband s parents ;
(2) adultery; (3) jealousy; (4) barrenness; (5) incurable
disease ; (6) quarrelsome disposition ; (7) theft. For
any one of these causes she may be returned to her
home with an indelible stigma upon her. As divorce
is a matter of private arrangement on the part of the
husband it is impossible to discover to what extent it
prevails. So few instances have come to our notice we
are inclined to believe that it is very far from being as
frequent as the manner in which marriage is contracted,
and the ease with which it may be annulled would lead
one to suppose it would be. Desertion is the great sin
of the Korean, however, and we are informed prevails
to a sad degree. Many and many a wife sits amid the
ashes of her happiness, while her unfaithful lord spends
his time in the company of a favorite concubine, or
squanders his money in stews of iniquity that abound
in every town of any size. The marriage tie is some-
25
194
times snapped by the flight of the wife, and this is also
frequent, but the husband always has legal redress, for
the authorities can force the wife to return.
Until the recent changes, which permit widows and
widowers to remarry, a Korean could have but one
wife. As above cited the marriage of widows and wid
owers was tolerated, but the woman had a lower social
station than a real wife, and but one level higher than a
concubine. Ordinarily a second marriage was simply
a mutual agreement to live together, unmarked by any
ceremony, though sometimes "bowing to each other"
was privately observed. The first was the only legal
wife and in this the Koreans are strict monogamists.
The first wife s offspring may not be supplanted, and
all others by future or additional marital relations stand
aside from the pure line of descent, bearing a slight
taint in Korean estimation.
Concubinage is tolerated as an institution, but no con
cubine is regarded in the light of a wife. As an insti
tution, concubinage enjoys an evil odor in Korea. The
\vomen who enter upon this relation come from the
lower or the disreputable walks of life, and are regarded
as dishonored by it. The offspring have imposed upon
them certain disabilities, such as exclusion from desira
ble official posts, and bear wherever they go a serious
social stain.
There are no native girls schools in Korea, for wom
en are given no literary training. Among the higher
classes women may learn to read the native script, but
even then the number able to do so is not more than
one in a thousand for the mass of women. The sphere
assigned woman requires no literary training, with the
possible exception of those w r omen who stand outside
the pale of the reputable classes. Intended for mis-
95
cellaneous male companionship they are trained in ac
complishments calculated to render them attractive, such
as reading and reciting stories, dancing, singing, and
playing musical instruments. These women may find
their way into the higher social levels, but never a
wife s. The preservation of his line from moral taint
renders it necessary for a Korean to seek elsewhere,
and he will take to wife a woman with a mind as blank
as a white wall, but never one from outside the reputa
ble classes.
.j. Real status. An absurd philosophy, the dogmas
of a man-made religion, shadowy legal rights, illiteracy
and neglect have combined to force woman beneath
man s level in Korea. But she has risen in spite of
these depressing forces, and actually occupies a place in
national life all theory denies her. In her essential
qualities she is diligent, forceful in character, resource
ful in an emergency, superstitious, persevering, indom
itable, devoted. There is much more in evidence of
her diligent integrity, than there is of her lord s indus
try. There are no man tailors to share with her in
clothing a race, the spacious dimensions of whose gar
ments indicate seemingly that they were designed to
use up cloth great quantities of cloth. Then the
entire job of laundering these garments, and cook
ing the two hundred thousand bags of rice which the
nation eats daily, is all done by her. She does a
man s work on the farm (we have seen her yoked
with a man, dragging a plow in the country), and
runs thousands of small stands for merchandise, as well
as doing a thriving business in the huckster line. In
part, the power and influence of Korean women are to
be met with in every quarter of the world man deludes
himself into believing he has appropriated to himself in
196
Korea. When times of trial arise and the home is
threatened with starvation, the busy needle and flying
washing and ironing sticks of the wife keep the house
hold together. Even more, her persevering and indom
itable energy rises superior to the severest poverty, while
her liege lord collapses as though he had a shoestring
for a backbone. Could we know the actual facts in
every case it would be found probably that many of the
strut ling, self-styled aristocrats in large towns are really
drummers up of trade, purveyors of washing and needle
work, messengers for the real " man-of-the-house," who
is too busy or too modest to appear in the street. Ko
rean women are withal inveterate intriguantes, exercising
an unseen but powerful hand in general affairs all the
more powerful because unseen.
No more striking example of what Korean woman is
can be found than that of her majesty the queen so
foully slain on the October 8, 1895. Where is the
boasted self-appropriated superiority of the male in the
face of the measures found necessary to remove the un
fortunate lady days and nights of consultation, alli
ance of all available forces, a regiment of troops, a night
attack, hired foreign assassins, and as though afraid of
her, dead heaven and earth moved to blacken her
memory and enshroud her fate in mystery. Surely it
is not too much to conclude that woman occupies a
place out of all proportion to that assigned her by phi
losophy in Korean society.
June, 1896.
197
ESTHER KIM PAR.
By DR. R. S. HALL, in the Liberty Register.
In the year 1876 another girl baby came to a poor
family named Kim, in the capital of Korea. At that
time there were no missionaries in Korea. It was known
as the "Hermit Nation." Mr. Kim and his wife called
their little baby Chyom Tong. When Chyom Tong was
five or six years old, another girl baby came to this
family, making four daughters in all, and as they had
no sons, they felt badly, for when the father died there
would be no son to carry on the ancestral worship ; so,
though they were very poor, they adopted a son. Not
long after this, in the year 1885, some American mis
sionaries came to Korea and began work near the place
where Mr. Kim lived, and it so happened that both Mr.
Kim and his adopted son became employed by Rev.
Mr. Appenzeller, one of those missionaries, and thus they
heard about the girls school that Mrs. M. F. Scranton
opened for the Woman s Foreign Missionary Society.
Mr. Kim thought it might be a good place to put one
of his daughters, as she would thus get her rice and
clothes, and perhaps the new doctrine taught there
would not harm her much. So, fortunately for Chyom
Tong, she was the one selected, and thus became a pupil
in the first school ever established for Korean girls.
She was supported by the Bellevue Auxiliary of the
Woman s Foreign Missionary Society, this little auxil
iary, near Pittsburg, Pa., contributing forty dollars each
year to this end. Chyom Tong well remembers the first
time she saw any foreigners, how she was struck with
the large size of their noses in comparison to those of
Korean women, who would not think it at all pretty to
have such large noses. She also thought it very odd to
find the foreigners burning fire in large iron boxes,
199
instead of under their floors, as all Koreans do. She
wondered how they could keep comfortable with no
warm floors to sit or sleep upon. However, she found
the Korean girls were to have rooms heated after the
native method, and soon decided that, though the for
eign teacher s nose was so large, she had a very kind
heart, and she soon learned to love her and her new
home dearly. Chyom Tong proved very quick to learn,
and soon surpassed the other girls in the school. She
studied the Bible and Catechism in Korean, and she
also studied Chinese and English. Little by little she
began to understand the Gospel truths the mission
aries had come to bring, and she had learned to abhor
lying and stealing, two of the sins so common among
Koreans, and then among most of the girls in the school.
Chyom Tong felt the need of a clean heart, and be
gan to pray in secret for it. When she had been in the
mission school nearly a year, the usual rainy season
came round, and it seemed as if it rained in greater
torrents than ever before. One night, as Chyom Tong
lay in her room listening to the heavy rainfall outside,
the thought came to her that perhaps the Lord was go
ing to punish the sins of her people with a flood, as he
did in the time of Noah, which she had just learned
about, and she expressed this thought to her roommate,
who said she was just thinking those same thoughts.
Chyom Tong suggested that they get upon their knees
and confess all their sins to God, and ask Him to take
them away and give them clean hearts, so they would
not be afraid to die. This they did, and their simple
faith was rewarded! God s own peace filled their hearts
and took away all their fears, and they fell asleep, God s
forgiven children. The next day Chyom Tong told the
other girls about the change that had come to her heart,
200
and invited them all to her room that night to have a little
prayer meeting, such as she had seen the missionaries
have. So she cleaned up her room and decorated it
with flowers, and got some hymn books, and they sang
and prayed, and had such a good time that they decided
to do it every night. Their Korean teacher, hearing
about the meeting, asked if she might attend, and then
the other women came in, and this was the origin of the
first woman s prayer meeting in Korea.
When Chyom Tong was a girl of about fourteen, Dr.
Rosetta Sherwood was sent to Korea for the Woman s
Foreign Missionary Society to take up the medical
work in the Woman s Hospital and Dispensary, that Dr.
Metta Howard had been obliged the year before to leave
on account of ill health. As the work had already been
organized, and many patients had been waiting a long
time to consult the woman doctor, she had to commence
work in the hospital the second day after her arrival,
with no knowledge of the language. As by this time
Chyom Tong had outstripped all the other girls in her
acquisition of English, she was sent to the hospital
several hours each day to interpret for Dr. Sherwood,
and, together with two or three oth^r girls, the doctor
taught them physiology, and later materia medica, while
each day they received practical lessons in the dispen
sary in putting up drugs and learning to care for the
sick, so that they became quite valuable assistants,
young girls though they were. At first Chyom Tong
liked the interpreting and the study better than the
other part of the new work, and naturally rather shrank
from surgery. But she soon learned to appreciate all,
and after assisting at an operation for harelip, surprised
her friends by declaring she would like to be able to
perform such an operation herself, and from that time
201
on never gave up her determination to become a doctor
herself, should God open the way.
Sunday, January 25, 1891, Chyom Tong was baptized
by the Rev. F. Ohlinger, and received the name of
" Esther." As in Korea, a woman loses her given name
when she is married and is called by none till she be
comes a mother (when she is only known as such a one s
mother), the missionaries have to give the women and
girls new names in baptism, and quite frequently they
use Bible names ; so the name Esther was chosen for
Chyom Tong. Esther said her heart felt very happy
that day, and she clearly showed she appreciated the
true import of the service.
The following quotations from Esther s letters to Dr.
Sherwood will give an idea of her style of thought, and
show that a Korean girl s heart is not so different from
that of an American girl after all :
" My very dear friend, I will tell you one story. You
are an American people and I am Korean girl ; but I
love you like sister, and I want you to please love like
your own sister. Jesus is our oldest Brother. I do right,
then I am Jesus sister, and you are Jesus sister, too.
To-day I am full of joy; to-day I shine very bright light."
Another time she writes in a different mood, probably-
after some reproof.
"You are wise more than me. I am unwise. Please
think I am unwise, and forgive me 490 times, my dear
doctor. I am Korean girl ; you are American lady. I
know your heart a little; you know my heart very well.
My heart is narrow, narrow. I cannot tell how much
my heart is narrow. I get angry quick. My heart is
just like your stove that gets red hot so quickly. I hope
my heart will become clear just like glass, and wide
just like the world. God is our Father ; He helps you
26
202
and me all the time, and see your heart and my heart
also. God sent you out to Korea, and sent me to this
house, and I think God wants me to help you many
years. Please do not forget me if you will be one hun
dred years old, or if you go to America."
Time passed rapidly on, and Esther became sixteen
years old ; her father had died, her two elder sisters were
married, and her mother and Korean friends became very
anxious that Esther should be married, as most Korean
girls are before the age of fourteen. As girls have to
wear their hair in a long braid down the back until they
are married, even the dispensary patients could not help
exclaiming when they saw her, "Why ! such a big girl
and not married, what can be the matter?" There is
no such thing as an unmarried woman in Korea, except
the dancing girls, and perhaps a few so deformed or
diseased that " go-betweens " could arrange no match
for them; so, though Esther feared marrying would in
terfere with her cherished idea of going some time to
America to graduate in medicine, yet she was so tor
mented by her relatives that she decided she would
have to abide by the customs of her people. Her
friends said if the missionaries did not find a husband
for her, they would get one from the country; and as
that meant a heathen, her missionary friends began to
look around, and finally decided upon a Mr. Pak, a
young man converted in Dr. Hall s work. So the en
gagement was arranged by a go-between," as, accord
ing to Korean custom, husband and wife must not see
each other until the marriage day. Dr. Sherwood s
own happy marriage, though at first a great grief to
Esther, later had done much to reconciling her to the
idea of marrying, and she behaved very sensibly about
it, as is shown by the following letter written to Mrs.
203
Hall. " My very precious sister, how are you to-day,
and my dear brother, Dr. Hall, is he quite well ? I am
well and happy. I was much pleased with your letter
yesterday. You wrote much, and also many strange
words. Now, I will tell you some strange words which
I never tell. Do you know how my heart feel ? Three
nights I could not go to sleep, and feel troubled, be
cause I never like man, and also I do not know how to
sew well ; but Korean custom all girls have to marry,
have to be husband and wife, 1 cannot help that, even
I do not like man. If our dear heavenly Father send
Mr. Pak here, and make me his wife, I will be his wife.
If God send me anywhere I will go. I do not care
about rich or poor, or high or low. You know I will
not get married to one who does not like Jesus word."
So May 24, 1893, they were married by the Christian
ceremony. As Esther had never known any man be
fore except Dr. Hall and a few other missionaries, it
was no more than natural that she should have been at
first rather disappointed in her husband, who, though
quite as good and better than most Korean husbands,
was of course rather different from the ideal Esther had
gained from what she knew of American husbands. It
was a year before she could say she loved her husband.
In the meantime, however, Esther continued faithful in
her work and studies, and became more useful than
ever; veiling herself in the "green silk coat" she was
now able to accompany the doctor often on her visits to
the houses of the people, and as her style of hairdress
now showed her to be a married woman, her earnest
words were listened to with respect. She took up the
study of instrumental music under the kind instruction
of Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Hulbert, and soon got so she
could accompany upon the organ a number of the
205
tunes used in our Sunday afternoon services at the dis
pensary ; she also proved an efficient leader of these
meetings. Her medical training was not neglected.
She became familiar with the Latin names of all the
drugs in the dispensary, and compounded most of the
prescriptions. She learned to administer the ether in
surgical operations, and sometimes when help was short
would hold the ether cone in one hand, and sponge the
wound with the other. And thus she became familiar
with the appearance and technical names of most of the
diseases met with in a dispensary and hospital practice
of six thousand cases a year.
Korean people dislike living in any other place than
that in which their family has lived for generations,
but when Mrs. Hall asked Esther if she would be will
ing to go to Pyong Yang, 180 miles away, to work for
Jesus, she replied, "I will go wherever Lord open the
door for me ; if He open door in Pyong Yang I will go ;
I give my body and soul and heart to the Lord ; my
body, and my heart, and my soul, are all the Lord s
things, and I give my life to teach my people about
God even if people kill me. I do not hope I get rich,
or have many pretty things, but I want to work for
Jesus most of all." So in April, 1894, she and her hus
band accompanied Dr. and Mrs. Hall to Pyong Yang.
Her missionary zeal was somewhat tried by her first
experience with seasickness, but it stood the test. The
following rather amusing account of this, her first sea
voyage, Esther wrote to Dr. Mary Cutler :
" I am in Pyong Yang. We came here just to-day. I am
very tired, but I want to talk to you just the same as if I
were with you. I wish I could tell you all what I saw, but
I am afraid I don t know how to spell these names. We
left Mrs. Jones s house on Friday about eleven o clock;
2O6
we came to water and went in a little boat and came
over to the steamer. The steamer was very great and
high, the very great-steamer I ever saw in my life." (But
not one quarter so large as one she crossed the Pacific
in not many months later.) " Each side had kind of
stairs made of wood and iron to help us come up. Mr.
Pak and Dr. Hall helped me up. There were many,
many men and dancing girls. Then we came up a
stairs to our room. It was small and dark and bad
smell. We were very tired, so we spread our beds and
lay down. I do not remember what all but I com
menced to seasick. I had very bad headache, also heart
ache, and I vomit and vomit all afternoon and all night.
I thought I was going to die on the steamer and my mind
was all gone. The steamer began to roll more and
Mrs. Hall s baby s nurse vomited up, and Mrs. Hall
vomit, and Dr. Hall vomit, and Mr. Pak s face looked
like a dead man. We all so seasick, therefore Dr. Hall
called one of the seamen to help take care of the baby.
Sunday we feel a little better so we ate some gruel.
On Monday we feel more better, and we ate a little
more gruel. We were on the steamer four days. O,
we had a hard time! On Monday afternoon we stop at
Po San harbor, then we came on in a river boat. This
boat had a little room dirty like a pigpen, full of bugs
and lice, and cannot lift our heads it was so low. We
lie down and try to sleep. We stay there all night.
Mr. O, one of the earnest Christians from Pyong Yang,
came to meet us, and in the morning we read our Bible,
and Mr. O made such a good prayer. We got to
Pyong Yang that afternoon and came in closed chairs
to the house where Dr. Hall stops."
Mr. Pak and Esther proved faithful helpers at Pyong
Yang. They were quite brave during those three days
207
of severe persecution when Chang Likey, Mr. O, and
other Pyong Yang Christians were thrown into prison.
One day Mr. Pak was seized by his topknot, beaten
and kicked, and ordered to be carried off to prison ; but
Dr. Hall was able to rescue him, to Esther s great re
lief. Later, when the persecution had subsided, Esther
proved efficient help to Mrs. Hall in opening the first
Christian work for the women and children of this city
of one hundred thousand people, called the " Sodom of
Korea." After a month of most interesting and suc
cessful work the whole party were obliged, much to
their regret, to return to Soul on account of the war.
After the great battle of Pyong Yang was fought, Dr.
Hall returned to follow up the work there, contracted
typhus fever, and returned home to die.
Mrs. Hall decided it would be best for her to return to
America for a season. Esther at once begged leave to go
with her, and Mrs. Hall thought perhaps the opportunity
had now come for Esther to pursue her long-cherished
idea of studying medicine in America, and, receiving per
mission from the mission and a little financial help from
individuals, she decided to bring her. Hesitating to
separate Esther for so long a time from her husband,
who had not had so good advantages even in Korea as
she had had, Mrs. Hall thought it wiser to bring both.
Mr. Pak is most industriously pursuing the study of
English, and at the same time has saved enough from
his earnings to help his wife quite substantially in pre
paring for her medical studies. On February i, 1895, Mrs.
Pak entered the public school at Liberty, N. Y. Differ
ent friends, believing in this practical form of mission
work, boarded or paid for her board each month, and
she made good progress in the schoolroom. Septem
ber, 1895, Mrs. Pak entered the "Nursery and Child s
208
Hospital," of New York city, where she was able to
earn her way for over a year, and at the same time
was kindly allowed to pursue her studies in Latin,
physics, and mathematics, under the instruction of
Mrs. Walberg, so that she became fairly well prepared
to enter a medical college last autumn. During the
winter, knowing Esther had several things to dis
courage her, Mrs. Hall wrote asking her if she was not
inclined to give up the idea of becoming a regular phy
sician and return to Korea with her soon. In her reply
Esther said : " While I am here, I would of course like
to have you live in America ; but I cannot please only
me, and also I do not wish to be selfish and hinder your
going back on account of me, but I like you to return
and help our poor sisters before I am ready. I know
God will send me a good faithful friend to help me.
I do not have a mind thatj will give up learning to be
a doctor if I can get into college safely. I know I will
have no other chance if I give it up now, so I don t
think to give it up if it is the Lord s will. Also Mr.
Pak wants me to learn to be a doctor more than any
thing. I will try all my best, and after I have done all
my best and can t learn, then I have to give it up, but
not before."
Mrs. Pak entered the Woman s Medical College of
Baltimore, October i, 1896 the first Korean woman to
take up the study of medicine. Dr. Cordell, secretary
of the faculty, says they find her intelligent and stu
dious. She has finished her first year s work with
credit, and will no doubt complete the full course in
three years more. Any interested reader desiring to
help defray Mrs. Pak s expenses may forward funds
to Mrs. E. B. Stevans, 607 Thompson Avenue, Balti
more, Md.
209
Anyone who has ever read of the ignorant and often
very cruel methods practiced by the native Korean
doctor, will surely deem it a privilege to aid Esther
Kim Pak in her laudable desire to become thoroughly
equipped in Western medical knowledge, that she may,
at the conclusion of her studies, help relieve her suffer
ing sisters in Korea.
Two KOREAN FABLES.
TRANSLATED FOR The Christian Herald w MRS. ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL
MISSIONARY AT PVONG YANG.
WHOSE CHICKEN ?
There was a man who was a famous magistrate in
Korea. Once there were two men who quarreled for a
chicken. One man said, "This is mine," and the other
also said thus. At last they came to the magistrate
and beseeched him to find out the true proprietor.
The magistrate said, " These two men each said he is
owner, how can I find out? But this chicken you
brought to sell to the market, did you not ? " " Yes,
sir," said they. :< Then what did you feed the chicken
at your houses when you left your houses in the morn
ing ?" asked the magistrate. "At my house I don t
have any other grain, but only have little corn, and I
fed her that sir," said one of them. "I fed her some
rice," said the other. The magistrate told his servant
to kill the chicken and cut open the crop, and
when he had clone so he found there plenty of
corn. The magistrate said to the man who said
that he had fed rice, " There is no use to remain
such a wicked man as you, but I will punish you
by some whipping only." And then he gave the
chicken to the servant to eat, and paid the innocent
man twice as much as the real price.
210
A GREAT BARGAIN.
There was a poor man who lived in the country, five
hundred li distant from Soul. His wife was very anx
ious for her husband having to suffer to go to Soul by
foot. One day there came a watermelon seller. Now
this village was in a deep valley of the mountain, and
she had never seen a watermelon before. She asked,
"What is it?"
The merchant saw the woman was simple and easily
deceived, and replied, " It is an egg of a donkey. If
you wrap it with cotton and keep it in a warm place of
the room, you would see a small donkey after a few
days." " What is the price ? " " One thousand cash,"
said the man. The woman had only three hundred
cash. She asked the merchant if he would sell one for
three hundred cash. Then she bought it. A few days
after, her husband came back. She was very glad to
come out to meet him, and said, " I bought a donkey
during your absence, and you will never suffer when
you go to examination after this." " How could you
buy it?" asked her husband. "Iliad money, but it
was too little to buy a big donkey, so I bought a don
key s egg, and it is nearly already to hatch," said she.
" How can a donkey have eggs ? Let me see what
you bought." She showed it to him under a coverlet,
but he found a watermelon half rotten. " How much
did you pay for it?" he said. "The merchant wanted
one thousand cash, but I paid three hundred," said
she. The husband was very angry, for they were so
poor, to think his wife had bought a watermelon for
three hundred cash when it was not thirty cash worth,
so he threw it under the fence. There was a rabbit
under the fence, and it ran away with great fright.
The woman cried and said, " Is not it an egg of a don-
21 I
key? The young donkey has run away. Why did
you not wait a little longer ? " The man then also
believed it was really an egg of a donkey. He ran
after the rabbit, but the rabbit ran into a gentleman s
barn and hid under the manger. Then he went to
the gentleman and told the story about what had hap
pened, and he wanted to take his young donkey back.
" My donkey has born a young one to-day; why are
you going to take it by force?" The man answered,
" Generally a donkey bears only one young; if there
are two, the one is yours, the other is mine." Then
they went to the barn and found there were two young
donkeys. " There s no doubt about it," said the gen
tleman to the man," but as it was born from the egg it
has no mother donkey to care for it, so you may keep
it here until it can eat grain."
HATS IN KOREA.
BY ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL, IN The Classmate.
The Korean man s hat costs more than any other
one article of wearing apparel more than his shoes,
more than his overcoat ! And yet it is of the least
utility ; it is so thin and gauzelike that it affords little
protection from either the cold in winter or the sun in
summer. It is very easily broken, and if caught in the
rain it is ruined. It seems as if they serve to mark
one s place or condition in life more than any other
purpose. As womankind is not supposed to be seen
outside of her own household, a hat is not provided
for her, and this correctly marks her as belonging to
the lo\vest order of society. Boys and the cooly class
also have no hats; and these poor, hatless people are
addressed in lower forms of speech and treated with
much less respect than the fortunate individual who
KOREAN HATS.
213
wears a hat. Then, again, one can tell by the hat
whether the man under it is a farmer, a priest, a
mourner, a soldier, a gentleman of the upper class, a
scholar, or a palace official.
The artist has represented several of these different
styles of hats in the picture. That in most general
use is the one at the top. They are most commonly
made of bamboo, split to the fineness of thread, and
woven with flax, and so lacquered as to resemble shin
ing black horsehair. Those made of real horsehair
are very expensive and only worn by the higher
classes. The brim of this hat is about five inches
wide; it is perfectly circular and flat; the crown is
six inches in diameter and about five in height,
slightly tapering, with a flat top five inches in diam
eter. The " old Mother Goose " style of hat beginning
to be worn by some American women, reminds one
strongly of the Korean hat. The crown being too
small to fit on the head, and the entire hat so light-
not weighing two ounces the softest summer breeze
would blow it from the head, strings of black silk
gauze are attached and tied beneath the chin ; or there
may be used instead, strings of amber beads, which are
considered very ornamental. Pins are not among the
inventions of Korea, but the hat pin would surely
prove most useful, for the men all have long hair, and
it is done up on top of the head in a tight twist about
three inches perpendicular. It is quite the proper
thing for this topknot to show through the thin walls
of the hat. When the country is in mourning for
some member of the royal family, then white hats with
white strings replace the black ones.
The three-storied, gauzelike affair the artist has
drawn at the left of the picture is known as the
2I 4
"scholar s cap." It is made of horsehair, and was
formerly worn only by those who had taken a literary
degree. To the right there is the " palace-going hat,"
which is also made of horsehair ; it has winglike projec
tions, supposed to aid in catching his majesty s words.
As its name implies, it is only worn by officials who
have business at the palace. One exception is made
to this rule, men upon their wedding day are allowed,
if their means permit, to rent the whole palace-going
dress, including the hat, and for this one day in their
lives even common men can dress like princes. Be
neath is represented a cap made of black silk gauze,
ornamented with gilt, with a cape flowing from the
back. This is sometimes worn by little boys at the
New Year holiday only. There is another ornamental
cap made mostly of strings of beads that may be given
to a baby, together with its first embroidered socks,
when it is one hundred days old.
Now let us notice the picture in the center. Here
we have a farmer boy; he is only a boy and not a man,
as may be told by his parted hair, which hangs in a
braid down his back instead of being put up in the
manly topknot. He is just coming in from the coun
try with a basket of farm produce, which, instead of
being balanced on a pole over his shoulder as the
Chinese would carry it, is placed upon a carrying rack,
called a "jiggy," and borne upon the back; very
heavy burdens are carried this way. His jacket and
trousers are made of white cotton cloth, loose and
baggy, as the style is in Korea ; he has rope shoes on his
feet, and in his hand is the "farmer s hat." This is
one of the largest of Korean hats, its hexagonal brim
measuring nearly eight feet in circumference; it is very
bluntly cone-shaped, like an umbrella, and is plaited of
215
coarse reeds or splints. Of much the same shape and
size is the " mourner s hat ; " it is made of quite fine
bamboo splints uncolored. Besides this immense hat,
completely hiding the upper half of the face, the Korean
mourner covers the lower half of his face with a piece
of coarse grasscloth stretched from two sticks which,
wound with the same cloth, extend as handles. Before
this mourning headgear was devised, mourners were
supposed to remain at home attending to no form of
business, until the whole three years of mourning had
passed. Do not imagine the Korean mourner observes
this custom for his wife ; no, it is for his father.
Should his wife die he simply uses for a brief period
unbleached grass-cloth strings to tie his trousers at the
ankle, and to gird them at the waist instead of the colored
strings generally used.
The hat of the Korean Buddhist priest is very sim
ilar to the mourner s hat, but not quite so large. The
soldiers wear hats of coarse black felt, in shape and
size about like the first hat described. Official chair
coolies also wear coarse felt hats of a brownish color,
with a rounded top, and with red plumes.
As has before been intimated, in Korea only men
married men wear hats. Every boy looks forward with
eager longing to that happy day when his crown may be
shaved, and his long hair combed up over it and
twisted into the beloved topknot the loose or straggling
short hairs are held up by means of the headband,
which is a net made of either horsehair, or, the finest
ones of human hair; it is bound on its lower edge with
black satin, and by means of strings and small rings
attached at the ends it is drawn very tightly about the
head, passing across the upper part of forehead as
shown in the picture. This arrangement is called a
BY PER. WOMAN S MISSIONARY FRIEND.
A KOREAN MOURNER.
217
mang kun, and it is much more neat than it is com
fortable. Crowning all, now comes the hat, and the
boy, though he may not be more than ten or twelve
years of age, emerges at once into the dignity of man
hood, invested with all its privileges. The name by
which he has been known as a boy is put aside, and
there is added to his surname a generation and a
given name by which he is henceforth known. He
now offers sacrifice before the tablets of his ancestors,
and calls upon his father s friends, being received for
the first time in his life as their equal. Perhaps not
the least of the rights belonging to this newly-made
man is that of marriage, the ceremony of which is
usually performed the same day he puts up his hair
and assumes the hat.
The Korean word for hat is hot. When a Korean en
ters a house to make a call, he leaves his shoes at the door,
but keeps his hat on. Even at dinner he would not re
move it ; he might take it off at home with his most inti
mate friends, but never in the presence of a superior.
FROM THE OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE TENTH ANNUAL
MEETING OF THE KOREA MISSION OF THE
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
Wednesday, January 23, 1895.
Devotional. Devotional exercises were conducted by
Bishop Joyce.
Journal. Journal read and approved as read.
Resolutions. The following resolution, prepared by
G. H. Jones, was presented and adopted.
" In the latter end of 1894 the Board appointed Wm.
B. Scranton, M.D., of Cleveland, O., and Henry G.
Appenzeller, a student in Drew Theological Seminary,
its first missionaries to Korea, and directed them to
28
218
proceed to that country and found a mission, to be car
ried on under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. On the night of December 4, 1894, now fa
mous in Korean history as the date of the enieute, Bishop
Fowler, unconscious of the bloody scenes being enacted
in Korea at the time, ordained Dr. Scranton, in New
York city, to deacon s and elder s orders for the pur
poses of missionary propaganda in that country.
"The two brethren started for Korea. At San Fran
cisco, on February 2, 1895, the day before they set sail
from their native land. Bishop Fowler ordained brother
Appenzeller to deacon s and elder s orders. Brother
Appenzeller was the first to reach Korea, coming as far
as Chemulpo, where he landed April 5, 1885. After a
short experience of the pseudo-hotels and embryonic
character of that place he retraced his route to Japan,
returning again to Korea with Dr. Scranton s family,
whither Dr. Scranton had, in May, preceded them. Dr.
Scranton \vas the first of our mission to reach Soul,
where he arrived May 3, 1885. These brethren came
into a land of which little was known by Christian
nations ; to a city where the hardly cooled embers of
bloody political strife threatened at any moment to
burst out afresh ; to a people who had been trained for
generations to look with suspicion upon all men of
western nations. Amid blind alleyways, mud huts,
cesspools, and indescribable sanitary conditions they set
up their homes ; they grappled with the mysteries of
an unknown tongue; they set themselves to work to
master the conditions of the field to which, in the provi
dence of God, the Church had assigned them, and in
the face of an avowed hostility to the religion of Christ
began to lay the foundations of the Redeemer s king
dom in Korea.
2I 9
"With no desire to lavish praise, it is but meet that
their history should be recorded. Through all the
cholera scourge of 1886, when thousands died in Soul
and the gates of the city were never closed to allow the
unending procession of the dead to pass under them
they and their families remained at their posts to do
what they could in Christ s name. More than once
peril to life and property has threatened, but never once
did these brethren falter.
" To-day they look upon a mission which has grown
from two families and one Woman s Foreign Mission
ary Society worker to six families and six Woman s
Foreign Missionary Society workers ; upon a church
which numbers, of our own communion, two hundred
and fifty souls, and which has spread from Soul into the
provinces; upon the broad beginnings of a Christian
literature and a Christian school system. Therefore,
be it
"Resolved, That this Annual Meeting extends its sin-
cerest and heartiest congratulations to Brothers Scran-
ton and Appenzeller and their noble wives upon having
completed, amid circumstances so complimentary to
themselves, the first ten years of missionary effort in
Korea ; and as a testimonial to them we direct that this
paper be inscribed in .the journal of this meeting and
published in the printed Minutes."
WOMAN S WORK IN KOREA.
By LILLIAS H. UNDERWOOD, M.D., IN THE Korean Repository.
The history of woman s work in the Presbyterian
Mission during the past ten years has been that of be
ginnings. We have been preparing the ground and
laying foundations, and the few fruits to which we can
point represent in no way the results of the work that
L -
221
God has done and is doing by us. As we review the
past we see mistakes and errors, steps taken wrongly
and sadly retraced, but over all God s continued bless
ing and a slow but sure and steady growth, a great in
crease of interest on all sides, a good foundation laid,
and a band of earnest, strong-hearted young mission
aries, some of whom, with the language now ready for
effective work, are stepping forth to the rescue of their
Korean sisters. We see not a few native Christian
homes where Korean mothers are teaching their little
ones to pray and sing, "Jesus loves me." We see a
band of bright little girls gathered in a healthful, happy
school, in a locality where they are as a city set upon a
hill, being taught to be useful, practical Christian
women. We see that women s Gospel meetings and
Bible classes are being held not only in Soul but in
various places in the country as well ; and we see great
numbers of women receiving medical aid, and with it
the word of God from three, and in a short time we
hope to say four, dispensaries in this city, as well as one in
Fusan. Not the least among the blessings granted by our
gracious Master has been the unity and sincere affection
which marked our relation with the devoted women of
our sister mission, and may God grant that the past in this
respect at least may cast a long shadow into the future.
But the lines of our influence include more than
schools, hospitals, and Bible classes. Innumerable
women are received into our homes as sight-seers. Nor
is it the least difficult part of a labor of love for a busy
housekeeper to drop everything, from the bread to the
baby, and in season and out of season be ready to
speak a word to these ubiquitious visitors. To these
women the truths of the Gospel are carefully stated, and
many of them carry away tracts and leaflets.
222
Nor is this all. Constant, faithful visitation is being
made to the homes, more and more of which are open
ing to us ; frequent trips have been made to the river
villages and for nearly a hundred miles into the coun
try in different directions. One of our ladies has car
ried the Gospel across the peninsula to Wonsan ; one
south to Chun Choo and one north to the Chinese bor
der in Wi-ju; and we like to think that thus, in the form
of the cross, has the story of the Cross been carried.
Ten years ago it was thought hardly safe for ladies to
enter Korea as missionaries, and seven years ago the
writer s life was threatened on the street, and her chair
bearers told they should die if they carried her to the
hospital, so that it was necessary to go there on horse
back for a day or two. This year the Gospel was
preached to the queen (would God it had been done
oftener and more persistently ! ), and her majesty
thanked us for the good work we were doing for the
Korean women and girls.
We believe the first woman converted in Korea was
one who died at the hospital in the very early days.
Told by Dr. Allen of a bright world beyond, free from
sickness and sorrow, she died with smiles of joy, ex
claiming, " For me, for me ! " Dr. Allen and Dr. Heron
treated many women at the hospital, and many came to
their homes. Mrs. Heron after a while received a class
of women twice a week, several of whom were among
the first members of our church baptized in 1888.
Some of these are still with us, some have fallen asleep,
while one has found that she was not of us.
Miss Ellers, the first trained nurse in Korea, arrived
in 1886. She saw large numbers of patients at the
hospital and won high favor at the palace. Within a
year she became Mrs. Bunker, and the writer was sent
223
out. One year after her arrival, the first trip into the
country made by a foreign woman was taken, going as
far as We Ju. Thousands of Korean women were seen,
books and medicines were widely distributed. With a
picture book and a small moiety of the language, an ef
fort was made to tell the women the story of a Saviour.
This at Songdo, Whang-ju, Pyong Yang, Ano-ju, Kang-
ga, Wi-ju, and many smaller places. Miss Hayden
arrived in 1888 and took charge of the little girl whom
Mrs. Bunker had been teaching as the first pupil in the
girls school. She is now, by the way, a dear little Chris
tian mother. On my return from Wi-ju another
Bible class was started. From this nucleus a regular
Sunday service was opened, and the meetings were taken
in charge later by Mrs. Gifford, who has kept them up
ever since.
When sickness deprived the mission of a woman
physician in 1890, Dr. Heron, and later Dr. Vinton
followed again by Dr. Avison received and treated
thousands of women.
Mrs. Heron, some time after the death of her hus
band, instituted a Saturday sewing and Bible class, and
somewhat later a series of regular weekly visits among
Korean ladies. Miss Doty arrived in 1890 and joined
Mrs. Gifford in the care of the school. Mrs. Baird came
in February, 1891, Mrs. Vinton in 1891, and in quick
succession were followed by Mrs. Dr. Brown, Mrs.
Moore, Miss Arbuckle, Miss Strong, Mrs. Swallen, Mrs.
Miller; and also by the ladies of the Southern Presby
terian Mission, Mrs. Reynolds, Mrs. Junkin, Miss Davis,
and Miss Tate. Our own mission was reinforced later
by Mrs. Avison, who arrived here in 1893, Mrs. Irvin,
Mrs. Lee and her mother, Mrs. Webb; the following
year and last year we greeted Mrs. Dr. Whiting and
224
Miss Jacobson. The latest reinforcements to the
Southern Presbyterian Mission are Mrs. Drew and Mrs.
Bell.
The first lady of the Australian Presbyterian Mission
was Miss Davis, who arrived in 1889, and, on the death
of her devoted brother, returned to Australia in 1890.
The Australian ladies, Miss J. Perry, Miss Menzies, and
Miss Moore, now in Korea, have been in Fusan three
years, and have gathered a promising little school of
twelve pupils, are holding three Sabbath and several
weekly services for women and girls. They also have
a native Bible woman who takes quite extended coun
try trips and visits the women of the villages. Mr. and
Mrs. Baird left Soul in the fall of 1891 and were joined
a year later by Dr. and Mrs. Brown. In 1892, Mrs.
Gale left the Soul station for Wonsan, followed, in
1894, by Mrs. Swallen. Miss Arbtickle was moved in
1895 from the school work to which she had at first
been appointed, and placed at the government hos
pital. Miss Strong was also obliged to leave the school
on account of sickness, leaving Miss Doty alone with
Korean assistants. The school, in the meanwhile, has
been moved to a most desirable location in Yun Mot
Kohl, and domiciled in a commodious building in the
center of a thickly settled district. Mrs. Gifford for a
long time was the only woman in our mission able to
do systematic woman s work. The arrival of the single
ladies of our own and of the Southern Presbyterian
Mission was a much-needed reinforcement. Miss Davis
for over a year has been reaching great numbers of
women at In Sung Putchai, and Miss Tate has lent her
welcome and most efficient aid at hospitals and wom
en s meetings, and for over a year has been conducting
women s meetings at Yak Kuin. She also made a long
225
trip to the south, carried the Gospel to hundreds of
women there, and last month left Soul to make Chun
Chu her permanent field of labor.
The number of women attending these various meet
ings is large and steadily increasing. The same may
be said of the meetings held at other places.
We are seeking by these varied agencies to "sow
beside all waters." Often, alas, only weakly and half
heartedly the seed has been sown, and is now germi
nating out of sight to bring forth in the next decade a
glorious harvest; but, like little children, we cannot
wait ; we want to dig up our seeds, count them, and see
if they are growing. Let us rather trust the Lord and
calmly abide the sure result. I believe and am sure it
is the ambition of us all to seek to establish the true
knowledge and pure worship and faith of the one true
God and His Son, our blessed Saviour. We are not as
eager to see a large number of women entered on our
rolls as to be sure that the Gospel in purity and sim
plicity is being spread far and wide. God alone can
bless His word : we alone, in the mystery of His will,
can publish it. He can and must gather in the fruits,
we only sow the seed. His book is the only reliable
church roll of members, but He will require from us an
account of how we have published His call. Ah! how
poor, how small our work appears, as we look it over on
the human side. How full of mercy and grace on the
divine side. In this alone we take heart for the future,
"Looking unto Jesus."
SOUL, KOREA, January, 1896.
29
226
WOMAN S WORK IN KOREA.
BY MKS. M. F. SCKAXTON, IN Korean Repository.
The Korean work of the Woman s Foreign Mission
ary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church may be
said to have had its beginning in the little town of
Revenna, O., in September of the year 1883. A
district missionary meeting was being held there, at
which time work in India and Japan was given par
ticular prominence. The unopened field of Korea had
not entered into the thought of the speaker of the day.
One dear old lady was present, however, whose heart
and eye the Lord had opened to see and feel for those
whom all others present had forgotten. She rose and
said she had a small sum of money which she had
dedicated to God. She wished to place it in the hands
of the Missionary Society to be held in trust until such
time as Korea should be opened to the Gospel. She
expressed the earnest hope that it might be the nucleus
around which other sums should speedily gather that
the women and girls of Korea also might be brought to
a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. It is certain
that from this time forward prayers went heavenward
for this dark land.
In October of the following year the first representa
tive of the Woman s Foreign Missionary Society to
Korea, Mrs. M. F. Scranton was appointed.
A speedy going forth to the field was planned for
and anticipated. Political disturbances, however, held
us back, and it was June 20, 1885, when we first set
foot on Korean soil. You who have come more re
cently, can, I think, scarcely realize the difference be
tween the Korea of to-day and the country to which we
came more than ten years ago. To-day there are
gleams of brightness and promise all along the horizon.
227
Then it was only as we looked upward and beyond the
stars that we could see a ray of light or hope. The
presence of the foreigner was not desired. We were
counseled by our United States representatives to use
the utmost caution in manner and speech. We were
not expected to make manifest in any way the designs
we had in coming to the country. Nothing remained,
therefore, for us to do but to win hearts, if such a thing
lay within the range of possibilities, and acquire the
language. Both of these under the circumstances
proved difficult. Our presence on the street in too
close proximity to the women s apartments was often
times the signal for the rapid closing of doors and speedy
retreat behind screens, while children ran screaming
with as much lung power as they could bring to bear on
the occasion. Then, too, how could one expect quickly
to acquire the language when there were no books, no
teachers worthy of the name, and no interpreters whose
knowledge went further than the simplest form of
speech. It was no great feat to get a vocabulary of
nouns, but when it came to verbs and we were obliged
to "act" them, it sometimes became puzzling, not to
say ludicrous.
We had no fine houses in those days. My drawing
room and study was eight feet by twelve. On all sides
but one (that leading to my sleeping apartment) there
were only paper partitions between me and the outside
world. This, during the summer, was not a serious
defect, but when winter came it had its objections.
There was no window glass anywhere to let in the
brightness and sunshine, until one happy day Mr.
Foulk, our charge d affaires, made me a present of three
photograph plates. These I thankfully, if not proudly,
inserted in the window near my desk, and once more
228
rejoiced in being able to see, at least with one eye at a
time, the light of heaven again.
I suppose missionaries ought to be so far above the
earth as never to think of the "what shall we eat;" but
in this respect I am quite confident the first representa
tives to Korea, during their first summer, signally failed.
The meal in the barrel, if it did not "waste," turned sour,
which was nearly as bad, and Japan and China were far
away. Beef was forbidden on account of disease
among the cattle. Of potatoes and other vegetables,
there were none. But there were chickens and eggs.
While we were forced to acknowledge that in outward
appearance these resembled those we call by that name
in the home land, the taste we thought as different as
the two countries themselves. But we ate them, "not
one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days;
but even a whole month," two months, "until they
came out at our nostrils." Is it any wonder that even
missionaries sometimes longed for "the leeks and
onions of Egypt?"
The experiences of the first few months, while not
free from trials and annoyances of various kinds, were
nevertheless, on the whole, very pleasant ones. A day
was never so dark but that at its close we could
honestly say, "We are glad to be in Korea." Whether
we won the people s hearts or no, it is certain they won
ours, and the desire grew more and more intense to be
a blessing to them.
Firmly believing that for the most speedy advance
ment of the country the women and girls must be
educated, plans were early formed for the fitting up of
a home and school building. The first purchase of
property was made in October, 1885. It consisted of
nineteen straw huts and a very unsightly strip of
23
unoccupied land. To eyes which looked on that picture,
the one which now presents itself seems one of beauty.
The huts have been transformed into a home worthy of
the name ; the barren sands have become a grassy lawn,
and the stony lane and foul gutters have been hidden
away under green terraces.
All possible preparations for building were made
during the winter of 1885, and early in the spring of
1886 the work was commenced. The shouts of the
workmen as they prepared the ground, tramping and
stamping to the beat of the drum, was far s\veeter
music than such sounds ordinarily are. I felt that
every step brought me nearer the day when I should,
through the school, get into closer relation to the
people whom I so longed to help. The "shoutings"
which brought forth the plain upon which to erect
our house, drew from my heart the echo, "Grace, grace
unto it."
In November of the same year, we took possession of
the home, though much more work remained to be done.
We are indebted to Mr. M. E. Blackstone, of Oak Park,
111., for a large portion of the money spent in the erec
tion of our home and school building.
School work was commenced in the house of Dr.
Scranton six months previous to the removal to the new
home. It began with one scholar. She was the
concubine of an official who was desirous his wife
should learn English, with the hope that she might
some time become interpreter for the queen. She re
mained with us only about three months. The first
permanent pupil came in June, 1886, one month later
than Mrs. Kim. Poverty unquestionably brought the
girl to us, but not many days had passed before the
mother felt it better to brave poverty rather than trust
231
her child to a foreigner. The neighbors accused her of
being a bad woman and an unnatural mother, or she
would never have trusted her to the No Pou In. They
said it might be well for a little time ; there would be
plenty of food and of good clothes, but by and by she
would be carried away to America, and what her fate
would be there no one could tell. An assurance was
finally given in writing that the child should never be
carried out of the country, which partially satisfied the
mother for a while, though it was several months before
she was really at ease.
The second pupil was a little waif who, with her sick
mother, was picked up out by the city wall by Dr.
Scranton and taken first to his hospital for treatment.
Koreans watched these girls very closely. As they
did not find them unhappy or ill treated other mothers
gradually gained a little confidence, and at the time
of removal to the home on the hill the school num
bered four, and the following January we counted
seven.
School duties, had they been the only ones, would
not have been arduous for one person to perform alone;
but these, added to the care of building and many other
pursuits and responsibilities, made a burden far too
heavy for the one representative in the field.
October 20, 1887, however, brought us relief. It was
marked a red-letter day " in our calendar, for it
brought us Miss L. C. Rothweiler and Dr. Meta How
ard. Miss Rothweiler immediately entered upon school
work, and Dr. Howard went to our Parent Board Hos
pital, where, with the help of Dr. Scranton, she was able
to begin medical work among the women. She contin
ued there until November of the next year, when we
removed to a hospital of our own.
232
In January, 1888, we organized a Sunday school.
Members of our household had, of course, always re
ceived more or less religious instruction, but it had
been thought expedient that it should be given in most
informal ways. We felt that now the time had arrived
for us to vindicate our right to be called "Methodists,"
by being more systematic and orderly in our assem
bling and teaching. School opened with twelve girls,
three native women, the three missionaries of the
home, and one of our parent board ladies.
One month later meetings were commenced among
the women. This step would not have been taken
quite so early had it not been for the repeated requests
of the Korean Christian men. They said, " We are be
ing taught; why should not our wives learn the doc
trine aiso." We told them over and over again that
our opportunities for study had been so limited we
knew too little of the language to take up the work of
formally teaching any but members of the household.
Our words had no effect upon them ; they came again
and again with the same request, until we dared not re
fuse any longer. A few women seemed glad to come.
They claimed to understand our words and to be
interested; but this is a subject upon which I have
always had my doubts. The meetings were discontin
ued after two months on account of the illness and en
forced absence of the leader.
The following May an order was received from our
American minister bidding us cease religious instruc
tion of every kind whatsoever. The Romanists had
committed acts which brought all foreigners into dis
favor. China, as we then thought and now believe,
for political reasons also added much " fuel to the
flame." For some weeks the excitement among the
233
people was great, and the lives and property of foreign
ers were thought to be in peril. Under the circum
stances we decided it was best to send our girls to their
homes until the trouble should be over.
Although the girls were glad to go to places of greater
safety, there was much weeping and wailing when they
came to bid us good-bye. They were sure we were
to lose our lives, and they would never see our faces
again.
On two different occasions a crowd gathered about
our gate and threatened to kill our servants. Guards
were appointed, who vigilantly patrolled our compounds,
and we held ourselves, in accordance with the direc
tions of our United States minister, in constant readi
ness to leave at a moment s notice. After about six
weeks, however, the disturbances all came to an end.
The girls returned to us and work went on as usual,
with the exception of the women s meetings, which
were not resumed till the following September. At
that time we tried the experiment of having one of the
native Christian men. talk to the women from behind a
screen. These meetings were largely attended. Many
seemed interested and many only curious. In the
month of September the ordinance of baptism was
administered to three women ; they received the name s
of Mary, Martha, and Salome. After this we had a few
months of prosperity. We believed we were gaining
the confidence of the people, and that many of them
were being convinced that the doctrines we taught
were what they needed for their salvation. Suddenly
we were again forbidden " to speak at all or teach in
the name of Jesus." This was in February, 1889. We
obeyed in part ; that is, we discontinued public teach
ing, but continued the services with our women and
30
234
girls as usual. We told the outside women they must
not come any more. They were scarcely more recon
ciled to this order of things than were we, and fre
quently came to inquire if the time had not now
arrived when they could come to us as formerly. One
Sunday evening a woman ventured to come notwith
standing the injunction which had peen placed upon her.
She came in while we were at prayer, dropped down in
a corner out of sight, and was not discovered by the
leader until service was nearly over. At the close of
the meeting she said: "Won t you please let me come
every Sunday night ? There is only a little rice at our
house and not much wood, and living is very difficult.
Coming here and listening to the good words and the
sweet songs makes my heart lighter. Won t you please
let me come every Sunday? "
I assure you it was not an easy matter under such
circumstances to obey the "powers that be," and it
was not many months before we forgot all about " laws "
and found ourselves at work in evangelistic lines with
more energy than ever before. Before many weeks we
had the great joy of seeing the rite of baptism admin
istered to three of our girls and to our Enmoun teacher.
In the fall of 1889 Dr. Howard was obliged to leave us
on account of her health and returned to her home in
America. During the two years she was with us she
treated 3,000 patients. Shortly after this daily evan
gelistic services were begun in the dispensary waiting
room. These have been continued until the present
and have been productive of much good.
On December 31 of this year our records read as
follows : Number of women in attendance upon our
Sunday evening service during the year, not including
the women and girls of our own household, 1,064 J
235
patients treated by parent board physicians, in the ab
sence of our own doctor, 2,000 ; number of pupils in the
school, 26 ; number of probationers in the church, 20.
In the spring of 1894 Mrs. Dr. Hall accompanied
her husband to Pyong Yang with the full purpose of
opening both medical and evangelistic work among the
women of that city. She took our Esther with her to
assist in both branches of the work. They had scarcely
got into their homes before a storm of persecution
burst upon them. For a time it seemed as if not only
their lives were in peril, but also those of all who were
in any way connected with them. Mrs. Hall, however,
bravely opened her dispensary and commenced work
as calmly as if on the wave of prosperity. Esther, too,
began to teach the people. A goodly number availed
themselves of the opportunity of consulting the foreign
physician, and a few came to the religious services.
They were able to continue this work for about one
month only, having been ordered by the English consul,
on account of the disturbed state of the country, to
return to Soul at once. This was a great regret to
Mrs. Hall. She felt that an important work could be
done there if time could only be allowed her. She
still cherishes the hope of resuming the work by and by.
The war excitements of the spring and summer of
1894 made for a time sad work with the school. The
mothers and relatives of our girls, upon the coming of
the Japanese army and the rumors of the immense
numbers of Chinese in the North who were soon to
swoop down upon us, became much alarmed, and
begged to be permitted to take their children away.
They said, " Perhaps they will be no safer with us than
with you, but since we shall all probably die we wish
to die together." Under the circumstances we could
2 3 6
not refuse to let the girls go, and it seemed at one
time as if we were in danger of losing every pupil ex
cept such as had no home or friends. But this, like
other excitements to which we are subject in Korea,
soon subsided, and most of the girls were thankful to
get back to us again. A few were taken to other
provinces, and we have never seen them since. Two
or three mothers also improved the opportunity to give
their girls away in very early marriage. All the gaps
were soon filled, however, and school work again pros
pered.
Notwithstanding the excitements caused by invad
ing armies and Tong Hak rebellions, evangelistic work
had few interruptions during the entire year. For a
few weeks our congregations were somewhat smaller,
but not a Sunday service was omitted, and, as far as my
knowledge goes, only one week-day meeting. Trouble
in many instances seemed to bring our people nearer
to God ; we added to our work rather than subtracted
from it. Meetings were commenced at Chong No
December i. When the year came to a close it found
our churches with an increase of membership, and we
believe with an increase of spirituality as well.
As a brief record of the last year of the ten I think
I cannot do better than give a few statistics. One of
our evangelistic workers reports that during six months
she has conducted 140 meetings and made 50 visits to
the homes of the people. Another tells that during
eight months of the year she received 3,000 Koreans in
her own rooms, and to nearly all of these gave religious
instruction. Another Sunday school has been organ
ized with an attendance of women and girls ranging
from 30 to 65. One church reports that the number
of members (women) has more than quadrupled dur-
237
ing the last year, and every church testifies to a goodly
increase. Our women are learning to deny themselves
for the sake of Christ and his cause. More than $100
has been given by them for the church which is be
ing built in Chong Dong, and in each of the other
churches week by week contributions have been made,
which should be accounted generous. They give, not
out of their abundance, but out of their poverty. Dr.
Cutler reports : " Hospital has been opened for regular
work only 161 days. But 3,429 cases have been treated,
170 out-visits made, and 53 patients received into the
hospital ; 3,302 women were taught in the dispensary
on week days and 1,786 on the Sabbath. Our school is
larger and more prosperous than ever before, now num
bering 43. We believe the Ewa Hak Tang is a great
blessing to this land. Five of our girls are employed as
Bible women. Another is in America to prepare herself
for medical work among her countrywomen. Others
have gone to their own homes, where they are trying
to live Chrisian lives. A large proportion of the girls in
the school are Christians, and we believe there is not
one among the least of them but expects to become
such, and when she is old enough to be listened to,
to tell the story, as she has heard it, of Jesus and his love."
We give praise and glory to God for the wonderful
work he hath wrought among the women and girls of
this land.
Number of missionaries employed, 7 ; number of
pupils registered from beginning of school, 94; num
ber of patients treated in the hospital, 21,000; number
of out-visits, 971 ; number of towns and villages visited,
24; number of members and probationers, 171 ; number
of Bible women employed, 7 ; and 7 books and tracts
translated.
CHAPTER IX.
Dr. Hall s Published Letters.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrfiice, holy, acceptable unto
God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to
this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect
will of God. The Apostle Paul
Letter from Yokohama First impressions of Korea Expedition to
Wi-ju with Rev. Mr. Jones Appointment and visit to Pyong
Yang Rev. Graham Lee relates an incident in Dr. Hall s third
country trip A tour to Wi-ju with Rev. Mr. Noble Letter
relating the origin of the Pyong Yang Fund Ten weeks of
pioneer work in Korea s ancient capital Dr. Hall takes his
family with him upon his eighth trip to Pyong Yang Sight
seers Native Christians cast into prison and tortured Water
supply cut off Protection at last Work carried on success
fully by both Dr. and Mrs. Hall Recall to Soul War Dr.
Scranton writes of the work of the summer of 1894 in the
Si PyengWon Rev. Mr. Appenzeller gives his reminiscences of
July 23, 1894 The last trip to Pyong Yang Rev. Mr. Lee s
Description of the Pyong Yang battlefield Dr. Hall s last pub
lished letter Rev. Mr. Moffett tells how the doctor s work was
completed.
FROM YOKOHAMA.
AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM W. J. HALL, M.D., TO THE Athens Reporter.
On the morning of November 12 I bade good-bye to
friends and loved ones, and started on my voyage of
nearly ten thousand miles as a medical missionary to
far-off Korea.
Six days and nights are consumed in our trip of three
thousand miles across the continent. The most inter
239
esting features of this trip are the vast prairies of the
Northwest and the Rocky Mountains. The scene of
our passage through the Rockies is fascinating in its
terror. In many places the railway is notched into the
face of the cliffs of the mountain, which rises thousands
of feet above us, and the river and valley are seen
hundreds of feet below us. During our journey we
have had ample opportunity to become acquainted with
many of our fellow-passengers, and to deal personally
with them.
We arrived in Vancouver on the afternoon of the eigh
teenth, and set sail from there to Yokohama on the morn
ing of the nineteenth. There are seventy-seven pas
sengers in the first and second saloons, twenty-five of
whom are missionaries. There are about three hundred
Chinese in the steerage.
The missionaries represent the following societies :
Church Missionary Society (Church of England), 9;
China Inland Mission, 5 ; American Baptist, 4 ; Metho
dist Episcopal, i; Wesleyan Methodist, i; Independent,
i; American Presbyterian, i; Scotch National Bible
Society, i; unconnected, i.
We have union meetings each day, which have been
a great source of blessing to us all. Every afternoon
there is a Bible reading, a service for the sailors and
Chinese, and a prayer meeting in the evening.
On Sabbath we had two services in the first saloon.
A great deal of personal work is being done among the
passengers. I never met a more consecrated band than
the missionaries on board. We are already cemented to
gether as one great family, and it will be a trial to sep
arate. Denominational lines are lost sight of, and we
have only one aim, the glory of God and the salvation
of souls.
2 4
The work among the Chinese is very interesting.
The first day I went among them, one who spoke a
little English came up to me and said : " You a good
man ? You look like a good man. You look like a Jesus
man." I realized as never before that we were indeed
"living epistles known and read of all men ; " that the
Holy Spirit may so fill our hearts that He will reveal
Himself through our countenances ; that we may preach
Christ even though we may not utter a word. We were
also enabled to tell the Chinese of a Saviour s love
through an interpreter.
Our bible readings are increasing in interest and
blessing. On Saturday it fell to my lot to lead. The
subject was consecration. To-night (November 30)
we have had one of the best missionary meetings I
have ever attended. A large proportion of the pas
sengers and crew were present. Prominent among the
passengers were the Governor of Hong Kong and the
Vice President of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Chief
Justice Way, of Adelaide, South Australia, presided, and
in his opening address related a number of incidents
that came under his own observation, attesting the
value of foreign missions. He was followed by three
who had been engaged in mission work in China, and
who are now on their way back to their fields of labor.
As they spoke of their experience in China, a great
deal of interest was awakened, and we all felt that much
good must result from the meeting.
On the morning of December 2 we were all up bright
and early packing up our baggage and getting ready
to leave the steamer, as we were within a few miles of
Yokohama. The coast as far as we could see was dotted
with the white sails of small fishing boats. The first
sight that aroused our curiosity as we steamed into the
241
harbor was to see about fifty sampan (native boats),
coming toward the steamer, each anxious to get a pas
senger. A friend was awaiting us, so, after arran
ging our baggage, we were transferred to a beautiful
steam yacht and taken ashore. Our baggage was taken
by coolies (Japanese laborers) to the customhouse and
examined. Our attention was at once drawn to the
the jinrikishas (small two-wheeled carriages drawn by
men), which were standing about twenty in number
near the depot, the owners of which were very anxious
to be engaged. Passenger after passenger got into one
of these jinrikishas and were trotted off at the same
rate that a horse would travel. They run about six
miles an hour, and can travel forty or fifty miles a day.
It seemed very peculiar at first to be drawn about the
city by a man, but we soon got accustomed to it.
We started for the capital, Tokyo, which is about
eighteen miles from Yokohama, as soon as we could
get a train. The cars are quite comfortable, and run
about eighteen miles an hour. We soon found ourselves
passing through a most beautiful tract of country ; rice
fields which had lately been harvested, and the straw
still remaining in the field. They thresh the rice by tak
ing small bundles and striking them against the side of
a large tub. The straw is used for thatching houses, mak
ing mats, shoes, ropes, etc. They do not use horses in
farming, as we do, but do nearly all their work by hand.
They prepare the soil with a tool somewhat similar to our
hoe, but the blade is much heavier, and about fifteen
inches long and five inches wide. Their rice fields have
to be in low lands, which are irrigated by the rivers,
which are turned out of their channels and made to flow
through the land in a large number of small streams
turned into the rice fields. Everything presented the
31
243
appearance of a beautiful morning in spring. The birds
were singing, and the air was soft and balmy. The
trees and shrubs remain green throughout the year.
Flowers of various kinds are seen blooming everywhere
all seasons of the year. The country is very uneven,
and the verdure of different hues covering hill and
valley presents a most beautiful spectacle. This appears
to be an earthly paradise.
Soon we arrived in Tokyo, which has a population of
1,200,000. We engaged a jinrikisha at eight cents per
hour to take us through the city. We first visited some
of the temples, and after paying a small sum were
shown through them. They are magnificently adorned
with gold, bronze, and elaborate carvings. Here
" The heathen in his blindness
Bows down to wood and stone."
I never felt more grateful than then for the privileges
and blessings I was enjoying through the Gospel, and I
longed to be able to tell them of a Saviour s love. In
Yokohama I visited a great many places of interest, and
among them one of the Christian schools. Here the
children of the Japanese, in addition to their regular
course of study, are instructed in the Gospel, and all
the scholars attend the Sabbath school. In Kobe I
went with a missionary to a Japanese prayer meeting^
After wending our way in a jinrikisha through several
narrow alleys, some of which are only about four feet
wide, we came to a small Japanese house. The windows
consisted of frames covered with white paper. The door
was made from slats about an inch in width and an
inch and a half apart. This was also covered with
paper. On sliding back the door we passed through
into the entry or hall. Here we were told to remove our
shoes. This being done we entered the house proper,
245
the floor of which was covered with straw matting. The
owner of the house and his wife got down on their
knees and made two bows, their foreheads almost touch
ing the floor. We returned the salute in a similar man
ner. We were then invited up a narrow ladder lead
ing to a room where a number of native Christians were
met. The salutes were repeated. There were no chairs
or furniture of any kind in the room, as the Japanese
sit, eat, and sleep upon the floor. We were handed
a small mat about twenty inches square for a seat.
They sang several Japanese hymns, and a number led
in prayer. I spoke to them for a few minutes through
an interpreter. After the meeting our host gave us
tea of a delicious flavor, but very weak. Cakes were
passed around with chopsticks, and oranges in abun
dance. On leaving, the salute was repeated as at the
beginning.
From Kobe to Korea we took a native steamer, all
on board being Japanese but two. On Sunday I held
a service through an interpreter.
SOUL, KOREA.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF KOREA.
BY W. J. HALL, M.D.
On the afternoon of December 13 we first sighted
Korea, or " Land of Morning Calm " which occu
pies the peninsula hanging down from Manchuria and
Russian Siberia, between China and Japan, and ex
tending from the thirty-third to the forty-third parallel
north latitude.
The area, including the outlying islands, is about one
hundred thousand square miles. The population,
according to the most reliable estimate, is a little more
than sixteen millions. Yet, as the people live in cities,
247
towns, and villages, the country does not seem to be
thickly settled.
The climate varies much at the extremities of the
peninsula, owing to the fact that the southern portion
is somewhat affected by the warm southern currents
that give Japan its tropical climate, but which are
warded off from Korea proper by the Japanese islands.
The climate of the central and northern provinces is
much the same as that of the northern and central
United States, with fewer changes, and considerably
FUSAN.
milder than Canada. The large river at the capital is
not uncommonly frozen over for weeks at a time during
the winter so that heavy carts pass over on the ice.
There are a few falls of snow which usually only remains
for a few days.
The country is decidedly mountainous and well
watered. Heavy timber abounds in the northeast. The
valleys are fertile and are fairly well cultivated.
Our steamer stopped for a day in the harbor of Fn-
san, a city at the southern portion of Korea, and about
three hundred and fifty miles from Soul, the place of
248
my destination. Dr. Hardy came on board to meet us
and we were taken ashore in a sampan (native rowboat),
and very soon found ourselves in a little upper room
where several missionaries were gathered in a prayer
meeting. The Master was with us and we had a very
profitable time together.
The following morning as we came on deck we
noticed a large company of natives returning in row-
boats from a fishing expedition. They had been suc
cessful and were announcing their good fortune by
making a great noise which resembled the beating on
tin pans.
The Koreans dress in garments made from bleached
cotton (imported), which are heavily padded with cotton
batting in the winter. Their pants look more like bags
than anything else, and are four times as large as ours.
They wear shoes made of straw or wood. The coolies
scarcely ever wear any covering on their heads. The
boys have their hair braided and hanging down their
backs. The men have it done up in a bunch about an
inch and a half in diameter and three inches long,
sticking up straight on the top of their head.
Their skin is of a dark brown color resembling very
much our North American Indian. They have very
scant beards and mustaches.
Many of the coolies or laboring class have racks
fastened to their backs on which they carry immense
loads. Cows and small ponies are used as beasts of
burden, but a great deal of the labor is done by men.
Their cows are never milked except for the use of
foreigners. We saw large numbers of Koreans walking
along the road with heavy burdens on their backs, and
one side of their face stamped with the same mark that
was on the goods. We met a number with loads of
250
cash (Korean money). These are made of an inferior
metal about an inch and a quarter in diameter and an
eighth of an inch in thickness. A hole about three
eighths of an inch square is punched in the center,
through which a straw rope is passed, and one hundred
strung on each rope. There are five cash in each piece,
and at the present time two thousand eight hundred
and thirty cash in a dollar.
The majority of the Koreans live in mud huts. The
floor is made of stone and mud, underneath which the
fire is built which heats their room and boils their rice.
Each room is about eight feet square, and usually
two rooms to each house. The roofs are thatched with
straw. They have no furniture, and therefore sit, sleep,
and eat upon the floor. The door is about four feet
high and two feet and a half wide. It is made of slats
covered with paper, which answers also the place of a
window.
In future letters I will tell of our work among them
as missionaries and its results.
GOSPEL HEALING IN KOREA.
SOUL, July 28, 1892.
To the Editor of The Christian Herald:
On March 4 Rev. Mr. Jones and I started on a seven
hundred-mile trip into the northern interior of Korea.
Our pack ponies were loaded with books, medicines,
and a small quantity of provisions. These were put
into boxes about the size of a small trunk, and one box
fastened on each side of the pony, which left a place in
the center for our blankets, upon which we rode when
tired of walking. As our ponies could not travel faster
than a walk, we were able to go on foot most of the
journey. The principal modes of traveling in Korea
251
are by pack pony, chair carried by men, rough ox cart,
and on foot. How slow compared with our rapid rail
ways in the home land ! But we wished to meet the
people, and this gave us every opportunity of stopping
at the villages and towns that lay in our pathway. The
Koreans showed us great kindness and hospitality.
They have great faith in the foreign doctor. They
believe him capable of curing all diseases that are
brought to him, if he will. Those who have been blind
from infancy expect to receive their sight, the deaf to
hear, and the dumb to speak.
Early one morning I was sent for in great haste. A
young man about twenty years of age had been suffer
ing from fever for several days, and was now at the
point of death. I went as fast as possible, but as it was
some distance away, it took considerable time to reach
his home. The father met me at the door and informed
me that his son had been dead nearly an hour, but
urged me so strongly to come into the room that I con
sented. He was the only child, and I shall never for
get the sorrow of the parents. They pleaded with me
to bring their son back to life. They said, "Doctor,
you can make the dead man live if you wish, and if you
do we will do anything you ask of us." I told them
how sorry I was for their trouble, but to bring the dead
back to life was beyond my power. I then pointed them
to Jesus, and told them how to prepare for the life be
yond the grave. We had prayer together, and I left
them with him who says, " My word shall not return
unto me void."
In one of the villages I was called to see a young
man suffering with pleuropneumonia. Life appeared
to be fast ebbing away, and I entertained little hopes
of his recovery. As we were only to be in the village
252
over night, I left him some medicine and directions
how to treat him. Judging from a human standpoint
it seemed a hopeless case, but God has often shown us
in our work for Him that this is His work, and that all
power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth, and
where it is for God s glory we have a right to expect
wonderful results; we do ascribe to Him all the glory.
I pointed him to the Great Physician, and for the first
time he and the family heard the glorious tidings of
salvation. The father bought a copy of Matthew s
gospel, and promised to read it. No one except those
who have had similar experiences know the joy that
comes to the soul of him who carries the message of a
Saviour s love to those who have never heard of it
before.
Several weeks afterward, as we returned to this vil
lage, the first to greet me was this young man. He had
fully recovered, and his expressions of gratitude were
very great. He said that he was trying to do all that I
had told him. He had been reading the good Book
every day, and the whole village of four hundred in
habitants knew what the doctor had done, and they
met together every day to hear the good Book read.
The people flocked into our room and remained until
nearly midnight, listening with the deepest interest to
the story of salvation and inquiring the way to God.
They pleaded with me to remain with them, and I was
very sorry that I could not. In our return visits we will
be able to follow up the work and reap the results.
Although women are not expected to see any men, ex
cept those of their own household, the medical mission
ary has no difficulty in gaining an entrance to the homes
and hearts of the people. God is wonderfully opening
up our way before us. We treated a large number of
253
patients, sold a great many books, and preached the
Gospel to all with whom we came in contact. Many
expressed themselves anxious to embrace Christianity.
The fields are already white unto harvest, but the
laborers are few.
We were able to live nearly entirely upon native
food. It consists of rice, kimche, highly seasoned with
cayenne pepper, fish often spoiled soup, beans, and
sometimes pork and beef. If we did not see them pre
paring our meals, or know what we were getting, they
would be much more palatable. At one hotel we saw
nine dogskins spread on the straw roof. We asked
what they did with the dogs. The reply was, We make
soup of them." I had quite enjoyed the soup previous
to this, but I left it untouched the rest of the journey.
I also gave up the meat, as I did not know whether I
was getting beef or dog. My bill of fare had now nar
rowed down to rice and kimche (made from a vegetable
almost similar to our cabbage and raw turnip, prepared
somewhat similar to sauerkraut), three times a day,
with occasionally fish, chicken, or eggs. The fire
which cooked our food warmed the stone and sand
floor upon which we slept. Sometimes it was far too
hot, at other times too cold.
A day s travel was from twenty-five to forty miles.
On our return trip, on account of unexpected expenses,
our money was running short. We were still several
days travel from where we could get any. We arose
early one morning and prepared for a long day s
travel. I told my men that as our money was nearly
gone I would only take two meals that day. About
nine o clock rain came on and continued nearly all
day. At other times we would have waited for fine
weather, but it was very necessary for us to push on
254
now as rapidly as possible. I had walked one hundred
and twenty li (forty miles) that day, and late at night foot
sore, wet, cold, hungry, and weary, we came to our inn.
We were given a small room with stone floor for a bed, no
fire, clothes wet through, straw roof leaking. Here we
spent the night. We were very tired, and slept, not-
withstandingour uncomfortable abode. We spent all ex
cepting twenty cash (twenty-eight cash equals one cent)
for lodging and breakfast. We traveled twenty miles
that forenoon with less than a cent of money, and several
days journey from home. We had a check on the
bank of heaven and asked to have it cashed (Phil.
4. 19). We were within a mile of where we wished to
get our dinner and feed our ponies. Just at this
juncture we met a Japanese doctor that we had formerly
known, but did not know he was then in that part
of the country. If we had been ten minutes later we
would have missed him, as he would have branched off
to another road. We made known our situation. He
said he would gladly let us have all the cash we wished.
" They that put their trust in the Lord shall never be
confounded." What a wonderful Deliverer is ours !
Yours in Christ, W. J. HALL.
IN HEATHEN KOREA.
SOUL, KOREA, December 16, 1892.
To the Editor of The Christian Herald :
At our Annual Meeting in August I was appointed to
the Pyong Yang Circuit, which includes the territory
from Soul to Pyong Yang, a distance of one hundred
and eighty miles. We loaded our little pack ponies
with drugs and books, and started on our tiresome jour
ney over rough roads, fording streams and climbing
mountains. I have the privilege of being the first mis-
255
sionary appointed to exclusive work in the interior. I
praise God for the privilege of carrying the Gospel to
those who have never heard of it before. My work is en
tirely pioneer work.
On September 30 I entered the city of Pyong Yang.
As I passed through the streets throngs of Koreans gath
ered to see the foreigner. After wending my way through
several streets with difficulty I came to an inn, and was
given a room eight feet square, the front door of which
opened into the street, the back door into the yard,
where the horses, pigs, cattle, and poultry are kept.
There were no windows, and the only light that entered
the room came through the paper which was pasted
over the latticework of the door. This little room,
with its mud walls and floor, was my consulting
room, dining and bed room. Here I saw all my
patients, dispensed my medicines, and sold my books.
Each day, long before the hour appointed for opening
the dispensary, the street was thronged with patients.
The street answered as a waiting room, and one by one
I saw the patients in my little room. Plow much we
need a suitable building for carrying on our work !
One which could be used for a hospital, dispensary,
book room, and chapel. But we are trusting God to
open our way, and we know he will supply all our
needs.
The people have shown me great kindness, and only
once have I received anything like rough treatment,
and the same might occur by the rabble in any of our
large cities in the home land. One evening one of the
fishermen took me out for a row on the beautiful river
that flows along the outside of the city wall. We had
just got out into the deep water, when showers of stones
came from behind the wall and fell all around us. I
2 5 6
one had struck us or the frail fishing skiff, serious re
sults might have followed. But Providence protected
us, and we pulled as rapidly as possible over to the
other side of the river.
Our medical work brings us into great favor with the
natives, and gives us an opportunity for preaching the
Gospel and selling our Christian books to many that
we could not otherwise reach.
One day I was called to see a boy who was suffering
from dysentery. He had been ill for several days and
was rapidly growing worse. I left him some medicine
and came away. The following morning I was sent for
KOREAN FISHERMEN.
in great haste, with the message that the boy was dying.
I hastened to the house and found him very low. The
mother was the widow of a Korean doctor. She told
me if I cured her son she would give him to me as my
slave, as she was very poor and had nothing else to
give. I told her I would do all I could for her boy
without expecting anything for it. I then told her why
I had come to Korea to give my life for her people.
I told her of God, heaven, and the glad story of salva
tion; thut I was praying for her boy, that God had the
power to bless the medicines and restore him to health.
God answered our prayer, and the family are now dili-
257
gent searchers after the truth. The Holy Spirit has
gone before us and prepared the soil to receive the
precious seed, and will cause it to spring up and yield
an abundant harvest.
3Y PER. OF THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, NEW YORK.
KOREAN BOYS.
Ye cannot toil in vain,
Cold, heat, and moist, and dry;
Shall foster and mature the grain.
For garners in the sky."
I have been invited out to dinner several times by
the natives, and they do all in their power to show
their friendship and make it pleasant for me I live
33
upon native food almost entirely. But a person gets
tired of rice three times a day, so to-day I thought I
would like some pancakes, but I could not obtain any
flour. I bought two measures of buckwheat and took
it to the hotel mill to be ground. The mill is the same
as is referred to in Scripture, and consists of two round
stones about fifteen inches in diameter and two inches
thick. A hole is drilled in the center of each stone
and a wooden pivot inserted which serves as an axle.
Another hole is drilled near the outer edge of the
upper stone for the wooden handle, and still another
hole is drilled a short distance from the center in which
the grain is dropped. 1 got a couple of boys to turn
the stone, and after they had been grinding half a day
and sifting the flour through a sieve made from horse
hair woven together, I had ten pounds of flour. I had
some baking pow r der with .me, and very soon I had the
mixture ready to fry. I had a fire made from cornstalks,
and upon this I cooked my cakes. I enjoyed them
most heartily, and I will be able to have them often. I
am the only foreigner in this dark heathen city, and yet
amid all these uncongenial surroundings I am happy.
li Jesus all the day long is my joy and my song,
O that all his salvation might see."
I look forward to that glad day when in this land " Jesus
shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied." I
am proving his power to keep no matter what our sur
roundings are.
Last spring when I first visited Pyong Yang an edict
was issued prohibiting the buying of our books. This
fall I have sold over six hundred copies of Christian
books without the slightest opposition. The people
appear to be anxious to buy and read. They are
manifesting a deep interest in Christianity, and we are
259
looking for glorious results. God is wonderfully open
ing up our way, for which we praise him and ascribe
to Him all the glory.
We feel deeply grateful to the many friends in the
home land who are bearing us up with tneir prayers
and helping us in this glorious work of carrying the
Gospel to the "regions beyond."
Yours in Jesus, W. J. HALL.
Dr. Hall was accompanied by his native teacher only
upon this trip. He took with him no English books
whatever, determined to learn all the Korean he could,
which he spent his forenoons studying, seeing patients
in the afternoon. He was gone five weeks, and then
was only home twelve days when he started back upon
his third trip, of which he wrote no record; but the
Rev. Graham Lee, of the Presbyterian Mission, who
took his initiatory country trip at this time, relates the
following dangerous experience which they shared in
an inn:
"I first became acquainted with Dr. Hall on an itin
erating trip into the interior of Korea. And let me say
that a trip like this, where travelers are thrown into such
close contact, will usually be the means of cementing a
very close friendship or forming a very indifferent
acquaintanceship. I am glad to say that on my first
trip with Dr. Hall I learned to love him as a friend.
He was a most considerate and thoughtful man, always
looking for an opportunity to help some one else, and
never thinking about any sacrifice he had to make him
self. I shall not soon forget an experience we had one
night in one of these Korean inns. It was in the fall
of the year, and the weather was cool. To warm our
room our innkeeper brought in a pan of fresh embers,
26l
from which the gas had not all been burned. Before
either of us was aware of our danger I had fainted,
and Dr. Hall was in nearly the same plight. How well
I remember on coming to, how he cared for me, and,
though scarcely able to stand, how he would get up and
search the packs, trying to find some medicine to give
me. This experience showed me the self-sacrificing,
thoughtful nature of the man, and did much to form
that sincere admiration and friendship that but grew
stronger as I knew him better. On this same trip, while
staying in the city of Pyong Yang, I was sick for sev
eral days and had to keep my bed. Here again Dr.
Hall showed those qualities that have endeared him to
so many. He was as gentle and tender as a mother
could be, and his sincere sympathy made it felt in every
word and act. It was this tender consideration and
sympathy that made him so beloved by the Koreans.
He loved the Korean people, and they knew it, and
loved him in return.
" It was a privilege to meet Dr. Hall on the street or
anywhere ; his cheery smile, his hearty hand grasp, and
his kind words were like a benediction. When he left
you felt better, felt that you had gained something from
the meeting. As I look back over my past life I count
among my blessings the fact that I was privileged to
have, though but for a short time, the friendship of this
earnest Christian, man. GRAHAM LEE,
Missionary of the Presbyterian Mission, North Korea.
PIONEER MEDICAL MISSIONARY WORK IN THE
INTERIOR OF KOREA.
BY REV. W. J. HALL, M.D., IN The Chinese Recorder.
On February 20, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Noble, I
started upon my fourth missionary tour into the north-
262
ern interior of Korea. Our little pack ponies were well
loaded with books and medicines and a little foreign
food. The weather was still cold, and, although we
were quite well equipped, we suffered considerably.
The rivers were frozen, so we could cross them on ice.
One cold morning we came to a man lying in the
road. At first we thought he was sick or drunk, but
upon closer examination we found he was dead and
frozen stiff. The natives passed by without paying any
attention to what seemed to us such a terrible sight.
We tried to find out all we could about the case and
learned that the poor man had been sick, was without
house or friends, and being unable to go farther, and
as the night was bitter cold, he had frozen to death.
When the sick are without friends here they have a
hard time ; often they are put out on the city wall to
die, and frequently we find them before it is too late
and take them to the hospital, where they are clothed
and fed, and with proper treatment in a good room they
soon recover. Many precious lives are saved in this
way and led to Christ.
We traveled about thirty miles each day, and as our
pack ponies could not go fast we walked most of the
time in order to keep warm. Upon arriving at the
inns often we would find them very cold, and at other
times too hot. The vermin troubled us a great deal,
although not so much as in warm weather. The diet
was very unpalatable, but hunger soon enabled us to
consume a good portion.
After six days travel we reached Pyong Yang, one
hundred and eighty miles from Soul. We at once
went to a friend s house, where I had been entertained
last fall. He was one of the governor s assistants, and
last summer I was called to treat his son, who was in a
26 3
dying condition. God blessed the means and speedily
restored the boy to health. The gratitude of the par
ents knew no bound. They made me several presents
of eggs, chickens, and ducks. When I returned in the
fall I was invited into their home and given a very
pleasant room. What an agreeable change from the
filthy inn where I had been stopping in a room eight
feet square, in which I had treated my patients one
by one !
Our new friend manifested a deep interest in Chris
tianity and would frequently come in late at night after
his duties at the governor s office were done, and we
would talk of the things of God until midnight, and then
we would kneel together and pour out our hearts to
God. We are looking for good results from this seed
sowing. When I went back the second time he said he
was more glad to see me than he would be to see his
parents, and he wanted me to use everything he had
just the same as if it were my own.
Through our native helper we were able to get a place
well situated for our work, which I trust will soon be
our hospital. As it was in a different section of the
city from where I had been before the people did not
know me, and they felt uneasy over my presence, and
went to the governor and asked him to remove the
foreigner, as they were much afraid. The governor
replied: " The foreigner is not a bad man but a gen
tleman. He cures the sick and helps the poor; is he
not a good man?" He gave orders to the captain in
charge of the district I was in to quiet the people and
arrest any giving me trouble. Their fears were allayed,
and soon my hands were filled with patients flocking
from all parts of the city and surrounding country.
Long before the appointed time they would gather
264
on the street in front of the dispensary, and wait until
the hour arrived.
Before I left Pyong Yang I was treating over sixty
patients daily. Others would come for me with chairs
carried by coolies and take me to their homes to see
the sick unable to come to the dispensary. Nearly
every patient bought a Christian book and appeared
to be deeply interested in Christianity. We held serv
ices with the patients before treating them, and each
night and upon Sunday we gathered those together who
appeared interested and further instructed them.
Since returning to Soul I have received letters urg
ing me to return as soon as I could ; that those I had
taught met together every Sunday and read the Bible
and prayed to God. Others have come the whole dis
tance, six days journey on foot, for medicine for their
friends.
How much we need more workers, so that we could
stay longer with the people, instructing them in the
truth ! But we did all we could and will leave the
result to Him to whom all power belongeth in heaven
and in earth.
After reaching Pyong Yang we had made only one
fourth of our tour. We went one hundred and seventy
miles farther north, treating the sick, preaching the Gos
pel, and selling Christian books in the cities and towns
through which we passed. Many expressed a desire
to be Christians.
In Wi-ju we had stopped nearly a week before we
knew the danger to which we were exposed by our
room having just previously been occupied by small
pox patients. In our journeyings the pack ponies often
fell and threw us to the ground. In one place, going
over a steep mountain pass, I was walking behind the
2 6 5
pony when it commenced to slide, and soon fell over
backward, rolling with the pack on its back to the base
of the mountain ! There was just room for me to step
aside in a cleft to let it pass by, or I would have been
crushed. Strange to say, the pony appeared but little
injured, and was able to travel on with us with its
load.
The hardships, dangers, and privations of the mis
sionary appear as nothing compared with the joy of
carrying the blessed tidings of salvation to the lost.
We feel that God has a special care over missionaries
and suffers no harm to befall them. O, that those who
are His may place themselves where God can make the
most use of their lives in His service !
" Not for ease or worldly pleasure
Xor for fame, my prayer shall be,
Gladly will I toil and suffer,
Only let me walk with Thee."
SOUL, KOREA, September 18, 1893.
To the Union Gospel News :
We have just had our Annual Meeting, and each one
is appointed to his work for another year. What expe
riences the past year has brought. Trials, persecutions,
dangers without, perfect peace within. What a won
derful Saviour is ours. During April and May soldiers
guarded our houses night and day. We knew not what
would befall us, but the dear Master protected us, so
nothing has harmed us. God s mercies have been new
every morning and fresh every evening.
During the past year three of my beloved brethren
with whom I labored in New York, reaching down after
lost ones in the slums, have gone from the mission field
to their reward. Brothers Pixley and Coot have fallen
34
266
on the Dark Continent Africa and Dr. Goldsbury in
China. They gladly yielded their lives to God, and
when the call came to go home they were ready. They
now rest from their labors and their works do follow
them.
Eight years ago our church commenced work here.
Up to last year little had been done outside the treaty
ports. Occasional visits had been made into the in
terior, but no one had been especially appointed to that
work. Last year at our Annual Meeting I was the first
Protestant missionary appointed to exclusive work in
the interior of Korea. I praise God for the privilege.
Again this year I am appointed to the same work.
How vastly different it is from our work in the ports
where we have our fairly comfortable homes with dear
ones there, and surrounded by our fellow-laborers. It is
not the dangers, hardships, or privations of a mission
ary life which are hard to bear; it is separation from
friends, far away from those whose hearts beat in
unison with ours, as we are obliged to travel alone in
the interior. No one to sympathize our own hearts
overflowing with love to those who look upon us with
suspicion and give no love in return. What feelings of
utter loneliness comes over the soul, and we understand
to some little extent our Master s words when He said:
U O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft I would have gath
ered you as a hen gathers her chickens under her
wings, but ye would not." And then the Holy Spirit
comes into our souls and fills them to overflowing. He
comes nearest when we need Him most. O, blessed
work for Jesus ! I would not exchange it for any on
earth. He makes the desert to bloom as the rose. As
we penetrate this dark kingdom, carrying with us the
message of salvation, I am sure we shall have the pray-
26;
ers of thousands of warm Christian hearts in the home
land.
I told you of our little room eight feet square in
Pyong Yang, with its mud walls and floor, in which I
ate, slept, and treated my patients. On my return to
Soul at the children s meeting I told about our work,
and how much we needed a better house in which to do
this work for Jesus. The children said, "Well, Dr.
Hall, we will ask God to give you a house." I shall
never forget those prayers; they went straight to the
throne of God, and soon the answer came. After the
meeting closed Bertie Ohlinger came to my room with
a bright silver dollar and said, "Dr. Hall, here is a
dollar to help buy a house in Pyong Yang. I wish I
could give more, but it is all I have." Next came Willa,
his sister, a dear little girl of nine years, with ten cents.
Following her came Augusta Scranton with fifty cents.
It was only one dollar and sixty cents, and the prayers
of God s little ones, but He who fed the five thou
sand with five loaves of bread and two fishes has multi
plied the children s gifts until they have grown in eight
months to $1,479.99. To-day we have our property
for hospital and dispensary well situated in Pyong
Yang.
We wish to express our gratitude to the many dear
friends in America and Korea for the deep interest they
are manifesting in our work for the Master. We are
looking to God for great blessings this Conference
year.
Yours very sincerely, W. J. HALL, M.D.
September 20 and December i, 1893, the doctor left
upon his fifth and sixth trips to Pyong Yang, but wrote
no special report of the same.
268
TEN WEEKS OF PIONEER MISSIONARY WORK IN
KOREA S ANCIENT CAPITAL.
BY REV. W. J. HALL, M.D.. IN The Chinese Recorder.
On January 10, 1894, I again left Soul for my
work in the north, Pyong Yang. Mr. McKenzie, from
Nova Scotia, accompanied me. God has given him a
wonderful experience. He felt that God called him to
Korea, and although his mission board did not feel able
to start a mission here he trusted the Lord to supply the
necessary funds for his outcoming and support after
reaching here. God always honors the faith of His
children. We had blessed seasons of communion with
God on the journey.
I was only one day out when I was called to see a
patient who had been badly cut and stabbed by robbers.
I dressed the wounds and told the story of the Great
Physician. His comrade had been so badly stabbed
that he only lived a few minutes afterward.
After seven days journey I reached Pyong Yang and
went at once to one of the houses which had been pur
chased for our use, but which on account of the oppo
sition of the governor we were unable to occupy for
several months.
It had been used as a home for dancing girls, and
was still being used for the same purpose. After some
difficulty they consented to give up the house. The
following two nights the house was vigorously stoned
by a band of men who had been accustomed to spend
their evenings there, but had now been defeated in their
evil purposes.
Every day we saw our patients, and had a great many
visitors who all heard the story of salvation. Every
night we held our service, and a deep interest appeared
to be manifested by a good number. Everything was
269
moving on smoothly, and all opposition had ceased.
But on the morning of February 17, several of the
leading men of the district came in and said they had
been accustomed to receive 1,500 cash ($2.50) from
this house every year to sacrifice to the evil spirits, and
they wanted me to give the same amount. I told them of
the sin they were committing in worshiping evil spirits
instead of the true and living God. Shortly afterward
my helper, a young man of twenty years, but an earnest
Christian, was sent for by a man who lived near our
home. He went, and returned shortly afterward with
torn clothes, and told me they had seized and beaten
him, because he would not give the money for sacrifice.
They gathered the people of the neighborhood together,
and decided to drive us out. I went to the magistrate
and told him the whole story and asked him not to
punish the men but to quiet the disturbance, which he
promised to do. While I was gone the same man who
had beaten my helper came to the house and seized a
boy of eighteen years, who had been attending our
services, tore his clothes and beat him severely. I shall
never forget his testimony, which he gave on my return.
He was cheerful and happy, and showed no spirit of
resentment. I asked him if he felt like giving up serv
ing Christ when he was so sorely persecuted. A smile
lighted up his countenance as he said, U I cannot give
up serving my King, even if they kill me."
O friends in the home land, who can serve God
under your own vine and fig tree with none daring to
molest or make you afraid, pray for those who are not
so favorably situated. Some, like Peter, have denied
their Lord. Others, like Paul, are braving every storm
and allowing nothing to separate them from Christ.
The following week our persecutors threatened those
270
who came to our meetings. The numbers decreased.
We held our service every night, and before the regular
service held a children s meeting, at which fifteen
bright boys attended. One boy, who had learned the
whole catechism, was beaten by one of our persecutors
and forbidden to come to the meeting. But, praise God,
they cannot beat out the truth from their hearts and
minds. It will yet yield a rich harvest. Dr. Scranton, our
superintendent, was with us for two weeks, and proved a
great blessing to the work.
I had considerable difficulty with some under the influ
ence of liquor. It is distilled by the natives, and is the
same curse here as in the home land. One afternoon,
after I had treated my patients, I took my usual walk.
As I ascended a hill three men were sitting in the path
way with a jug of liquor. After I passed them they fol
lowed me and asked me to drink. I told them I never
drank liquor. They then seized me and dragged me to
the place where the jug was and tried to force me to take
the liquor. When I still persisted in not complying with
their request one of the men ran and picked up a
stone as large as my head, and, coming up to me, was in
the act of throwing it at me, when God stayed his hand,
and the other men let go of me and I walked slowly
away. They stood and shouted after me for some time,
and then followed me for about a mile, shouting at the
top of their voices. This and even far worse treatment
our Christians have to endure when they refuse to drink
liquor.
Late one Saturday night two of the native Pres
byterian brethren came in and said there was a great
deal of talk all over the city, and that the people said
they would kill the Christians and the foreigners. They
seemed much alarmed and wanted us to secure protec-
2/2
tion for them. We told them that our Father was
stronger than all they who could be against us, and He
would suffer no harm to befall us unless it was for our
good and God s glory. As we were being persecuted
we talked together of Paul s experiences, and God filled
our hearts with joy and peace. We were ready to die
for Jesus if He required it. We received great blessing
from God s word, and we turned to the passages that
then applied to our case. Luke vi, 22, 23.
The following Sunday morning at our regular service
we baptized two men, who had given good evidence of
saving faith in Christ. We are laying our foundation
stones in the midst of persecution, and we believe they
will be solid.
We have commenced the first Christian school in the
interior of Korea with a class of thirteen bright boys.
We teach them doctrines of Christianity, Chinese and
the native language. We can win the children for
Christ. I want the boys and girls to help me. Pray
for them. Collect all the picture cards you can, of all
kinds, no matter if they have been used, and I will
paste a text of Scripture on the back of the cards and
give them to the Korean boys and girls for you. In
this way you can help to lead the Korean children to
Jesus. Send them postpaid by mail to me.
April, 1894.
PIONEER MISSIONARY WORK IN THE INTERIOR OF
KOREA.
To the Editor of The Christian Herald :
On May 4 Mrs. Hall, baby, and I left Chemulpo
by steamer for Pyong Yang. We had only been out a
few hours when we encountered a typhoon, and w r ere
obliged to anchor for thirty-three hours. On Monday
2/3
afternoon we reached Po-san, which is twenty-five miles
from Pyong Yang, and as near the city as the steamer
goes. We took a native rowboat for the rest of our
journey, and arrived Tuesday noon. The native Chris
tians were waiting on the shore to greet us. Shortly
after our arrival great numbers of natives came to see
us. Mrs. Hall told them she would see them Wednes
day afternoon. Ry-ft00n hundreds of women and chil
dren had gathered in the road and outside yard to see
Mrs. Hall and baby. We arranged to let them in by
tens to remain for five minutes. This worked well for
a short time, but soon those behind became impatient,
commenced to crowd, broke down the gate, and soon
the inside yard and the house were filled to overflow
ing. The only thing now to do was for Mrs. Hall to
come outside with our little boy, where she saw yard
after yard full, until over fifteen hundred women and
children had been seen. As we could no longer con
trol the people I went tc the magistrate and asked for
a soldier to protect us. He promised to send one the
next day, but none ever came.
About one o clock Thursday morning we were awak
ened by two of the native Christians, who informed us
that our faithful helper, Chang Si-key, and the former
owner of the house we were stopping in, had been cast into
prison. We could do nothing then but commit them to
God. Early in the morning I went to the governor s,
but he was sleeping, and I could not see him. I then
went to the prison and found that, in addition to our men,
the helper of Mr. Moffett, of the Presbyterian Mission,
and also the former owner of the house that the helper
lived in, were both in prison ; and that same night po
licemen had gone to where Mr. Moffett stopped when in
Pyong Yang and cruelly beat all the native Christians
35
274
that were there. Chang Si-key had his feet wedged in
stocks, and was suffering intense pain. I then went to
the house to see if Mrs. Hall was all right, when Mr.
O, one of our Christians who had accompanied me to
the governor s, was seized and taken off to prison. Mr.
Yi, another of our native Christians, then accompanied
me on my rounds to the prison house and telegraph
office. He would say to me, " I will be taken to
prison next, and then you ll have to go alone." We
were the only foreigners in a city of one hundred thou
sand heathen, and you can imagine our situation when
I had to leave Mrs. Hall and little Sherwood alone and
unprotected, as much of the time I was away at the
prison or the telegraph office.
I telegraphed the state of affairs to Dr. Scranton in
Soul, and he and Mr. Moffett carried the matter to the
British and American Legations, and soon the welcome
message came over the wires: " Legations will act at
once." No time was lost in Soul. The missionaries
and the legations acted with that characteristic zeal
for which Britishers and Americans are noted. Soon
there came a telegram from Mr. Gardner, British con
sul general, and Mr. Sill, American minister resident,
stating that they had insisted that the foreign office
order the release of the men in prison at once, and our
protection according to treaty. A telegram also came
from Mr. Moffett, "Joshua, first chapter, ninth verse."
This was Thursday evening ; that night our house was
stoned and the wall torn down. We did not know the
moment a mob might be upon us. Early Friday morn
ing a servant of the governor s came and said the tele
gram from the king had been received, but that it
said we were bad people and to kill all the Christians.
I went to the prison, and this report was confirmed
276
there. Our men had been removed to the death cell,
the torturing continued ; they expected to die, but
would not give up Christ.
The water carriers were forbidden to bring us water.
There are no wells in Pyong Yang, and the water is
brought from the river a half mile distant. The gov
ernor is a relative of the queen, a powerful family here
in Korea, and it began to look as though he were not
going to pay any attention to the telegram from the
foreign office. It seemed to us that the time had come
for religious toleration for Korea, and God would re
quire the lives of some of his children to secure it. \Ve
were ready to die for His cause. Grace had been given
sufficient for every trial thus far, and we knew abun
dance would be given if it were required. My heart
ached as I witnessed our faithful brothers in Christ suf
fering extreme torture, such as had not been expe
rienced here by Christians for twenty-eight years, when
thousands of Roman Catholics, including several priests,
laid down their lives- for their faith. Two telegrams
from the foreign office had been sent since Thursday
night, but five o clock, Friday, came, and stiil no relief.
At six o clock, after thirty-six hours of torture in prison,
threatened many times with death, all were sent for by
the magistrate, beaten and discharged, but stoned all the
way home. Chang Si-key was so badly injured it was
with difficulty he reached home. I felt like sitting at
his feet ; such a faithful martyr for Jesus I had never
before seen.
Messrs. Moffett and McKenzie started Friday from
Soul as a relief party; traveling day and night they
reached us the following Tuesday. A week later Dr.
Scranton arrived. He and Mr. McKenzie returned the
next week.
277
We remained a month after the difficulty arose, treat
ing patients daily, both myself and Mrs. Hall ; we had
from twenty to thirty a day. We held services Sundays
and every night. Our last Sunday there I had twenty
men, and Mrs. Hall had seven women at the service.
The interest in Christianity is deepening. God is re
moving the obstacles and clearing away the rubbish for a
harvest of souls in Pyong Yang.
The people as a rule are friendly toward us. The
instigators of the trouble were some of the officials and
their servants. There has just been secured through
the foreign office an order demanding the restoration of
the money extorted from those who were in prison and
the punishment of the guilty parties.
We remained at Pyong Yang until I received an order
from our consul to bring Mrs. Hall and our little boy to
an open port. We felt anxious to remain with our
little band of Christians, but under the circumstances
were obliged to go and leave them under the care of
our great Protector.
We took the last steamer that came from Pyong
Yang before the war; it was filled with soldiers, and
upon reaching Chemulpo we found the harbor filled
with men of war.
On the morning of July 23* we were awakened at
five o clock by the Koreans, who were almost frantic
with excitement. Detachments of Japanese soldiers
were rushing to guard the city gates, and there was
heavy and constant firing of guns on the palace grounds,
about half a mile from our home. The Japanese suc
ceeded in taking the palace in about twenty minutes.
Since that time they have been assisting the Korean
government in adopting measures of reform.
* See Reminiscences of July 23, 1894, by Rev. H. G. Appenzeller.
279
The Chinese and Japanese armies both are now in
Korea. They met in their first battle at Asan, about
fifty miles from Soul ; shortly after there was a
naval engagement near Chemulpo ; the Japanese were
successful in both.
China poured her troops in at the north, and soon the
city of Pyong Yang, which we had so recently left, was
occupied by the Chinese. The Japanese next sent
large forces north, and on September 14 the two armies
met at Pyong Yang. A heavy battle ensued, and on the
sixteenth the Japanese were victorious, and entered
the city. A naval battle was fought near Pyong Yang, in
which the Japanese were also successful.
Dr. Scranton and I have been very busy in. the hos
pital since the war commenced. Here many precious
lives have been saved, and all have heard the glad ti
dings of the Gospel. Several have professed saving faith
in Christ, and many others have bought our Christian
books and have gone away feeling they wanted to
know more about the "Jesus doctrine." The seeds of
truth are daily being scattered, and we know they will
be cared for by the Holy Spirit and bring forth a rich
harvest.
On September 26 we received a letter from Pyong
Yang, written by our faithful helper, Kim Chang Si-key,
which stated that our Christians were all safe and well,
that the Chinese had been defeated and the Japanese
now occupied the city. He was very grateful to God
for keeping them through such great danger. He re
mained at his post, holding our little Christian flock
together and caring for our property during the battle.
Chang Si-key was led to Christ through Brother Ohlin-
ger, and was in his employ until he went to America ;
since then he has been my helper. He has shown him-
280
self a true Christian hero! Last spring he was impris
oned, had his feet wedged in stocks for two days and
nights, was stoned and almost beaten to death, but
would not give up Christ. I believe there will be many
such jewels found in Korea.
KIM CHANG SI-KEY.
Revs. Moffett and Lee and myself start for Pyong
Yang overland October i.
I have received hundreds of packages of cards and
letters in response to my appeal. Many have asked for
replies, but as the work here makes such pressing de
mands upon my time will the dear friends please accept
28 1
this as my reply. Let me thank you in behalf of the
Korean children. I am printing in Korean the text
John iii, 16, on the back of each, and I am sure God s
blessing will follow each one, and they will be the
means of planting the seeds of truth in many a little
heart. Papers printed in English cannot be read by
Koreans.
It is such a comfort to know that thousands of warm
Christian hearts are interested and are praying for us
and the work.
Yours sincerely, W. J. HALL.
Dr. W. B. Scranton, Superintendent of the Methodist
Episcopal Mission in Korea, kindly adds the following
to the work done by Dr. Hall at the General Hospital
in Soul during the summer of 1894 :
DR. W. J. HALL AT THE Si PYENG WON HOSPITAL IN
THE SUMMER OF 1894.
Our hospital in Soul during this year was in the
charge of Dr. J. B. Busteed, but during a few months
vacation of Dr. Busteed the work fell once more into
my care.
On the morning of July 23 we were awakened in
Soul with peculiar sensations, for the sound of bullets
was in the air. The Japanese soldiers were taking
possession of the city and the streets and walls were
patrolled by them. The king was their prisoner in the
palace. By the end of the following night we were not
left in doubt as to what bullets can do, and our hands
were full and hearts heavy.
At this time it happened that Dr. Hall was at his
home in Soul, having just returned from his post in
Pyong Yang. I asked him to assist me at the hospital,
36
282
as the work there was far beyond the powers of one
man s care. He and I undertook the work together at
the hospital as alternates from July 27.
These were hard days, from early morning to late at
night, and required the most zealous supervision at
every point.
The demands made upon the missionary physician
know no end, and are as various as man s misfortunes.
He must be a specialist in all departments and his own
consultant in most trying and unexpected moments.
Thus it was that in the summer of 1894 our hospital
was called upon suddenly to exchange its routine for
the work of a military hospital.
Here Dr. Hall was called upon to be surgeon and
nurse, druggist and steward, but he had a faculty for
patient and tireless work without getting tangled in a
complexity of duties as some of us do. Everyone
knows that when Dr. Hall made up his mind where his
duty lay he faithfully persevered in it. It was not him
self then, but the work that thrived.
During these days in the Soul hospital he was con
stantly at his post and tireless in his endeavors. One
day when he had been most fully occupied and might
well have remarked on his own weariness, I well re
member how he said, and with what a genuine spirit,
" Doctor, how I enjoy this ! I could spend my whole life
in this way. It is so good to help people." It was
equally a pleasure to be helped by Dr. Hall. He was
so gentle in his way and so earnest.
The very diversity of the demands which a hospital
in a mission field makes upon one increases the oppor
tunities for usefulness; the inevitable discouragements,
and the daily delights of the work. Yet, perhaps es
pecially, the quality necessary is patience. "With a
284
heart for any fate, still achieving, still pursuing, learn
to labor and to wait."
Here Dr. Hall was at home. Neither the dull rou
tine nor the squalor and neglect that so sorely tries
one s heart, and- patience too, could draw aught but
greater care from him. One is often tempted to wish
for the power to cure the blind and paralytic and dead,
when so many without hope in this world or another
beset one, and their bereavements are so sad, and one s
heart is sorely touched ; and yet our very successes
lead us to see that our limited power is as really God-
given as His gracious successes permitted through us.
It is so easy for the god of this world to blind the eyes
of missionary and people to what is the true good.
But Dr. Hall had learned the secret that the patient
and kindly touch of sympathy and love are the little
things ordained of God to accomplish mightiest ends.
They, and not the greater, are miracles in reality.
After a little more than a month s work the wounded
decreased and the usual hospital routine was resumed.
For the following month, until the return of Dr. Bus-
teed from the United States, Dr. Hall kindly took the
entire charge of the Soul dispensary and hospital.
His work done there still lives on. From time to
time old friends of those days come to the hospital
again to see us, and not infrequently say, "You must
miss Dr. Hall. His death was a great loss."
His kindly spirit was felt by everyone, and his acts
became living entities waters to quench the famishing.
Dr. Hall s painstaking tirelessness and a living faith
in God were his distinguishing features. He had a
faith that everything and anything was worth doing,
and that a leading in any direction was the equivalent
to an enablement. WAI. B. SCRANTOX.
28 5
REMINISCENCES OF JULY 23, 1894.
BY H. G. APPENZELLER IN Korean Repository^ JULY, 1896.
It is not the purpose of this article to write a history
of this day, but rather to recall a few of the minor hap
penings. The day dawned as many since the arrival
of the Japanese troops had dawned. The, farmer with
rice, beans, barley, and fru.it, was on his way to the early
market. The slaves, servants, and humble poor, with
basket in hand or laid across the shoulder, were about
to go out to make the purchases for the day. Unusual
activity among the soldiers was observed. They were
not only marching in and out the south gate, as they
had done for the past month or more, but were seen
going toward the royal palace. For several days be
fore this alarming reports of Japan s ultimatum, and
that decisive measures were about to be taken, were ex
tensively circulated. What that ultimatum was, or what
steps of a decisive character Japan was about to take,
the common people could only guess, and that very
vaguely. When the Japanese soldiers were seen march
ing toward the palace the Koreans surmised what was
going to happen, and the war cry, a long-drawn whoop,
was raised in various parts of the city.
I did not hear this war cry. But a few moments
later there was a sharp knock at the front door. A Ko
rean, half scared to death, announced : " The war has
begun ! The war has begun ! " It was now a few min
utes past five. A few moments later I was on the top
of the Pai Chai School hill where a few excited Koreans
had already gathered in answer to the war cry. The
west gate was crowded with Japanese soldiers, looking
across the school campus in the direction of the palace.
On the city wall back of the Ewa School there is quite
28;
an elevation. Here sentries were posted. They fright
ened the schoolgirls nearly to death, as the little things
did not know for whose special benefit and for what
purpose these soldiers were gathered on the wall. There
is deep silence on all sides. Bang ! sharp and clear is
heard from the palace. " Ei-ko ! Ei-ko ! " is the sup
pressed response from not only the few Koreans around
me, but from thousands in the city. Bang ! bang ! are
heard again at short intervals, and with every sound the
Korean s heart sank perceptibly.
My good friend, Mr. Hulbert, always prolific in re
sources, appeared on the scene and was ready to affirm
or " guarantee " that the discharge of musketry was in
tended to drive away the demons that had disturbed
her majesty s peace by giving her neuralgia. This
seemed plausible, but not conclusive either to me or to
the Koreans near me.
The firing between the Japanese and Korean soldiers
became quite general and the city was thrown into great
excitement. All business and traffic ceased, and every
body, from the highest "general" in the Korean army
to the farmer just in from the country with a new load
of green muskmelons, dropped everything and sought
the nearest place of real or supposed safety. The few
remaining Chinese made for the English consulate ;
generals, brigadiers, and majors sought the friendly
protection of the Stars and Stripes ; " scribes " in foreign
employ and Pharisees in no employ or service whatever,
entered the first open gate they came to that gave them
entrance.
The flight from the palace was as precipitate as it
was disgraceful. Yangbans of such exalted rank, once
so inflated with their self-importance that they could
hardly persuade themselves to treat their equals with
288
civility or to mingle with them, now seized the rack
jiggy of the first cooly that happened to be in their
way, and as bearers of the filth and offscouring of Ko
rea, they sought egress from the palace and fled to the
country or skulked in some dark hole in the city. The
wail, the howl, the crocodile tears of these mighty ones
was as repulsive to the foreigner as they were disgrace
ful to the Koreans themselves.
My neighbors had more than once informed me, pre
vious to tli is day, that " when the war came " they would
come to see me for the love they bore me, I suppose.
One of these, a man of great bluster but thoroughly
good-natured, came this morning in great mental agony,
if the wry face stood for any internal agitation, scraped,
bowed, rubbed his hands, and said, "Honored sir, what
in the world is your humble servant to do? " "Squat
right down here between these two walls and don t
stir," was the only advice available, as I did not want
him in my house. The front gate to the school grounds
was bolted, but that did not keep the crowd from get
ting in as long as the drain was not barricaded and the
fence could be climbed.
From the school hill, by the aid of a field glass, I
could see the hill to the west of the palace covered with
fugitives; this while the firing was going on. There
was nothing remarkable in this; on the contrary, it was
quite natural that those nearest the firing should do
what was done everywhere else try their best to get
as much space between them and danger as possible.
But it seemed strange to see men in dark clothing,
doubtless Korean soldiers, the farthest up the steep and
rugged hillsides.
Coming down from the school hill, a few minutes
after the firing had ceased, Dr. Scranton called out to
289
me, "I have a war patient." It seemed to me impossi
ble the remark could have reference to anything other
than to a mishap to one of the neighbors who sought
safety in his compound. I was therefore not interested
specially in this new trophy of my colleague s, buQater
I found that a Korean brave had received a wound in
KOREAN SOLDIERS.
the back, where, by the way, all or nearly all Koreans
that came under foreign treatment seemed to have been
wounded, and that he made the distance between his
post at the palace and the Si Pyeng Won in Chong
Dong in an incredibly short time. Possibly he com
menced to run when the firing began, feeling sure he
37
would need medical attention, and one of those bullets
heard by the English guards overtook him on the way.
If I remember correctly he lost his uniform in his efforts
to make the hospital.
My friend, the carpenter, a man more skilled in mak
ing mud walls than in trusting them in times of danger
like the present, sent me a dispatch by a trusted cooly
asking advice about sending his family to the country.
As I knew he wanted to have a good excuse for going
to the country himself, and that, if advised to remain in
the city, he would be sure to move in on me, I promptly
and earnestly recommended him to break for the bush,
which advice he followed with more readiness than
some other I had had occasion to give him in days
gone by.
A man in my employ was found in the street with
his soldier s hat and blouse on. He came back without
them. " How did you come to lose them ?" "Why a
Japanese soldier, whom I had the misfortune to meet
on the street, told me to give them to him. Take any
thing you want, only do not kill me.
We breakfasted ; then acting under the advice of the
United States minister, raised the American flag on our
premises to silently notify the Japanese soldiers and the
Korean mob, should it get loose, that American in
terests were here that would receive the protection of
their government. This done, several of us sat down
to counsel together. When we had compared views we
found we knew as much of what was going to be done
as we did before the conference nothing. Such a
state of mental uncertainty may be ideal for the Bud
dhist whose ambition is to be equally balanced between
life and death, neither dead nor yet living, neither act
ive nor inactive but it was not for us.
29 1
No one could tell how the Japanese were going to
conduct this war, whether according to "civilized"
methods or according to true Asiatic methods. Re
turning from our "council fire," I suggested to our
lamented Dr. Hall to take a walk through the city.
"Will it be safe and wise?" was his cautious reply.
We started. At the west gate we found a strong guard.
Here we left the street and went up on the city wall.
No challenge. We unconsciously straightened up a
little. We came to the south gate. This likewise had
a heavy guard. Cavalrymen were met here. The few
Koreans in this busy street were all making for the gate.
Trade in everything except in muskmelons was sus
pended. Loads of these were brought in for the early
market, dumped anywhere on the streets when the fir
ing began and safety sought in flight. The ubiquitous
boy and enterprising local dealer gathered them up and
retailed them, war or no war. I doubt not Koreans suf
fered more real pain from the effects of these green
muskmelons than they did from Japanese bullets.
At Sang Dong we raised the Stars and Stripes over
our hospital property, which probably inspired the Ko
reans with a feeling of as much security as it did us,
and we then went on. The Chinese consulate was
closed, but not looted. Every few rods sentinels guarded
the street.
At Chong No, from the central drain to the intersec
tion of the south gate and east gate streets a large
force of Japanese infantry and cavalry was stationed.
Koreans were rigidly excluded here. We offered to
enter, were challenged, but immediately Jupiter, who
ever he was, nodded ; we entered and, as we expected,
passed through unmolested.
We did not go up to the palace, being fully per-
293
suaded, no matter on what evidence, from a distance
of several hundred rods that the Japanese had not only
seized the person of his majesty the king, but the
whole city as well. We did not know but our presence
might be an embarrassment to either or to both parties,
and therefore left the honor of being the first foreigner
to enter the palace after its capture to the king s ad
viser, C. R. Greathouse.
By the time we reached the new west gate it com
menced to rain in torrents. The stream of fugitives
increased a bundle of clothing on the mother s head,
a child on her back, one at her side, and the father fol
lowing with a heavy load on his back. The young, the
old, the weak, the strong, the high, the low helped to
swell the steady stream that for days afterward poured
out through the seven gates of the city.
At Dr. Underwood s front gate we met Mr. Junkin
coming in with his family from his home outside the
south gate. He reported he had just found out that
he had about two hundred neighbors who were on the
point of taking quarters with him for an indefinite pe
riod of time.
In the evening I met an old woman in front of the
German consulate. She was in great distress ; walking
up and down the street, folding her hands over her head
and looking upward, she exclaimed, " Lord of heaven,
let it not be so ! let it not be so ! " Her grandson was
wounded in the afternoon when the barracks in the
eastern part of the city were taken. She feared he
would never return home again. Therefore she offered
this prayer. The young man died that night.
2 9 4
DR HALL S LAST TRIP TO PYONG YANG.
PYONG YANG, October 8, 1894.
DEAR DR. STONE : We had a very pleasant trip and
did not experience the difficulties we anticipated in
procuring accommodations along the road. We saw a
great many dead horses and cattle along the road,
which had been used in conveying army supplies.
Many villages were completely deserted, but the people
were beginning to come back and settle down again.
We had no difficulty in making our way through the
army lines. We met the first large detachment of the
Japanese army at Whoang Chu, one hundred ri south
of Pyong Yang. They have four hundred and fifty
prisoners there. At Chung Wha, fifty ri south of Pyong
Yang, we sa\v the graves of seven Japanese scouts, who
had been killed by the Chinese. Between Chung Wha
and ten ri south of Pyong Yang we saw one Chinese
body partially covered. Ten ri from Pyong Yang \ve
reached the river and were at once on the field of
battle.
The battle commenced on September 13. There
were only a few shots fired that day. On Saturday,
the i5th, the great battle was fought.
W T e have partially visited the battlefield. It is
strewn with Chinese bodies, some of which are still un-
buried, the rest have a few inches of dirt thrown over
them. The stench is terrible and the sight indescrib
able. There were fourteen thousand Chinese and ten
thousand Japanese in the armies.
We have met Mr. Creelman, reporter to the New
York World, and Fredrick Villiers, reporter to the
London Standard. We expect them with us for supper
some evening. They are roughing it also.
295
Mr. Moffett s things are totally destroyed, even to his
stores; so he and Mr. Lee are with me.
I have not lost anything. The house where Mr. O
(a native convert the house was used by Dr. Hall for
his dispensary) lived has the windows and doors torn
off and a little of the wall torn down. Beyond this we
have lost nothing. Our Christians have done and are
doing wonderfully well. We had two services on Sun
day and one to-night (Monday). We think everything
is clear for our remaining here for a while.
The Chinese army is reported to have gone into
China and the Japanese are marching on to Wee Ju.
A Japanese (Oshinea) was wounded, and I have been
sent for to visit him to-morrow morning to consult with
the Japanese doctors. The city is almost deserted.
The Koreans are just beginning to come back. They
all rejoice to find us here, and we expect grand results
from our work now. We have God s sure promises and
believe the soil has been made fertile and mellow and
will bring forth much fruit. As far as our work for
the Master stands it never looked so hopeful as
now. I am so glad we are here, and know God will
protect us.
A VISIT TO THE BATTLEFIELD OF PYONG YANG.
Bv GRAHAM LEE, IN Korean Repository, JANUARY, 1895.
On the first of last October, in company with the late
Dr. Hall and Rev. S. A. Moffett, I left Seoul for Pyong
Yang. We wished to find out what had become of our
Christians and how they had passed the time during the
late stirring events. The city was in the hands of the
Japanese, and the Chinese soldiers were flying toward
China as fast as their legs could carry them. Armed
with passports from the Japanese minister we set out
upon our journey. This time I tried the experiment of
296
touring in Korea on a bicycle, and found it a great suc
cess. Traveling in the land of the morning calm, at the
best, is hard and disagreeable, and if there is anything
by which one can make the journey less tedious it be
hooves him to make use of it.
It is my experience that spinning along on a good
" wheel " is a deal more interesting, and much less tire
some than sitting all day, Korean fashion, perched on
top of a pony load, with your feet dangling over on each
side of your horse s neck. We reached Pyong Yang-
Saturday afternoon, and crossed the river on a pontoon
bridge of Korean boats, built by the Chinese, who in
their hurry to depart forgot to destroy it. The first few
days we spent in viewing the battlefield, and truly it
was a sight to one unused to scenes of war. That we
may have some idea of this battlefield, which in future
svill be looked back upon as a crisis in the history of
these nations of the far East, let us present in general
the plan of attack. Pyong Yang is a walled city, and it
is most admirably situated for purposes of defense. In
front runs the Ta Tong River, too wide and too deep
to be crossed in the face of a determined foe. To the
north, inside the city wall, is a hill, some hundreds of
feet high, which commands the surrounding country for
miles. No enemy could take Pyong Yang until its de
fenders had been driven out of this key position.
The Chinese army had been in Pyong Yang some
forty days, and had had ample time to intrench them
selves most strongly in and about the city ; but in-
trenchments, be they never so strong, are of little use
unless manned by brave men. I do not say that the
Chinese soldiers, who tried to hold Pyong Yang, are
cowards, but I must say from what I saw that in most of
the positions given up by the Chinese there was little
3 *
298
evidence of hard fighting. The Chinese seemed to ex
pect the main attack from across the river in their
front, and here they were well prepared, but the
Japanese did not see fit to give battle according as the
Chinese had planned for it. For two days the Japanese
kept up a cannon demonstration from across the river
in front, and while the attention of the Chinese was
turned that way two divisions of the Japanese army
marched around to the rear of the city and got in
readiness to attack at a given time. On the morning of
September 15 all was in readiness, and very early a
combined attack was begun from three sides. The
Chinese were driven out of position after position, and
before night the Japanese were in possession of all the
outer works. The Chinese still held the high hill at
the north, and on this hung their fate. This was the
key of the whole position, and, once taken, the battle of
Pyong Yang was over. Some time during the evening
of the 15 th the Japanese made a grand charge, and up
the steep sides of this hill they went in the very teeth of
the Chinese rifles. It was a brave charge, and was made
with such vigor that the hill was carried with a rush.
After this there was nothing left but retreat for the
Chinese, and little chance of this, for the Japanese were
on every side of the city. On the night of the 15111 in the
darkness and rain, the Chinese army, demoralized by
the defeat of the day, and dreading capture by their
foes, left the city. Their leaving was not a retreat ; it
was a flight. Out of the south gate they went tramping
each other down in the mad rush. Once outside the
wall they seem to have scattered to the hills like sheep,
every man for himself. For miles about the city the
country is strewn with pieces of Chinese clothing thrown
away on this eventful night.
Such was the poor defense of Pyong Yang by the
Chinese army. Were we, who saw that battlefield,
asked why the Chinese made such a poor stand against
a foe that from time immemorial they have despised as
unworthy of their prowess, we would not be hard put to
find the reason.
Among other things thrown away by these fleeing
Chinese were great numbers of fans and paper um
brellas. It is almost beyond the comprehension of a
Westerner that a soldier should carry as part of his
equipment a fan to cool his heated brow and a paper
umbrella to shield his devoted head. The Chinese
were armed with good guns, as the Krupp cannon
and modern rifles among the trophies of war testify, but
they were also loaded down with a lot of trumpery
which was worse than useless in time of battle. As a
trophy of this battlefield I picked up a large two-
handed sword, which had a blade about two feet long
and a handle about four. It was clumsy and awkward,
and absolutely useless as a weapon in these days of the
magazine rifle and Gatling gun. Also scattered about
I saw many bamboo pikes with rough iron tips which
were in perfect keeping with the big sword. Such
things showed that the Chinese army was several hun
dred years behind the times. Is it any wonder that an
army, unpatriotic, poorly drilled, and badly equipped,
could make no stand against an opposing force smaller
in number, but patriotic to a man, drilled almost to per
fection, and armed with the best of modern implements
of warfare ?
Some of the sights-te-be..seen on this battlefield were
horrible in the extreme. The dead that fell near the
city had mostly been covered, but those killed some
distance away were lying all unburfed. In one place I
300
counted over twenty bodies literally piled one on top of
another lying just as they had been shot down. In
another place where a body of Manchurian cavalry ran
into an ambush of Japanese infantry the carnage was
frightful. Several hundred men and horses, lying as
they had fallen, made a swarth of bodies nearly a quar
ter of a mile long and several yards wide. It was three
weeks after the battle, and the bodies were all there
unmolested even by the dogs. One can imagine what
must have been the sights and smells about the place.
These Manchus were said to have been charging a
force of Japanese infantry, but all the evidence of the
field leads me to think that they were simply trying to
get away, and happened on this ambush. One fact that
especially leads me to think so was the condition of a
gun found near one of these dead cavalrymen. It was
a Winchester carbine of the magazine sort, and it had
eight shells in the magazine and none in the barrel, and,
what is more, the lever used for ejecting the old shell
and throwing in a new one was locked. Surely a
soldier with his gun in such a condition was not making
a charge. Had he been fighting instead of running
away his gun barrel would have held either a loaded or
exploded shell, and the lever would have been unlocked
ready for quick service. Another fact that leads to the
same conclusion was the finding of two large lumps of
crude opium, which must have weighed seven or eight
pounds. Would any cavalryman going into a charge
have loaded himself down with such a burden ? The
one who carried this was evidently doing his best to
save himself and his opium.
Some of these sights were not only horrible, but sad
as well. In an empty Korean house I saw the body of
one poor Chinese soldier. He had been wounded and
3 oi
had crawled into this house to die. By his head was
standing his water bottle, showing that the poor fellow
had probably lived some hours before death brought
relief to his sufferings.
Before going to Pyong Yang we had heard about the
mines which the Chinese had laid; which mines, as the
report went, had been exploded after the Japanese
entered the city, doing great damage. As with
most rumors this one had a basis of truth, for we saw
the mines. One day, while following along one of the
Chinese intrenchments, out southeast of the .city, we
came across the remains of an electric battery. It had
been smashed to pieces, and the broken cells were scat
tered all about. What had it been used for was the
question. Looking about we saw the ends of five elec
tric wires which led out across the embankment and
then underground. They had not been laid deeply and
were easy to follow. With keenly aroused interest we
struck off across the field eagerly following up this elec
tric trail. For a quarter of a mile it led us, and then
suddenly our search was rewarded and we found what
we had not expected to see, the terrible (?) mines
planted by the Chinese. These five wires ran to five
shells, three of which were planted some fifty feet
apart, while about one hundred and fifty feet distant
were planted two more the same distance apart. All
had been exploded, and each one made a hole about six
feet deep and ten feet across. These were the terrible
mines of which we had heard. It is difficult to under
stand what those who planted these shells had in mind.
Had the Japanese army taken a position on top of these
mines and waited for them to be exploded a few men
might have been hurt, but otherwise the chances of
doing much execution were slight. Then, too, the mines
302
were laid in a. field of standing corn, which would have
made it very difficult for the man in charge of the
battery to know just when an advancing enemy was in
position to be blown up. The shells had all been ex
ploded, but there was no evidence of the enemy having
been in their vicinity. The Japanese made their attack
in another place. The man in charge may have touched
them off just before bolting, or, what is more likely, the
Japanese set them off after winning the victory.
Some of the Korean stories about the battle are in
teresting, not only for the vivid imagination they show,
but because they bring out most clearly the deep-seated
hatred of anything Japanese and the ingrained inherited
regard for anything belonging to China. One of these
will suffice to illustrate both these traits as well as the
Korean imagination. It is told by the Koreans that
General Mali, one of the Chinese generals, became dis
gusted at the way his soldiers fought, and just at this
juncture, being wounded in the ankle, he became very
angry. Marching to his quarters he donned his armor
and, grasping a cannon in his hand, he sallied forth
single-handed against the Japanese army, and by his
own unaided efforts killed two hundred Japanese
soldiers.
The poor Koreans of Pyong Yang have had a hard
time. Although not responsible for the war, yet they
have had to endure its attendant evils. Many have lost
their all, but this has been nothing more than just
punishment for the dreadful lives of sin they have lived.
Let us hope that Pyong Yang, made thoughtful by her
fiery trial, will be more ready in the future to hear of
that way of salvation which alone can save man from
his sins.
DR. HALL S LAST PUBLISHED LETTER.
PYONG YANG, October 17.
DEAR DR. STONE : Our work never looked as en
couraging here as now. The trying circumstances
through which all have passed have culled out the dross,
and only the gold remains. We are now on rock bot
tom, praise the Lord ! We have very interesting serv
ices every night. I rejoice that we came when we did.
The hymns of praise that less than a year ago, when
sung, brought cursing and stones upon us from the sur
rounding neighborhood, are now listened to with de
light, and carry with them a feeling of security similar
to the sound of the policeman s whistle in New York.
Comparatively few of the Koreans have yet returned to
their houses, but every day brings new additions.
Every day numbers of those who have returned and
those from the surrounding towns and villages visit us.
They buy our books and seem far more deeply inter
ested in the Gospel than I have ever seen them before.
While the Chinese army was here our Christians started
a flour mill and sold flour to the Chinese, and in that
way supported themselves. Every Sunday the mill was
shut down and no flour sold. It makes my hearts
rejoice to know how faithful our Christians have been
under such trying circumstances. True heroes for
Christ! They put on the jiggy (a rack for the back
used in carrying loads) and bring in wood and water,
and so forth. Chang Siky sets them the grand example.
It is taking all the Yangpanism out of them, praise the
Lord !
My patients are daily increasing. I have several gun
shot wounds. I use my bamboo cot for a stretcher and
our Christians as the ambul ince staff.
Our property and work are now in most satisfactory
304
shape. Of course, we do not know what turn things
will take next, but we are hoping and praying that every
turn will work together for our good and God s glory.
The Koreans rejoice to have us with them, and the Jap
anese treat us very kindly.
Our time of stay here will be governed by circum
stances.
PIONEER WORK IN KOREA. DR. HALL S WORK COM
PLETED.
FROM The Chinese Recorder, FEBRUARY, 1895.
The readers of the Recorder have doubtless become
interested in the pioneer work of Dr. Hall in the north
of Korea, and so will appreciate a few words telling of
his last earthly labors for the Master. His letter in the
November Recorder told of his expectation to return to
his work in Pyong Yang in company with Mr. Lee and
the writer of this. We reached Pyong Yang within three
weeks after the great battle, and for over a month were
able to stay there, reassuring the frightened Koreans,
looking after our interests there, preaching the Gospel
and healing the sick. Dr. Hall was busy from morning
till night attending the sick, directing his men, reestab
lishing his school for boys, and holding service every
evening with the Koreans. It was his privilege to see
some of the first fruits of his labors, and at this time he
examined a class of six applicants who had for several
months received instruction. Four of these he baptized
as he received them into the Church of Christ. The
Lord was especially gracious to him in giving him this
privilege as his last work in that city, where sin and
Satan had such a stronghold. It was with greatest joy
he praised the Lord on that Sunday for having allowed
him to see the evidence of faith in the hearts of these
305
men. Shortly after this the doctor began to feel the
effects of his untiring application to the physical and
spiritual needs of this people, who had taken such a
strong hold upon his heart s affections. This, together
with the exposure of the past year in his numerous visits
to Pyong Yang, had left him in poor condition to with
stand the dreadfully unhealthy condition of the atmos
phere in and around this city, which had been the bat
tlefield. The decaying bodies of men, horses, and cattle
were so numerous that in whichever direction we went
we came across them constantly, so that the atmosphere
was foul beyond all expression. We all suffered from
malaria, and as this seemed to have taken more serious
hold upon the doctor we arranged to leave for Soul
by Japanese transport. Through the courtesy of the
official we were able to do this, and after going down the
TaTong River some forty miles we embaiked on board a
transport carrying some six hundred sick soldiers, who
were suffering from dysentery and various fevers. We
had a pleasant voyage, and when we reached Chemulpo
all thought the doctor had almost recovered from his
fever, but the sequel shows that he had probably con
tracted typhus fever on the transport. After a day in
Chemulpo, in which he seemed fairly well again, his
fever went up and continued to rise while we awaited
the arrival of the small river steamer upon which we
took passage for Soul. Leaving in the afternoon, by
dark we had reached a point opposite Kang-hoa Island,
when we struck a rock and nearly capsized. All efforts
to free the steamer were futile, so there was nothing for
us to do but to get the doctor on shore, make him as
comfortable as possible in a Korean hut, and seek for a
junk. This we secured at daybreak, and after a slow
journey reached Soul the next morning. Here in the
306
hands of his wife, and with all the care the doctors could
give him, we hoped he would recover, but the Lord had
higher service for him, and he left us on Saturday,
November 24, entering into his reward..
Short as was his service in Korea (three years) none
had been more faithful, and no one was more ripe for
heaven than he. It seems to us that in recognition of
his fidelity and his rare consecration the Master has
called him to a higher place and a more glorious serv
ice. Well do I remember the calm assurance with
which he left it all with the Lord as we talked of the prob
ability of his going. He remarked that he had been
willing to leave home when the Master called him to
Korea, to leave Soul when he was called to Pyong
Yang, and that he was ready and willing to go to other
service on high if the Master called him from earth.
He was a man of great faith, great love, and great
humility. His prayers were an inspiration to us. His
love for the Koreans was such that although he had not
been here long enough to have gained a fluent use of
the language, yet he had loved some into the kingdom
of heaven, and he had exercised a great influence
upon all with whom he came in contact. His love for
children was especially noteworthy, and whether in
New York or in the foreign community in Soul, or
among the Koreans in Pyong Yang, the children were
always around him and always occupied a large place in
his plans for work. When beginning his work in
Pyong Yang he was not satisfied until he had secured a
school-teacher, gathered a number of boys and estab
lished a school, so that he could at once influence the
children and win them to Christ. Great was his joy
when one of these boys had induced his parents to give
up spirit worship and allow him to kneel in the midst
307
of them offering prayer to the only living and true God.
This boy he received into the Church, and no privilege
the Master gave him was the source of greater pleasure.
In the community Dr. Hall was known as a thor
oughly sincere, earnest Christian, whose love for all led
him to be continually serving others. He has been a
blessing to his fellow-workers, a blessing to the Koreans,
and an influence in the establishment of the Church of
Christ in Korea. As one most intimately acquainted
with him in his work in Pyong Yang it is my privilege to
bear witness to his fidelity, to the solid character of his
work, and to the great hold which he had upon the
hearts of the people who intimately recognized his great
sympathetic love for them. May the Lord send us
many more such missionaries!
His wife, who was so earnestly laboring with him and
who had endured not only the hardship of service with
him in Pyong Yang, but also the hardship of separation
from him during part of that work, has decided to re
turn to America for a few years. Our prayers and our
sympathy go with her in the hope that she may be able
to return and carry on their work so well begun.
SAMUEL A. MOFFETT.
w*-~ - ^ *&..
309
CHAPTER X.
Social and Home Life.
" The Holy Supper is kept, indeed,
In \vhatso we share with another s need;
Not what we give, but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare.
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three
Himself, his hungry neighbor, and Me."
LOWELL.
A true guide has left us Characteristics Mr. Gilroy s interest in
Dr. Hall "An ideal home" Will he neVer marry? An in
mate of Dr. Stone s home Does not agree to be consigned to
the life of a bachelor A love story from real life Mr. Merritt
hands the Madison Street work over to Dr. Hall Plans for its
enlargement Some encouraging results " Hammered ware"
Motherly gentleness Illustrations from personal observance
of the doctor s life in the slums Has he forgotten the foreign
field ? Quotations from private letters Bishop Thoburn wants
him for India Thinks of going out under Chinese government
employ Sent for by Dr. Baldwin Hopes to go to Korea
The way seems hedged Accepts appointment to West China
Released to go to Korea James A. Seaman s tribute Sails
for Korea Married Visits China Begins the new home
Hospitality Bishop Mallalieu appoints him to Pyong Yang
Meeting the doctor on one of his return trips Accompanying
him into the country His methods of work Delight of having
the doctor at home The two homeless waifs His son
Glimpses of the real heart life The Soul side of the story of the
persecution at Pyong Vang Dr. Hall s last days at home
The grave on the banks of the Han.
A TRAVELER as he pushes his journey into the night
is guided by the presence of a light held by a hand
unseen. He enjoys its companionship and cheer as he
moves on with sure footsteps. Scarcely does he realize
3io
its value till suddenly it disappears and the traveler is
left amazed at the depth of darkness around. So we
feel in the death of our beloved brother, Dr. Hall a
holy life, shining brightly; truly a guide has suddenly
left us, and we are brought to know how great a place
he filled in our lives. Memory now fondly traces the
character we loved. He was best known as a friend.
He was unchangeable as the oak. Familiarity never
lessened the strength of the inwrought fiber of his
friendship. Close associations, that so often make
friends careless and indifferent, only bound him a more
devoted worshiper at its shrine.
In boyhood he would part with his school friends at
night only to wait with impatience for the next morn
ing s greeting, not alone for self-satisfaction, but with
studied plans for their happiness.
Friendship he ever craved. A cool heart was his
greatest grief and a sign for its immediate conquest.
Many the flower he, unseen, dropped by love s hand on
others pathway. They came drifting over one like
sifted flakes by breezes scattered from some near
bloom-laden hedge.
He was a man of mighty faith. Though scrutinizing
evil, and realizing obstacles, their import unable to
fathom by reason, and though in view of but a grain of
leavening right, he by an unconquerable faith waited
for right s fulfillment. In dangers and storms, or in
safety and peace, within his soul ever reigned a great
calm.
A man of fine executive ability, born to lead, with
that rare gift for directing affairs and leaving others to
feel that they were doing it all, holding in view the
work of those around him with definite plans for its
extension, yet never imposing his views upon others
unless called forth by counsel or compelled by duty ;
ever deserving and winning favor, yet earnestly shun
ning notoriety.
Strangers met and respected him, acquaintances loved
him, intimate associates revered the noble grandeur of
his character. In that character he who mined the
deepest found the most precious gems.
He stepped from us so lightly that we scarcely knew
that he was gone until we reached for a grasp of his
warm hand and listened in vain for his familiar voice,
or gazed upon the field of his recent labor in the North,
hallowed by his sufferings and final great sacrifice. It
was a precious gift he made to Pyong Yang. Without
a murmur, but with rejoicing his life was given. Like
O Connell, he labored for the freedom of men, and
though a nation has not bowed before his name in grati
tude for broken shackles, individuals have. He set in
motion liberty s wave in the hearts of some that shall
roll on till multitudes join the flood and the Korean
nation shall count him one of her benefactors.
" His life was gentle, and the elements
So mixed in him that Nature could stand up
And say to all the world, This was a man ! "
One seldom thinks of timidness as one of the quali
ties of such a strong character as Dr. Hall possessed,
and yet he was most timid by nature. It was this that
held him back at first from going forward to the altar
in the old stone schoolhouse, his spiritual birthplace,
and that later made him hesitate to take the step of en
tire consecration ; but though timid he was no coward.
Mrs. Gilroy, a dear Glen Buell friend, writes that she
never knew of his missing a chance to witness for God
or engage in prayer.
Arid, just as he had apprehended, Jimmy Hall was
312
often impelled by the Holy Spirit to do~_or say things
from which his timid nature sorely shrank. Once when
attending a country party, when some of the young people
present proposed to end it in a dance, he felt impressed
with the duty of offering a prayer. Gladly would he
have gone away and left the gay young people to please
themselves ; but no ; he must obey his convictions at
the risk of being made fun of, and he did, with the re
sult that instead of a dance the party was turned into a
prayer meeting !
Another time, when seeing a young lady friend home
from church one Sunday evening, he felt he ought to
speak to her about her soul s salvation, but he bade her
good night without having done so. Upon his way
home there came over him such a strong sense that his
neglected duty might imperil the soul of his friend that,
singular as he knew it would appear, he returned to the
home of the young lady and asked to see her again.
To his great satisfaction he found that the Holy Spirit
had preceded that the young lady was desirous of
making her peace with God, and had wished upon their
way home that he would talk to her about it. She was
soundly converted that night. One week from that
time, stricken by a sudden illness, this young lady lay
dead in her coffin. How doubly thankful then was
Jimmy Hall that he had allowed the Holy Spirit to use
him as he would that God s grace overcame his timid-
ness.
Just here let us pause as we are thinking of the old
days in the doctor s home at Glen Buell, and relate in
the words of his much-esteemed neighbor, C. J. Gilroy,
how the news of the doctor s own death was broken to
his family. It was most fitting that to this dear and
lifelong friend this sad task should be committed. I
shall never forget," writes Mr. Gilroy, "the great look
of sadness and disappointment which came over his be
loved mother s face when I conveyed to her the sad,
sad news of his death. I got along fairly well with Mr.
Hall, his father, and also with the brothers ; the sisters
were absent, and it was very hard to break the sad in
telligence to his mother, who would have found it a
great privilege to have laid down her life to save his."
Mr. Gilroy also speaks of the largely attended memo
rial service that was held, and of the marble tablet
erected by his family for him in the home church, sim
ilar to the one he had himself ordered for his friend,
W. J. Hayes.
Mr. Gilroy adds also: " It was at the time Miss Karley
was teaching him that I first took an interest in the boy,
James Hall. The teacher boarded in our home, and he
used often to be here, getting extra lessons, or com
pleting the ones in hand. From this time forward
until he settled in far-away Korea, I have had great in
terest in his development, and have often been blessed
of God in telling other young people how that the
Lord had opened the several doors of usefulness to him
just as soon as he was ready to step in and enjoy the
blessed privileges, and He wou-ld do so for any of His
servants He could trust with the care of His lambs
and sheep."
It was in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gilroy that later
Dr. Hall committed the care of a little girl he rescued
from the slums of New York. He often spoke of their
home as an "ideal home," and in his secret heart
looked forward to the time when he might himself have
such a home. Little guessing these thoughts dear
Mrs. Gilroy once remarked to him that she thought
that lie would never get married. He asked her rea-
40
3H
son, and she replied that he was so busy in his work she
thought he would never find time. But to her surprise
he assured her that some day he hoped to have a part
ner in his lifework.
While a student in New York Dr. Hall lived at the
home of the International Medical Missionary Society,
at 118 East 45th Street. The cheap board provided
here did not include lunch, which he often went with
out, or, at best, made five cents purchases. Horoe com
forts were not many, but he never complained.
After graduating in 1889 he became associated w.ith
Dr. J. Sumner Stone in the New York City Church
Extension and Missionary Society, and for a year he
became an inmate of Dr. Stone s own home. Here,
again, he found an " ideal home," that made him long
for one of his own. However, his friends continued to
think that he chose the life of a bachelor ; but the
good doctor knew he was only waiting to find the one
that he believed God had in training somewhere for
him. And he had not long now to wait.
There are some men whose inner life we never pene
trate, who present to the world none of the warmth
and tenderness which the human heart craves. Such
was John Calvin. But, again, with others we live and
talk in pleasant companionship ; we see their struggles,
their hopes, and their fears. They lead us into the
sunny paths of their joys, as well as on the rugged
peaks of their conflicts. Such was Luther, and such
was Dr. Hall.
One busy day in November, 1889, Mrs. H. L. Jen
kins, trained nurse at the New York Deaconess Home,
who, with Misses Lewis and Casterton, often gave Dr.
Hall valuable help in his dispensary work, stepped into
the consulting room of the Roosevelt Street Dispensary
and said, "Dr. Hall, I have brought our newly arrived
doctor at the Deaconess Home to help you." The good
doctor looked up from the little patient he was exam
ining, and, as he afterward claimed, " fell in love at first
sight " with the young woman who stood in the door
way.
Dr. Rosetta Sherwood, of Liberty, N. Y., a graduate
of the Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania, all
unconscious of what was going on in Dr. Hall s mind,
but eager to show the New York doctor in charge of
this medical mission that she was professionally well
qualified to give him the help Mrs. Jenkins spoke of, at
once handed him some certificates and testimonials to
the effect that after graduating at Philadelphia she had
served a successful internship, and that her diploma
had been indorsed by his New York college, and that
she was registered at the county clerk s office. Dr.
Hall carefully read these papers and gravely returned
them to Dr. Sherwood ; but in after years he frequently
teased Mrs. Hall because she so highly recommended
herself to him when first they met.
In downtown dispensaries or in the tenement houses
of their poor patients the two doctors frequently met
each other in their work. Dr. Hall found that Dr.
Sherwood was a Methodist, that she was a candidate
for foreign mission work, and that, his chosen field,
China, was also hers, and the more he saw of her the
more convinced he became that she was the one lie had
been waiting for, and he thought she must see how he
felt. But Dr. Hall was so kind and loving to everybody
that Dr. Sherwood little thought of anything personal
in his attentions, and even one day in the Madison
Street Dispensary, when he greeted her with, " Doctor,
I believe the Lord sent you to me," she only interpreted
317
it as meaning there was more work than usual that day,
and immediately set about helping with it. And when
upon Christmas Day the doctor invited her to go to
Central Park with him, and on the way homeward he
asked her to be his wife she was quite as surprised at
his question as he with her quick response, " O, doctor,
1 couldn t think of such a thing." He had been think
ing and praying about it for more than a month, and
felt so certain that it was the Lord s leading that he
could not understand this result. He concluded he
had been too hasty, and he told Dr. Sherwood he
would not take "no" for her answer, that she must
think and pray about it as he had done.
The doctor did not renew his proposal until Easter
time, and then he met with more favor, but with little
hope after all, for Dr. Sherwood stated that in the
meantime she had sent in her application to the Wom
an s Foreign Missionary Society, had been accepted
and appointed, not to China, but to Korea, and that she
would not want to marry for five years. Dr. Hall had
never believed in long engagements, but after praying
over the matter and consulting his good friend,
Dr. Stone, who had somewhat a similar experience, he
decided to enter into such an engagement, Dr. Sherwood
telling him, however, that he must feel perfectly free to
change his mind ; as she was going out to the foreign
field anyhow, if he could take another worker who
otherwise would not go, then that would make three
new missionaries in the field instead of two. The doc
tor afterward confessed that this idea had consider
able weight with him, but, after all, he felt there was
no other who could take Dr. Sherwood s place in his
affections.
Dr. Sherwood left her home in Liberty August 22,
318
1890, for Korea. However much pain the separation
might cause him Dr. Hall rejoiced that she was doing
what she believed was God s will. His new affection
gave color to his whole subsequent life. Some quota
tions from the doctor s letters to Dr. Sherwood will best
show his thoughts and feelings at this time.
August 26, 1890, he wrote : " I believe our separation
from each other, whether it be short or long, will do us
both good. With me it has touched a heartstring
which never vibrated before. I have asked the Lord
to train me for His service at any cost. You were never
more precious to me than to-day. I am in most hearty
sympathy with all you have done, and prize you all the
more for being willing to leave all and follow Jesus.
The uppermost desire of my heart regarding you is to
have you where you can best glorify God. While nat
urally it would have been very hard to see one I loved
with all my heart going off to a strange land to fight
alone the battle of life, still I realize you are not alone.
You have One to fight all your battles and share all
your conflicts. I can with the utmost confidence leave
you in His almighty care."
September 5. " I suppose you are now upon the great
Pacific. Ho\v often I think of you and bear you to
Him who holdeth the waters of the sea in His hand.
Although you are being wafted farther and farther from
me each successive day, still in heart you are daily get
ting nearer. My love for you is developing a part of
my character which has hitherto remained dormant,
and God is developing my heart along this line ; my
love for the perishing around me is stronger, and my
love for God is steadily increasing.
" Dr. Stone has returned, and is into the work with all
his heart again. It is such a privilege to be with Dr.
and Mrs. Stone. They are well, and baby Mary is im
proving wonderfully. She is a very sweet child ; we
all think there is no baby like Mary. Old Asbury is
booming, and we are expecting a great work in the city
this fall and winter. Two very wealthy Christians have
pledged fifteen thousand dollars each for Mr. Merritt s
work. One will rent a building on Park Row, to be
carried on after the plan that was adopted at Roosevelt
Street during Mr. Merritt s short stay there ; the other
on Eighth Avenue. The above sums will cover the
rent for ten years for the two buildings. You remem
ber this line of work was suggested to Mr. Merritt after
our visit to the dives, when you thought if people could
only get a glass of milk, instead of whisky, and their
night s lodging elsewhere as cheaply as in these dives,
the work would be more promising. How wonderfully
God opens up the way ! Mr. Merritt told us last Sun
day, When I want money I ask God for it, I never go
to man. May God raise up more Merritts for the
world !
" My cousin, W. J. Drummond, left here the Monday
following your departure. He goes under the Presby
terian Board to Nanking, China. I have not yet seen
Dr. Baldwin expect to have Dr. Stone introduce me
to him soon. If God wants me in China He will
open the way if not, I pray Him to hedge it. Any
where for Jesus."
September 17. "I used sometimes to think I
might never meet the one I could love as I believed
those coming together should love, but I was mistaken.
When the proper time came God had you ready. Al
though born and trained hundreds of miles apart I be
lieve God was fitting us for each other. How dearly I
love you, Rosetta, with a love that grows deeper and
3 20
stronger each day, and I believe will continue to in
crease through life and great eternity. God must enter
into and control all we do. I rejoice that He is in the
contract."
In October, 1890, Dr Hall was placed in full charge
of the work at Madison Street, and not long after de
cided it would be best for the work for him to reside
there; so he gave up his pleasant home with Dr. Stone,
and made one for himself and helpers at 209 Madison
Street.
In his letters to Dr. Sherwood the doctor thus
speaks of this work : " Mr. Merritt has handed Madison
Street Mission entirely over to me. It appeared to be
my duty, so I dare not shrink. I have been laying
plans for the work. We had 36 at Sunday school our
first Sunday, and 60 last. I expect 100 before the end
of November. We had a glorious meeting last night.
I know the Lord has called me to this work, and it
must prosper. I feel of Madison Street as Judson did
of Burmah ; when asked of its prospects he replied, As
bright as the promises of God. "
February 17 the doctor writes: "The work at
Madison Street is moving along gloriously. Since No
vember the membership has almost doubled. Twenty-
one have been received upon probation and others by
letter. Some Roman Catholics have been converted
and have united with us. A Hebrew has accepted
Christ as the Messiah, and was baptized the other Sun
day. Our Sunday school is flourishing. We have a
boys meeting every week, composed of the boys that
have been converted in our work. It would do you
good to hear them speak and pray. Dear boys, how I
love them! We also have a girls meeting equally in
teresting and profitable."
June 2. "I have a very large family here now.
We sheltered sixteen last night besides the janitor s fam
ily. I am glad we have a home where I can welcome
those who need our help and those who are willing to
give themselves to the work. There are two doctors
here besides myself; the work is moving along trium
phantly, and souls are being saved each week.
" I am thinking of putting in about ten cots in the
basement, arranging them so they can be turned up
against the wall when not in use. This would take up
very little space and not interfere with the use of the
room for meetings, etc. I purpose using them for un
employed men who are anxious to lead a Christian life.
I will have them do all the cleaning, washing, etc., in
connection with their apartment, and let them give an
hour s work for a cheap lunch. In this way we could
cull out the insincere. I have not laid the matter be
fore the society yet, but I expect they will grant my
request, as they have never refused anything I have
asked yet. I have already tried it on a small scale, and
find grand results. One man who was with us about
three months was soundly converted, and has now a
good position, getting $50 per month, and is earnestly
working for Christ. I believe many a brand can be
plucked from the burning in this way. Many a man
has gotten down and discouraged that would have
gladly led a different life if only a loving hand would lift
him up."
Dr. Hall labored under great difficulties for the
want of means to carry on the work. From his own
scanty funds he contributed generously for that pur
pose. He lived upon the simplest fare, stale bread and
apples often constituting his chief diet, and was known
often to go without the ordinary necessaries of life that
41
322
he might contribute something to the work. To the
remonstrance of friends he would reply, " It is all for
the Lord." He was not an ascetic. His greatest joy
was in the companionship of warm hearts. Nor did
self-imposed pain make him self-conscious of the he
roic. Sacrifice but awakened in his mind a simple joy.
One day I found him at a shop of a dealer in second
hand china ; lie was buying cups with broken handles
and plates with nicked edges. In reply to my question
he said, cheerily, " I am expecting more helpers in the
mission, and need a larger supply of dishes."
After a day of toil, however weary the doctor might
be, he would make a round of the whole circle, inquiring
into the welfare of each ; nor would he retire until all
were at rest, when he would again visit the cot of each
young man and gently arrange the blanket or a pillow
for the sleeper s comfort.
Dr. Hall believed in a strict Sunday observance.
He felt that in this matter the United States was more
careless than Canada. He pointed to the cities of Can
ada with pride for not having street cars run on Sun
day. His own conscientious devotion to the observance
of the Lord s Day is well illustrated by an experience he
used to tell in a sermon upon consecration. He said:
u One of the hardest struggles of my life occurred
while in the city of New York. Late one Saturday
afternoon I received a telegram from a physician which
read as follows : Your father is seriously ill. Come
immediately. In a few minutes I was at the depot,
and started on the first train. At ten o clock Saturday
night I reached Utica. I was then within a few hours
ride of my home, and found that the next train would
leave Sunday morning at six o clock, and that there
would not be another train till the following morning at
323
the same hour. What was to be done? I had always
spoken against traveling on the. Sabbath, but now the
testing time had come. Satan never tempted as he did
that night. He told me if I would take that Sunday
morning train I would see my father alive : if I waited
until Monday I would be too late. He accused me of
a lack of filial love to think of waiting under these cir
cumstances. I went to my room, and with my open
Bible before me I fought the hardest battle of my life
on my knees. I sacrificed my Isaac upon the altar. I
left my father in the hands of God, and the matter was
soon settled, and I promised to obey God at any cost.
I cannot express the calm peace that filled my soul. On
Monday I started for home, and on reaching there
found my father very much better. He had taken
a change for the better about the same hour that I
was pleading with God in regard to my duty in
Utica. We have a wonderful Saviour. They that
put their trust in the Lord shall never be confounded.
Obedience is better than sacrifice."
The life of Dr. Hall in New York city is best
shown by a glance at his surroundings. Located right
in the heart of the neglected portion of our great
metropolis, he lived and labored amid gigantic evils;
amid discouragements with unconquering faith he joy
ously toiled on.
A great horde of human beings are congregated be
hind these brick walls. Each member, in the effort to
exist, tramples his fellow lower until on every side is
heard the cry of despair. Visit a street of this section.
The street is narrow, and you become bewildered at the
moving mass of people who fill up the walks even into
the gutter, men and women alike struggling and push
ing their way through the throng in the wild compe-
324
tition for bread. There is no place on earth, it is said,
where the people are so closely packed as in this part
of the great city. Squalor reigns everywhere.
Through such a crowd Dr. Hall makes his way, and
up long flights of stairs through dark hallways, by rooms
closely packed with tenants, and at last he pauses at a
door and enters. The room is cold and damp. A
mother and six children are the occupants. She wears
scarcely clothing enough for a covering. Two little
children wear no clothing at all. A baby is lying in a
cradle wrapped only in a newspaper. The weather is
bitter cold, and it has been long since a fire burned in
the stove. On the table is a small loaf of bread suffi
cient to feed a man at one meal, and this must last the
family for some days.
At the offer of kindness the poor woman breaks
down and sobs, and from her tears she says, "You
need not help me, but please give the children some
thing; I can t bear to see them die." Dr. Hall devises
means for their relief, and, kneeling down, commits
them to the care of Him who is a friend of the poor.
He hurries from the grateful home on another errand
of mercy.
One day I entered the home of a poor Jew and asked
the sick and poverty-stricken family if the doctor had
called that morning. "Yes," was the reply; "Dr.
Hall has visited us constantly for some time. He is a
wonderful man ; he treats us without charge ; he brings
us food and then gets down on his knees and prays for
us all. Who is Dr. Hall? My people have long been
looking for the Messiah, and we have become tired
of waiting. Would the Messiah be more kind than
this man ? " The earnest inquiry of the poor igno
rant Jew is an illustration of the reverence held for
325
Dr. W. J. Hall by those with whom he came in contact
in his missionary work in the slums of New York. He
was indefatigable in his devotion for the lost of our
great metropolis. He possessed a rare faculty of com
ing in contact with the masses. He was ever evolving
plans for the final evangelization of our great cities
plans that in extension and practicability of character
were equaled only by Mr. Booth, of England ; plans
unmatured only because of insufficient means; plans
that, though laid aside, were, until his death, cherished
with a hope of their realization.
He possessed a mind that comprehended great things
and loved to dwell upon the destinies of the race ; yet
the minutia of everyday life received his careful atten
tion.
He was a friend to all classes and ages, a man in
whom the Church was glad to trust. The rich found
him a faithful steward and wise counselor, the poor
and distressed a loving, sympathetic friend.
But one might ask, Has Dr. Hall forgotten his calling
to the foreign field ? Some quotations from his letters
will show. July 10, 1890, he writes: "We had a
glorious time on Sunday. Bishop Thoburn was at
Asbury; he preached on the street in the evening, and
afterward inside. I had a good visit with him at Dr.
Stone s. He wants me for India, but I think that is not
my place. But the needs and claims of the foreign
field are pressing upon me with greater force than ever,
and the probability is that I will start for China in
about a year. I but recently returned from a few de
lightful days spent at Northfield. What a privilege it
is to come in contact with such men as we meet there !
I tented with several of the International Medical Mis
sionary Society students, and we boarded ourselves.
3 26
C.Vanderbilt furnished our tickets, so our expenses were
very small. July 7 I met Mrs. Moody, D. L. Moody s
mother; she is eighty-five years of age, but enjoying
good health. I think nature has done more for North-
field than any place I have been in. No wonder God
chose this place for D. L. Moody s birthplace. He is
a living example of what God can do through a man
thoroughly consecrated to himself."
From Buffalo, N. Y., March 3, 1891, the doctor
writes : " I am taking a few days rest or rather change.
I arrived here last night from Cleveland, O., where I
attended the greatest Student Volunteer Convention ever
yet held. There were over six hundred delegates. We
will hold two meetings here to-day and two in Roches
ter to-morrow. I can t tell you what a wonderful bless
ing the convention has been to me. God is drawing
me closer and closer to Himself. Now about China.
Our Board don t expect to be able to send out any
medical missionaries this year. I have an offer of
$1,000 per year from the Chinese government to go to
China to treat some Europeans in the government em
ploy, with the privilege of doing all the missionary
work I choose. There is no missionary in that place at
all. In this way I could get to the field without any
expense to the Missionary Society and be self-support
ing. The engagement would be for five years. The
New York City Church Extension and Missionary
Society have engaged my services another year, but
I told them there was a possibility of my going to
the foreign field next fall. I like the Society very
much. They have done nobly by me."
June 3, 1890. "Shortly after my return from Cleve
land I received a letter from Dr. Baldwin, stating that
they wished to see me at the Secretaries rooms. I went
up, and they asked me if I would be willing to go to
Korea in case they had to send a man to take Dr.
Scranton s work. I said I would. But now they can t
settle anything until Bishop Goodsell returns. But I
have given up the Chinese government offer entirely
in view of going to Korea under our own Board.
Later he wrote : "The way to the foreign field at pres
ent appears to be hedged, and God is marvelously
opening up my way here and giving me the hearts of
the people. Indications point strongly as though He
wanted me in New York. He knows best, and I am
glad to have Him choose for me. I don t lay nearly so
many plans as I used to. I am just resting passive in
His hands."
August 27, 1891. "The Canadian Methodist Board
have been urging me very strongly for the past two
weeks to go out under them to China, and went to
work and raised the money to send me, without receiv
ing any encouragement from me, as I hoped to go out
under the Board here ; but the Lord has hedged up the
way here and opened it wide there."
Naturally the doctor longed to receive his appoint
ment to Korea, but with him it was not a question of
choice, but obedience. His prayer had been, "Lord,
open the way, and I shall follow ; " and he prepared to
leave, actually shipping his goods with the Canadian
party. It was a test. God s faithful servant proved
true, and suddenly is rewarded by receiving the desire
of his heart. Friends finding out his relation to Korea,
and desiring to retain his valuable services in the
Church in which he was laboring, placed the matter
before the Methodist Episcopal Missionary Society in
such ii way that he was immediately accepted and ap
pointed to Korea.
3 28
September 19, 1891, the doctor writes to Dr. Sherwood
(upon her birthday) : "Well, Rosetta, I have just been
appointed to Korea ! Yesterday I received my release
from the Canadian Board, providing I was appointed
by our Board to Korea. I rejoice that the Lord has
opened the way. He knew I would gladly go any
where for Him, and I feel so grateful that we are soon
to be together. I never felt His presence and power
more than now. I will now take some post-graduate
work. I am rooming at 118 East 45th Street, with
Dr. Scranton. I have also met his mother, and I
like both very much. They speak highly of you.
Dr. Baldwin tells me he wants me to leave Vancouver
November 22. I go that way, that I may visit my dear old
home. Miss Lewis will go out this fall to help you. I
wish we could sail together, but I suppose her Board
might not be willing to let her go via Canada. I expect
Mrs. Skidmore would much rather I was not going to
Korea. 1 am urged on every side to remain here, but
I feel God has a work for me in heathen lands. This
has been a wonderful experience. I praise Him for the
many valuable lessons He has taught me while here, and
for the precious souls and warm friends He has given
me. It is all of Him, to God be all the glory. How
often as I see His power and love manifested I am led
to exclaim: What a wonderful Saviour! What rich
blessings He has in store for us if we live close to Him !
May God glorify Himself through us to the fullest ex
tent possible, is my most earnest prayer."
The following testimonial from the pen of Mr. James
A. Seaman shows how Dr. Hall was regarded by
the Society under whose employ he had so happily
served :
329
"NEW YORK, September 14, 1891.
" DR. W. J. HALL : Dear Brother, the Executive
Committee of the New York Church Extension and Mis
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church at
its meeting on the 4th instant expressed a wish that I
should write you as recording secretary and convey the
assurance that the Board of Managers fully appreciate
your valuable services rendered in the mission work of
the Society ; and the Board at its meeting on the nth
instant, concurring most heartily in this wish, voted your
retirement from active work in the Society with great
regret for the loss of such services and recognition of
their unquestioned value; and they recommend you to
the General Missionary Board for work in the foreign
field, trusting that by such recommendation they may
aid in securing for the cause of Christ and His Church
the invaluable aid of your wide experience, great ability,
and rare enthusiasm and devotion.
" Permit me to add that among the many members
of the Society whose admiration and personal attach
ment you have won, and in whose hearts you will al
ways hold a warm place, is
" Yours most fraternally,
" JAMES A. SEAMAN."
The attainment of two things was of especial value
to Dr. Hall a personal consciousness of the presence
of the Holy Spirit and a familiarity with hardships,
the vicissitudes of which never took him by surprise.
The enthusiasm of his life was born of his responsibility
to man and God. Like the apostle, he felt he was
" debtor both to the Greek and to the Barbarians ; " that
all men, because of the glorious gift which he had re
ceived, had a right to his service, and he labored with
42
330
all the intensity of a sanctified life, that he might save
some.
The doctor was very seasick upon his voyage to
Korea so sick that he felt if he ever reached his des
tination he would not want to return. But seasickness
is always strangely soon forgotten, and the doctor lived
to look forward to his return to the homeland some
day via Europe, that he might fulfill his lifelong desire
of visiting Palestine. But God had prepared even a
better vision than the Holy Land for His servant s eyes
when he should leave Korea.
As it may be easily understood, the doctor s great
heart was indeed rejoiced to meet her who had preceded
him to the foreign field by more than a year. Dr. Sher
wood always considered that the greatest thing she could
have done for mission work in Korea was being instru
mental in bringing Dr. Hall to that field. That they
should so soon meet again in the Lord s work was in
deed a privilege unexpected by both when they parted.
As the doctor himself exclaimed, " I do praise God with
all my heart. Life to me thus far has been a continued
surprise, getting better and brighter every day, and I
expect now it will to the end." Even so, dear doctor,
; The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day."
Although when it looked as if the doctor was going
to settle in China Dr. Sherwood had refused to leave
her Korean work before the appointed time to help
make that "ideal home," now that she would not have
to leave that work at all there was no good reason for
deferring it longer, and it was soon settled that they
would be married in about six months time.
So upon one of those perfect days, June 27, 1892, the
Rev. William James Hall, M.D., of Glen Buell, Ont.,
was united in marriage to Miss Rosetta Sherwood, M.D.,
of Liberty, N. Y. The ceremony was performed by the
Rev. F. Ohlinger, assisted by Rev. D. Bunker, and in
the presence of Her British Majesty s Consul Hon.
W. C. Hillier, United States Deputy Consul General,
Dr. H. N. Allen, and some thirty invited guests, at the
pleasant home of the Woman s Foreign Missionary So
ciety, graciously presided over by Mrs. M. F. Scranton.
Rev. Appenzeller, who was upon his way to America
with his family, voiced the feelings of all present in his
congratulations: "I believe Jesus was present at the
marriage in Soul, Korea, because both Jesus was
called, and his disciples, to the marriage. May God bless
you richly in all things, both temporal and spiritual, is
the wish and prayer of your friends the Appenzellers,
Oriental Hotel, Kobe, Japan, June 27, 1892."
Dr. and Mrs. Hall went to China for a wedding trip,
where they spent a month s vacation at Chefoo. Here
they had the pleasure of meeting a great many mission
aries to China Dr. Randall and family at Tong Shin,
whom Dr. Hall knew in the old days of the International
Medical Missionary Society in New York ; Rev. and
Mrs. Goforth and Miss Mclntosh, of Honan Province ;
Rev. and Mrs. McKee and family from Ning-Po ; Mrs.
Scofield, widow of the lamented Dr. Scofield ; and Miss
Roberts, sister of Dr. Roberts, who was then filling the
late Dr. McKenzie s place in Tientsin ; Mr. and Mrs.
Stock, of the China Inland Mission Sanitorium, and a
number of China Inland Mission workers resting there ;
Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Hunter Corbett and Rev. and Mrs.
George Hays, of the Presbyterian Mission, Chefoo.
Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Nevins were on the way, but had not
yet arrived from their American trip.
Quite a party from Korea also spent their vacation at
PER. OF WORLD-WIDE MISSIONS.
A CHRISTIAN CHINESE MAN AND HIS WIFE.
333
Chefoo this summer: Mrs. Greathouse, mother of the
American Adviser to the King of Korea ; Dr. and Mrs.
Vinton, the Drs. Brown, Rev. and Mrs. Gifford.
It is related of Dr. Hall that, ever desirous of making
the most use of his time, he took with him on this trip
a number of volumes in his course of Conference study,
such as the Life of Wesley and the History of the Metho
dist Episcopal Church, but he never could be gotten to
tell how many of them he read !
Upon returning to Soul Dr. and Mrs. Hall began
housekeeping at the home of Rev. Appenzeller, who
with his family were upon their well-earned furlough in
America. Though frugal, their home was always hos
pitable. Dr. Hall never seemed so happy as when he
could have guests at his table, especially the bachelors
of the various missions, or strangers in town. Mr. and
Mrs. J. A. Chain, of Colorado, U. S., were the first guests
in the new home. They were traveling around the
world, and being earnest Christians they took especial
interest in missions, and it brought pain to many hearts
when the sad news came that upon October 13 they went
down in the Bokhara, overtaken in a typhoon off the
coast of China. But, as Dr. Hall remarked to Mrs. Hall,
" It was nice that this dear husband and wife could to
gether enter glory and be forever with the Lord." They
were reminded of the incident spoken of in F. R.
Havergal s memorials, where a missionary, his wife, and
six children had thus gone home to heaven :
" It was a day of death,
But not of tears ;
A day of wondrous change,
But not of hopes and fears.
No parting look was given,
No farewell word was spoken,
As the link that kept those souls from heaven
By a single touch was broken.
334
"No heartache and no pain,
No weary breath, no sighing,
No speechless look of love,
No deathwatch, and no dying ;
No eyes were softly closed,
No hands were gently folded,
No living face hung in anguish wild
O er the statue death had molded.
" It was a day of life
A day of wondrous bliss;
What entrance through the gates of pearl
Could ever equal this !
How rapturous then the greeting,
What look of love outspoken
As the union of those souls in heaven
Was sealed, ne er to be broken ! "
M. Cox, 1867.
At the Annual Meeting which occurred soon after Dr.
and Mrs. Hall s return, the summer of 1892, according to
the appointments read by Bishop Mallalieu, Mrs. Hall was
to continue physician in charge of the Woman s Hospital
at Soul, and Dr. Hall was to do pioneer work on the
Pyong Yang Circuit, 180 miles away ! Thus, so soon
were they again separated; it was a sacrifice for the
Master s work and borne bravely by both for His sake.
In the words of the doctor to his wife: " I am glad, after
all, my precious one, that God permits us to do hard
things for Him. It is a special mark of His favor.
Let us not worry, but get all the blessing from this trial
that it is His will to bestow. God is training us and
getting us ready for lives of greater usefulness, and it
is all right."
It was largely due to Dr. Hall s influence that I and
Mrs. Noble were appointed to Korea. We reached
Soul October 18, 1892, and were kindly welcomed to
their home by Mrs. Hall, the doctor being absent at
Pyong Yang; but he had thoughtfully left us a letter of
warm greeting. Later we were privileged to have his
335
cheering presence with us for a short time, and it was
decided it would be best for us all to live together on
account of the little available parsonage accommodation
in Korea, and that we might aid the doctor in his scheme
of paying the passage out and boarding another medical
missionary that year.
Learning about the time of the doctor s return from
his next trip I went out a day s journey to meet him.
His face was radiant with gladness he had been espe
cially successful in the treating of patients, the selling
of books, and the propagation of the Gospel. At last
he felt he had a firm foothold in Pyong Yang. The
doctor could not wait to tell the joy of his heart, but led
me out upon a mountain top, and there, amid the wild
mountain scenery and the silence and grandeur around,
he rehearsed the particulars of his late journey, and,
kneeling down, his face bathed in tears, he poured out
his heart to God. He said, " I know it is an opening of
the Lord." Little did he know the stormy path through
which it would lead, or that the very facts over which
he now rejoiced were indicative of the early crown that
he would wear.
Upon Dr. Hall s next trip into the interior it was my
privilege to accompany him. The discomforts of travel
ing in Korea are multitudinous. There are peculiar
trials that tend to bring out any sterling worth the mis
sionary may possess.
It was an inspiration to see Dr. Hall face these diffi
culties, even as joyously as if he had been traveling by
the most luxurious railway coach. On leaving an inn
one morning during our journey the coolies, as was their
daily custom, began a general quarrel, each declaring
that he had more than his share of the baggage to carry.
At last they said they would not go another step. The
336
doctor looked ruefully around upon his scattered bag
gage and upon the boisterous coolies and, without re
plying, sat down and, taking a paper from his pocket, he
commenced to read. Such diplomacy on his part had
the effect that entreaty or storming would not have had.
They hastily placed the baggage on their ponies, and
were soon on their way. The doctor himself, seated on
a pack astride of the strongest pony, would entertain
with the brightest Gospel stories the cooly who trudged
at his side. One who afterward became a most faith
ful Christian follower was won to Christ by these talks
from the saddle. To the Korean mind the spirits
around him have a great deal to do with his destiny.
Every green tree, every bubbling stream, every green
mound, the roof of his house, the walls, and the floor
beneath are peopled with unseen beings, all to harass
and none to cheer his weary life. On our journey at
certain points we would pass small trees devoted to the
spirit worship. At the foot of such a tree would be a
pile of stones formed by the contribution of each passer
by ; on the limbs were tied strips of paper and rags.
The doctor would watch his coolies bow low to these
places of worship, and at a convenient opportunity would,
by question and suggestion, lead them to an acknowl
edgement that such worship brought them no satisfac
tion, and then he would offer Christ. Frequently after
traveling together a few weeks his whole party would
cease doing homage to the spirits at the wayside. We
find him at an inn resting on the Sabbath and preach
ing to the people who gather to hear him. Books are
offered to those who will read, and the whole Sabbath
day is devoted to preaching, prayer, and song. " By this
means," he would say, "we are packing the dynamite of
the Gospel away among the towns and in the homes of
337
this people, and soon the spark will come from God s
altar that shall lift the clouds of sin and heathenism."
In his dispensary at Pyong Yang it was much the
same. Seated on the floor like the Korean himself, the
doctor would meet the people who thronged to see him,
some coming from curiosity, others to be treated by the
foreign doctor. He would say, " My greatest delight
is to sit with my patients," and none came under his
care that did not leave not only with the Gospel mes
sage to ponder over, but with the impress that they had
been in the presence of a great and good man. Dr.
Hall used often to exclaim, " It is glorious to live in
these times and really be able to do something for
Jesus."
At one time the people of Pyong Yang were aroused
through the influence of an official with resentment
against the foreigner. While sitting at an inn uncertain
what would be the outcome of their animosity Dr. Hall
was asked how he felt over the prospects. He replied,
"If it is God s will to open up this city by the sacrifice
of one life I am not unwilling to be that one." Com
mencing his work in Korea he took up the keynote
with which Luther at one time had shaken all Europe,
proclaiming, " Justification by faith." The crowds at
his hospital and dispensaries heard the vigorous call
to repentance and the promise of life. He held a clear
conception of the divine law, and when the questions
of heathen indulgences were presented he spoke with
no uncertain sound, permitting no compromise. One
law he knew, holiness to God and love to man, yet
none held a tenderer feeling for the weak and erring or
pity for the viciously wrong.
Dr. Hall never lost sight of his commission, but ever
proclaimed the Gospel. A prayer went with every
43
338
bottle of medicine, and if the suffering patient at last
dipped his feet in the cold stream of death it was the
doctor who lingered by to repeat the story of Christ s
love. He was fond of reading from the Gospel and
preaching the truths of Christ s death and resurrection.
Nothing else, he would say, wins men s hearts as the
story of the cross. If you tell the Koreans of the
Western civilization, they marvel but little. If you tell
them of the miracles of the Old Testament history, they
will have something greater to tell. If you tell them of
the great age of Methuselah, they will tell you of a man
who lived t\vo thousand years. Tell them of the waters
of Egypt that were turned into blood, they will tell you
that the river of Pyong Yang, at a certain period, for
three days ran blood. Tell them of the manna that
fed the Israelites in the wilderness, and they will tell
you of a clan that lived on the mountain tops fed with
the dews of heaven ; but tell them of the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, and they are silent; re
peat the story, and the great deep of the heart is moved,
and they cry out, " Men and brethren, what must we
do?"
One secret of Dr. Hall s great success was the fact
that he made his sermons exceedingly personal. Noth
ing was more interesting than to watch a service under
the doctor s care. The little sliding doors of his room
would be pushed back so that outsiders could see and
hear. He would be seated on the floor and begin by
singing a hymn. Eager faces would soon be at the
door, some of the bolder would venture in; at the close
of the hymn the room would be filled, and in a short
time the windows and doors would be crowded with
quiet listeners. At the close of his simple Gospel ser
mon, he would ask each individual if he would become
339
a follower of Christ. As he pointed out each face they
were compelled to say yes or no. Many were the glad
responses, and although many rejected the offer of
Christ, yet all were convinced that Dr. Hall was their
friend. The children, though as a rule shy of the
foreigner, would cling to him and express their affec
tion with childlike caresses.
It was a great delight to have Dr. Hall back in his
home after those trying journeys into the interior. The
word " home," so sweet to the American mind, bore a
double wealth of meaning to him. It was his one re
treat of sunshine from the storms of pioneer missionary
life. The few days he would spend at Soul in recruit
ing at the close of each trip from the interior would
be in close application to the study of the language,
looking after repairs upon mission buildings and fre
quently, also, the care of the hospital fell upon him.
Yet he ever had time to give a helping hand to anyone
in need and a word of cheer to those about him. His
spirit of Christian devotion was most prominent in his
home. Christian perfection was a theme on which he
prepared nearly all his sermons. They were written
with a devotion without cant, and a vigor without os
tentation. That which he preached he lived, and to
live in his presence was to know more of the Saviour
he loved. He possessed a meekness that was supplica
tory and a firmness that was intensely aggressive.
One time when in Soul, upon a walk with Mrs. Hall,
the doctor came across two little homeless waifs that
had been sleeping on the street all through the cold
month of January, with only some old rags and straw
matting to protect them. They were frost-bitten, cov
ered with vermin, and nearly dead with suffering. Dr.
Hail took them to the hospital, gave them nourishing
PER. OF THE CLASSMATE.
DR. HALL AND THK KOKKAX WAIFS.
food and proper treatment, bought material and had
one of Mrs. Hall s convalescent patients make them
each a new suit; then, burning their old rags, he with
his own hands gave them a good bathing, cut their
hair, and arrayed them neatly in their new clothes.
When all was done I remember with what pleasure the
doctor took Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Noble, and myself to wit
ness the transformation. Mrs. Hall remarked that he
had spoiled their best pair of shears cutting their hair,
but that was of little moment to him, so long as he
hoped that this cleansing of the outside was the sign of
the moral regeneration to follow. When they became
strong and well the doctor secured them work and
schooling in the mission ; but when spring came one of
the boys, seemingly preferring the old life to the new
one of work and study, ran away. However, as the
doctor said, we might be glad if fifty per cent of those
we endeavor to help are benefited.
Upon the occasion of one of his home visits the doc
tor s great heart was overjoyed with the birth of a son.
This little fellow came November 10, 1893, the eighty-
ninth anniversary of his Grandfather Sherwood s birth
day, and he received the name of Sherwood Hall.
When little Sherwood was three weeks old his father
was again off faithfully attending to his chosen work in
Pyong Yang. Later, taking his first opportunity of try
ing the trip by water, he took a small steamer that the
Japanese had begun to run to Pyong Yang from
Chemulpo, and came home in less than half the time it
takes to make the overland trip. He was with us but
ten days, and then was gone upon his next trip nearly
ten weeks.
A truly great man is always the most natural and
simple. It is with satisfaction that we watch a public
342
man return to the home life, to the noble principles of
affection found in the child. It is, after all, the inner
life that influences the world.
To express the real character of Dr. Hall reference
to his private letters could ill be spared here. Writing
from the interior he gives expression to the great love
he had for his home and the dear ones there. In a
letter to his wife he says : " Our home is so happy; the
only bitterness we have is our separation from each
other; but it is for Jesus, and it is all right. Don t
worry about anything, my darling ; how I would like to
bear the burdens for you, but our dearest friends come
far short of being able to give us the needed comfort
and help, but Jesus can, and, praise the Lord, He does.
Let us cheerfully do hard things for Him."
March 16 he writes : " How rny heart goes out in
love to you, my darling wife, and little Sherwood, dear
little boy ; he is very closely entwined around our hearts.
I hope God may spare him to grow up a good man, a
comfort and a joy to us, and a blessing to the world.
Your precious letter reached me last Tuesday, and
although it was as long as I could expect, yet while I
w r as reading it I was dreading that each page would be
the last. You know how I long to be with you ; my
whole being yearns for you, and I have had to seek
special grace from the Master. He has given me a
heart to love, and He comes in and fills it."
March 28. " It costs me a great struggle to leave
you so long, my precious ones ; but I believe this trip
will prove a blessing to each. It has taught me more
fully to give up to God the dear ones that I love with
all my heart. Trials do me good. I need them. But
I thank God He lifts me above them and enables me
to rejoice continually in Him."
343
This is bow it was that during these times of hard
ships and even danger the closest observer would not
have imagined that often beneath the cheerful happy
exterior was a suffering homesick heart.
But those were happy days that he spent among us
at home. The memory of them fills us with the old-
time tenderness with which we used to gaze upon
his face. Like a scene of childhood which in after
years unbidden breaks in upon the busy hours with a
yearning tug at the heartstrings, so his memory follows
us through the busy days and the long nights. No
voice returns to us, nor his familiar footfall, but we
know that somewhere in God s great universe he waits
our coming.
The labors of Dr. Hall, which were of such tragic
interest, centered at Pyong Yang, " The City of the
Beautiful Turf." The city is located a little north and
west of the central part of the kingdom. The natural
basin in which the city is situated is boat-shaped, and
the natives are superstitious in regard to its form.
They think some genii of past ages prepared this for
the present great city, and they fear to perforate the
bottom in the digging of wells, believing that water
would rush in and drown all the inhabitants. Beyond
the prow of the boat is a high mountain from which
a view can be had of the country for many miles in all
directions ; a view fascinating in beauty. At this
point may be seen Ke-ja s grave, the first King of Ko
rea. On this mountain side for three thousand years
the patriarch lias rested undisturbed with the rise and
fall of succeeding dynasties. Toward this well-tended
mound ten millions of people turn their eyes in wor
shipful reverence.
Around the city is built a massive stone wall run-
344
ning up the mountain ridge and culminating at its
farthermost peak. The people numbered about . .ie
hundred thousand. Like the great mass of all Korea,
the common people live in houses of mud walls and
straw roofs. The life of the common people is repre
sentative of the nation, and emphatically so of those
whom the missionary is called to serve. A view of one
such home would introduce one into the Korean life
and also transport him back to conditions that existed
a thousand years ago.
The story of the persecution at Pyong Yang is else
where told. The doctor s brave wife shared all the
dangers during those dark days. He afterward said,
" She was my strength." Pyong Yang is a hundred and
eighty miles from the capital, where the larger body of
missionaries were located. During the persecution it
was with the greatest anxiety that we waited for news
from Dr. and Mrs. Hall in that city. News came by
telegraph that their servants and Christians were in
stocks in prison, and were being beaten, and that their
own lives were threatened. The American minister
and the British consul took rapid means toward se
curing the release of the prisoners and the safety of Dr.
and Mrs. Hall. Yet the government moved slow.
The waiting was painful. After repeated orders from
the foreign office at Soul to release the prisoners the
following telegram was received from Dr. Hall : " Pris
oners unreleased You Sanie beaten in my presence
No protection given self. Servant from governor claims
that telegram received says, Kill all Christians House
stoned Great excitement." Later followed another
telegram. It read : " Report confirmed at prison that
governor ordered all Christians killed No protection
given self Water coolies forbidden to give us water."
345
Telegrams were again sent from Soul ordering the re
lease of the prisoners. In reply word from Dr. Hall
was again wired to Soul : " Servants all in stocks in
death cell, badly beaten Governor says he does not
understand telegrams Says we are Tong Hoks Will
appeal to the queen."
For once in the history of the Korea Mission all
woi x was laid aside in the capital, and the missionaries
of all denominations gathered for prayer. Each one
seemed to feel that the crisis was of the deepest per
sonal concern. Many were the prayers that went up in
behalf of the two so well loved by all. It is a signifi
cant fact that at that hour, while the company was
gathered in prayer, Dr. Hall wired these words, "All
released. Chang Sikey badly injured."
It was with deep, solemn gratitude that the mission
aries returned to their work, realizing that the epoch
had changed and that the faithfulness of Dr. and Mrs.
Hall had ushered in a new era. Never again could
such opposition occur at these strategic points. The
long-struggled-for opening was at last secured.
On their return to Soul the doctor lightly treated the
dangers through which they had passed, but was con
stant in his praises of the native Christians. Their
courage and constancy, he would say, were unexcelled
by the martyrs in the early days of Europe.
At the close of the battle between the Chinese and
Japanese in Pyong Yang Dr. Hall hastened back to look
after the young church there. The Chinese dead, with
their horses and cattle, were left unburied in great heaps
around the city walls. He labored among the sick and
wounded until he himself was taken sick, when he re
turned again to Soul. The words of Mrs. Hall in a let
ter to a friend best describe his return and what followed:
44
346
"The doctor was taken sick in Pyong Yang, and the
home journey consumed nine long, wearisome days.
During the last day s journey up the Han River, in
conversation with Mr. Moffett, doctor said lie had been
willing to leave home when the Master called him to a
foreign field, to leave Soul when he was called to Pyong
Yang, and that he was willing and ready to go to other
service on high if the Master called him from earth.
After Mr. Moffett had read a chapter from the Bible and
prayed with him, doctor remarked, How sweet it is to
trust in Jesus ! and then fell asleep, the first really re
freshing sleep he had since his illness began.
"Monday morning, November 19, just as I was get
ting some medicine ready to visit an out-patient, word
came that doctor had arrived. I hastily picked up our
little boy and ran to meet him. He was too sick to
stand alone even, and had to be carried to his bed.
Nearly his first words were, I have known what a joy
wife and home are in health ; now I am to experience
what a comfort they are in sickness.
" He seemed so bright and cheerful the first day after
getting home that it was difficult to realize he was so
dangerously ill ; yet the fever thermometer would reg
ister one hundred and five degrees. He was able to
help himself to water that stood close by him that
night, but by the next night he was as helpless as a
babe.
"Wednesday morning doctor asked Mr. Noble to
bring pencil and paper, and he gave him the items of
expense in the trip he had just made ; all his other
accounts, he said, would be found in his books. He
was ever thus careful about all business details. When
he had finished he said, Now I am ready to live or to
die ; I would like to work longer for the Master if it be
347
His will, but if not, I shall go " sweeping through the
gates washed in the blood of the Lamb; " and after a
moment s pause he added, It is all the blood of Jesus.
A favorite hymn of his, often upon his lips in health, was,
" Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress.
"Already it was hard for him to talk, and it was
beginning to be difficult to understand what he said.
A gradually spreading paresis seemed to be involving
the muscles of his throat. We had the best advice of
five physicians, but it began to look as if he were going
to leave us in spite of all that could be done.
"Thursday morning doctor asked for pencil and
paper and attempted to write, but found that he was far
too weak. His only trouble seemed to be because he
could not tell all that was in his heart to say. His
eyes would look sorrowfully into mine, but he could
only stammer brokenly, I love you. In the after
noon he asked for little Sherwood ; he looked at him
lovingly and longingly, but he who was known in both
America and Korea as the children s friend had to
take a silent farewell of his only son. His last attempt
to talk much was to tell me not to regret his going to
Pyong Yang, and he said, I did it for Jesus sake, and
He will reward me.
" Dear doctor, his faith was ever as simple as that of
a child, and he never had any more fear of death than
a babe of falling asleep in its mother s arms.
"Saturday, November 24, 1894, just at sunset, he fell
asleep in Jesus, 1 to awake in the eternal Sabbath clay.
"All that afternoon he kept his eyes fixed upon mine-,
and he seemed to want me to hold both his hands in
mine, and that is how he left me. 1 closed those loving
349
eyes, then, thinking how they could never look into
mine again, I opened them for one long, last look ;
they were still so bright and so clear it seemed as if he
must still see me. I then went to my room, took dear
little Sherwood in my arms, and claimed God s promises
for him and myself."
The next day, Sunday, w r e placed the form of our
beloved brother in a huge Korean coffin, and bore it
down to the banks of the beautiful Han. It is a peace
ful place to rest, lying among those for whom he died.
W. A. NOBLE.
MADISON, N. J., January, 1896.
APPENDIX.
The Memorial Service*
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1894, the following beauti
ful and appropriate memorial service was rendered in
the Pai Chai Chapel under the direction of Rev. W. A.
Noble :
Hymn, "Asleep in Jesus."
Isa. xliii, 1-15, the doctor s favorite Scripture lesson.
Prayer by Rev. W. B. Scranton, M.D.
Address, biographical, by Rev. W. A. Noble.
Address, Dr. Hall as a Medical Missionary, by Dr.
C. C. Vinton.
Address by Rev. S. A. Moffett.
Hymn, F. R. Havergal s Consecration Hymn.
Address by Dr. J. B. Busteed.
" Who Will Go ? " written by Fanny Crosby.
Address by Rev. Graham Lee.
Hymn, " My Jesus, I Love Thee," by request of
Mrs. Hall.
Address by Rev. H. G. Appenzeller, "Dr. Hall s In
troduction to Mission Work and End."
Solo, "Sweeping Through the Gates," by Rev. Gra
ham Lee.
Benediction.
352
A Wreath of Memorials*
DEAR DR. BUSTEED : I have received the sad news
conveyed in your letter with feelings of the most pro
found sympathy. The death of so devoted and earnest
a worker in the mission field will be not only an irre
parable loss to his fellow-missionaries, but will also be
deeply regretted by his many friends in other walks of
life, of whom I am proud to count myself one.
I do not like to intrude at such a painful moment,
but I should feel obliged if you would kindly take an
opportunity of conveying to Mrs. Hall the expression
of my sincere sympathy with her in the trial which has
befallen her.
Yours very truly,
WALTER C. HILLIER.
November 24, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : I have been longing to in
some way be able to express my own grief and my deep
sympathy with you, but I have felt dazed, not knowing
what to do. I had so little knowledge of the real situ
ation, and had felt so confident that as soon as we
reached home all would be well, that I have not been
able to realize that the end has come. The doctor and
I had never been so intimately associated as we were
these last two months, and I feel my own loss much
more keenly in consequence.
We had counseled together and planned together
for our work in Pyong Yang. He had helped me much
and had shown so much pleasure in having me meet
with and preach to your men while in your house there.
He had consulted with me about the men who wished
to be received into the church, and I had talked with
353
them and was to have had a share in the service that
day had I not been too unwell.
His last work there was care for the sick and the
baptism of four men who gave every promise of being
sincere believers in Christ. Truly he has left you a
rich legacy in the knowledge of his faithfulness in the
Master s service; instant in season and out of season,
making full proof of his ministry.
I shall now never forget the two long talks I had
with him, one in Chemulpo and one on the Korean
junk as we came up the river. Perhaps he realized
then that he would soon be going, but, although we
talked of heaven and of the Lord s call, I did not then
think that the Lord would call him so soon.
With what perfect assurance the doctor left himself
in the Lord s hands, and with what peace and restful-
ness he trusted in the promises which I read to him
from the Psalms, I now think of with gratitude and
comfort.
Some day, not now, when doubtless you wish to be
alone with God, I shall want to talk with you of those
two conversations.
How distinctly I remember now the quiet peace
which rested upon him after I had read and prayed
with him! He closed his eyes, saying, " How sweet it
is to trust the Lord ! " and then went to sleep.
" We sorrow not as those who have no hope." May
your faith be strong, giving you a nearness to God and
sustaining you and enabling you to cast this great bur
den on the Lord.
Most sincerely,
SAMUEL A. MOFFKTT.
45
354
MRS. HALL : My dear friend, I should love to see
you, but that I cannot do, as Miss Strong is away and
I am unable to leave the school.
I need not tell you that I have thought of you many,
many times. Those beautiful words which you brought
to our thoughts in one of our little prayer meetings have
come to me so often as I have thought of you, and I
have prayed that He verify them to you, " He stayeth
his rough wind in the day of his east wind."
Ever lovingly yours,
SUSIE A. DOTY.
December 3, 1894.
SOUL, KOREA, November 26, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : You can t, my dear friend,
kno\v ho\v deeply we both feel for you in this sore af
fliction the death of your husband. No one loved
him better than we did. I wish I could be of some
comfort to you. You know Dr. Hall is in heaven, is at
rest in the presence of our heavenly Father. God took
him because it is best ; we don t or can t know why.
Now, Mrs. Hall, as soon as you can will not you and
your child come over and stay several days with us?
You can be as quiet here as you like ; you need the
rest and change from sad surroundings. Let me know
when you can come, and I will send my chair for you.
My son is far from being well, is not going out at
all. Only for a day or two has he left his room to come
and see me, and I am feeling very nervous and every
thing upsets me. Excuse this writing, am not feeling
equal to it.
Now, if we can do anything for you, let us know it.
Yours with much love,
M. E. GREATHOUSE.
355
MY DEAR DR. SCRANTON : I have learned with
deep regret of the death of Dr. Hall. I would attend
his funeral if I were in good health, but I have been
confined to my room by fever. Although I am better,
I do not dare venture out of doors.
Pray, tell Mrs. Hall that I deeply realize her loss.
She may be assured that all who knew her husband
share in her sorrow.
Yours faithfully,
C. W. LE GENDRE.
November 29, 1894.
DEAR MRS. HALL : I just want to write and tell
you that my heart goes out in tenclerest sympathy to
you. I think of you so often ! and pray that God may
"bless you and cause His face to shine upon you" in
tenderness and comfort. Our loving Father loved our
dear Dr. Hall, we know, and he lived so close to his
God that it was but a step higher for him. O, how happy
he is now ! Kiss little Sherwood for me, and believe
me
Your sincere friend,
PATSY B. REYNOLDS.
P. S. Mr. Reynolds wishes me to send his sympa
thy, and tell you that lie prays that you may have all
the comfort that a living Saviour can give. P. B. R.
DEAR MRS. HALL : When I would tell you how
my heart bleeds for you, words fail me. If there is any
thing I can do for you, get some one to write and let me
know.
Surely yours in sympathy,
MATTIE TATE.
356
SOUL, December 3, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL: Several times I have in
tended calling upon you to offer you my sincere con
dolences on your great and sad loss, but I have as often
been prevented ; therefore, at last, I write to tell you
how sincerely I sympathize with you in your great sor
row.
The great part of your married life has appeared to
me to consist of farewells and welcomes to your dear
husband. Now it is the farewell for the last time,
but how joyous will be the welcome when at last you
meet where no partings come to mar the joy of that
reunion.
I shall always remember Dr. Hall as last I saw him,
so gently caring for Mrs. Noble and her baby indeed all
of us on the sanpan, as w r e came up the river that even
ing so thoughtful and kindly to all.
I hear you are probably leaving for home soon ; if
that be so, I wish you and your son a safe voyage and
journey to your own land, though I am sorry you are
leaving Soul.
Again with warmest sympathy, believe me, dear Mrs.
Hall,
Very sincerely yours,
L. R. COOKE.
Sunday.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : My heart goes out to you
in love and sympathy in this trying time. Our thoughts
have often been with you in these last few days, although
we have not been to see you.
We feel that we have lost a dear friend, for the more
we saw of Dr. Hall the better we liked him. But our
Father knew best, and has called him higher.
357
Dear Mrs. Hall, we pray that you may be strength
ened to bear this trial, and dear little Sherwood God
bless him ! and may he grow up to be a great comfort to
you, as I know he already is.
Mamma and Mr. Lee both join me in heartfelt love
and sympathy.
Yours lovingly,
BLANCHE W. LEE.
December 4, 1894.
DEAR MRS. HALL : Miss Arbuckle is sending her
boy over your way to-day, and I am taking the oppor
tunity to write you a little note of love and sympathy.
I should have been to see you before, especially since
I heard that you were going away so soon, if I had not
been laid up myself. Just now I am staying with Miss
Arbuckle at the hospital, and am not able to go out for
a few days. I am afraid that you will be away before
I can see you and tell you how sorry I am for you, and
how I hope the dear Lord will comfort and keep you.
May you have a safe journey, and both you and Sher
wood be kept well ! I have prayed for you each day
since your sorrow came, and believe that God will
comfort you and give you a peace that no one can
take away.
With very much love, and a kiss to the baby.
Yours lovingly,
ELLEN STRONG.
WONSAN, KOREA, December 5. 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : I cannot tell you how
greatly pained I am upon hearing of the death of Dr.
Hall, your dear husband, whom \ve all loved. How
very sad it is ! I first heard of it through Dr. Hardie
358
this morning, and was hoping it was not so, but alas!
when I opened the letter from Dr. Scranton, as our
mail has just arrived, it was too true. May the dear
Lord guide and comfort you through these trying hours !
My husband is away. Gone for a two weeks trip. I
know he will be greatly pained to hear the sad news.
Hope your dear babe is well and we shall hear from
you when you feel able to write. How I would like to
do something for you ! I know you have lots of dear
friends in Soul that will do all they can to comfort
you. Yours, with much love,
LIZZIE McGiLL.
CHEMULPO, November 26.
MY LOVED FRIEND : My heart is filled with grief
and sympathy as I write to you this morning. We
have just heard of your sad bereavement, and our hearts
are filled with sorrow. We cannot realize that doctor
has gone to his heavenly home. How I wish I could
say some word of comfort to you ! but at such times
man s words seem but empty sounds. As a wounded
child flees to its mother for comfort, so, my dear friend,
rest in the bosom of Him who shall wipe away all tears
and pour soothing balm into the wounded heart.
I feel that I have lost a big brother, for such doc
tor was to me. Nobody was better fitted for heaven
than he, and how precious the hope that we shall meet
him again !
" Why should our tears in sorrow flow
When God recalls his own,
And bids them leave a world of woe,
for an immortal crown ?
" Their toils are past, their work is done
And they are fully blest :
They fought the fight, the victory won,
And entered into rest.
359
" Then let our sorrows cease to flow ;
God has recalled his own ;
But let our hearts, in every woe,
Still say, Thy will be done. "
Be assured of our daily prayers.
Lovingly, M. BENGEL JONES.
DEAR MRS. HALL : I have not said any words of
sympathy or of comfort to you, not because I have felt
no sympathy with you, not because I have not wished
you the best of all comfort, but simply because I felt
that words express and convey so little at such times.
You know you have had my sympathy ; you know I
would comfort you if it were in my power, but you
have better comfort, even the God of all peace. May
He ever be with you, guide, keep, and bless you is my
prayer.
If you find time to drop me a line sometime I shall
be very much pleased. I hope you may have a safe
and pleasant journey. You will find friends everywhere
on the way to help you on. I pray that you may be
enabled soon to come back and work with us again. I
wish you could stay now.
God bless and speed you on your way ! With much
love, Yours, as ever,
L. C. ROTHWEILER.
FROM ONE OF THE MISSION SCHOOL GIRLS.
MY VERY DEAR MRS. HALL: How are you, dear
doctor, and is your baby very well ? I think you are
very busy now, because you go to America very soon.
I am glad you can go to your country and see your
father, mother, brothers, sisters, and friends; but I am
not glad, because I cannot see you until you come to
Korea again.
360
When I stay in Mrs. Scranton s house, one Christ
mas time, you told us the story of you and Dr. Hal],
and you said by and by you would be married. I felt
very bad because I was afraid I can t see you often,
and that time I don t love him, because I never saw
him much, but you get married, and I see him more,
and I think he is very kind and true and very good
man, and -I love him. But now he is dead gone to
heaven to live with Jesus, and I am sorry for you. I
hope you will not feel bad, because when you will die
and go to heaven you will see each other. I hope
Sherwood will grow soon and take care of his mother,
and be a good boy and come again to Korea and preach
to the people God s word. I hope God will bless you
everywhere you go and always give you peaceful
heart.
I shall wish to see you very much and think of you
every day. My dear doctor, when you stay in America
please must not forget me and pray for me. I think
this is like a dream. I will not write more because I do
not know English much.
From your truly friend,
MARY SPARKS WHEELER (PONG SUXIE).
GHEMULPO, KOREA, November 27, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : I write this to convey to you
my heartfelt sympathy with you in this sad, heavy trial
you have been called upon to pass through. Yet human
sympathy must seem very shallow and hollow, and I
rejoice to know that He who alone can pour balm into
a heart wounded as yours has been is your comfort and
stay.
We have all suffered a personal loss. We all grieve
with vou. I loved Dr. Hall as a brother, and esteemed
him for all his lovable qualities. In him a great and
good man has gone to his reward.
" Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His
saints." The good deeds which have filled your sainted
husband s life make its short span equal to the three
score and ten of most others. Assuring you of the
united love and sympathy of Mrs. Jones and myself,
Yours most regretfully,
GEO. HEBER JONES.
DEAR MRS. HALL: I loved the doctor more than
any words would express, and any slight service I have
done or may yet be permitted to do is in itself a sweet
pleasure.
Anything you wish done, please command me. Mrs.
Noble and I will be around to see you in the morning
perhaps you will have some particulars about which you
wish to speak. Very sincerely,
W. A. NOBLE.
ELBE MILLS, December 27, 1894.
MY DEAR SISTER AND NEPHEW: Words cannot ex
press the terrible shock we received on Friday, Decem
ber 7, when a letter came to us from Mr. McCabe, New
York, announcing the death by typhus fever of my dear
brother. We could scarcely believe it, but thought
there must be some mistake, as we had received word a
short time before that he was well. How anxiously we
looked for every paper to see if it would not be con
tradicted, but our hopes were soon dispelled when we
received your letter of November 22.
How deeply we feel for you and the little baby. It
seems as if it would not be so hard to bear if we could
only be together. Although we know that Jimmy was
46
3 62
ready and willing to go, yet it is so hard to give him up.
We know it must be all for the best, though we cannot
see it. It would have seemed some comfort if his body
could have only been brought to his native land, but
then what does it matter where the body lies, as long as
we know the soul has gone home.
Although Jimmy was away from his home, away from
all his people, yet we have a great deal to be thankful
for. We know that God was always with him, and then
he had one who was not only skillful, but loving and
tender to watch over him. O, how we thank God for
giving him such a wife.
You have lost a loving husband and I a dear brother.
May it serve to bring us closer together and nearer
heaven.
We are all quite well except mother, who takes
Jimmy s death very hard.
Do you think of coming home. How I hope we may
live to see each other, and that we may see dear little
Sherwood.
We had a very kind and sympathetic letter from Dr.
Dowkontt. What a dear good man he must be to
write such a letter.
I must now close. Write often, and may God sus
tain you as He alone can, is the prayer of
Your loving sister,
LILLIE H.
LIBERTY, N. Y., December 7, 1894.
DEAR CHILD AND GRANDSON : With a sad heart and
tears in my eyes I write you this short letter. O, we
feel so sorry for you. God s ways are so mysterious.
As your sister Annie says, the doctor was working
almost day and night for the Lord ; why could he not
363
have been spared ? But God s ways are not ours, and
we must believe them best.
Brother Turrentine and wife came down and called
upon us, Wednesday, the fifth, and inquired after you and
the doctor. I told them I received a postal from you the
first of the week, that said you were well and safe, and
that you had good news from the doctor in Pyong
Yang, and was expecting him home soon. Brother
Turrentine then said what had brought them down.
He told us he read in a daily New York paper that
morning that a cablegram had been received at the
Mission Rooms, 150 Fifth Avenue, that the doctor was
dead. The news came there December i. It was a
great shock to us. How hard it must be for you, dear
child. We are anxious to hear from you all the par
ticulars. Did he die with .you or at Pyong Yang? O,
we hope he got back to you ! What will you do ? Will
you come home? We don t know how to advise you ;
you must use your own judgment, but remember you
will be very welcome here. You have our sympathy,
and that of the pastor and wife in fact, of the whole
church in Liberty.
Trust in the Lord, dear child ; He is our help and
shield. Don t neglect yourself or Sherwood ; we do
hope lie will be spared to you and us he will be a
comfort to you. My prayer is that our lives and health
may be spared to see each other in this world, and if this
is not ours to enjoy, we will all meet in heaven to part no
more. God bless and keep you safe. MOTHER.
GOLDSBORO, N. C., December IT, 1894.
DEAR COUSIN ROSA : Word has just reached us of
your sad bereavement, and I write at once to send you
our heartfelt sorrow and sympathy.
364
What are you going to do, poor dear one? It does
seem too hard. The last letter from you told of so
much happiness, we all shared in your joy. And now,
so soon, you are left alone, more alone in that horrid
land than at first, before you knew the comfort of a
helper. It is very hard for you to bear this trial, the
loneliness of it. Won t you come home? You should
not brave it out there until you, too, break. I declare,
I am rebellious at the thought of the loss of such a
noble life as Dr. Hall s. And how much more terrible
it must be to you, dear one.
Write to me if you can. My thoughts have been
with you all during this war, and we have been hoping
you and yours were safe.
Mamma and I are in the South, seeking, for me that
unknown quantity, health. I am much better, being
able to walk and write a little.
Mamma sends her love to you. She says to tell you
she thinks of you often with sympathy.
Rosa, do not wear yourself out in that lifework.
Come home to your own people, if only for a little while.
With a heart full of love for you,
As ever, lovingly,
EVELYN C. DEWEY.
NORTH VILLE, N. Y., December 13, 1894.
DEAR SISTER ROSETTA: The last Christian Advo
cate contained the sad news of the death of your hus
band. Can it be possible ! It is, indeed, a mysterious
providence. How sorrowful you must be in your far
distant home ! So shortly wed so soon parted ! Though
left alone in a strange land, yet He who never leaves
nor forsakes is with you. His arm is strong ; His grace
sufficient. The sympathizing words of earthly friends
may be pleasant, but none but Jesus, " whose you are,
and whom you serve," can afford you re.al comfort and
solace in such a trying hour. But rest assured, prayers
went up for you as soon as the mournful news reached
us. "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt
know hereafter." These inscrutable things of God will
be fully explained when we see them in the clear light
of eternity. Till then we will have to wait in wonder
ment and submission, and simply say, " Even so, Father;
for so it seemeth good in Thy sight."
We had fondly hoped that you and your husband
would be spared for many years to each other, and that
some day we might see you both in the flesh ; but God,
whose name is love, in His infinite wisdom has ordained
otherwise.
What are your plans now ? Will you go on with your
missionary work ? We shall be very anxious to hear
from you the particulars of the doctor s death, and also
about your future plans.
The boys thought it hard that their Uncle Will should
die away off there and be buried and they never see him.
They could not understand it. Who can ?
Annie wrote us that C. C. McCabe wrote them after
receiving the cablegram of your husband s death. May
God bless and sustain you is our prayer.
Lovingly and sympathizingly, your brother
FRANK.
CASTILE, N. Y., January 21, 1895.
DEAR SISTER ZETTIE : We saw by The Register that
you had arrived home. We are so glad to know you are
safe at home, and dear little Sherwood. Charlie and I
both wrote you at Korea as soon as we heard of your
husband s death ; but, of course, you left before you
366
received it. We feel so sorry for you, and wish we
could do something to show our sympathy.
I wish I could write some words to comfort you.
You must not grieve too much. You have dear little
Sherwood, and you know the promise, "I will be a
father to the fatherless, and the widow s God." All the
dear home friends will help you all they can, I know;
and if there is anything Charlie or I can do you must
not hesitate to ask.
It all seems dark now, but after a while you will love
to think of the good service you were both permitted
to do for the Master. What a blessed memory is left to
you ! Your dear husband was about his " Father s
business," and he was so dear in " His sight " that He
has taken him away from all the toil, weariness, and
hardships which he was enduring for Christ and the
Gospel s sake, and He has given him " a crown of life."
But I know it seems as if the light had gone out of
your life, and I pray God to comfort you as a mother
comforteth her children. With a heart full of love and
prayers that God will bless you,
MAGGIE.
FORESTBURG, N. Y., January 28, 1895.
MRS. ROSETTA S. HALL.
MY DEAR COUSIN: I believe this is the first time I have
addressed you as u Mrs. Hall; " but the remembrance
of you has ever been vivid to me, and I have always
been pleased to hear from you through others, and also
through The Christian Herald. My sympathy, though
unexpressed, was with you and your husband in your
work in Korea. And now, since this great sorrow has
come to you I feel impelled to write and express my
heartfelt sympathy for you.
367
I know by recent experience how little comfort
earthly friends can give, and I kno\v, too, how much
the great Comforter can do to heal the wounded heart.
May you feel the fullness of His sympathy, and trust
Him for everything, knowing that He is too wise to err.
I trust this may find you rapidly recovering, and that
yourself and family may not be affected by the rigidity
of our Northern winter. The change must be very
great, and you will, no doubt, have to get acclimated.
I congratulate you on the speed and safety of your
journey.
Frank and I wish to be remembered to you all.
Yours in love and sympathy,
MINNIE GILDERSLEEVE.
CLEVELAND, O., April 27, 1895.
MRS. ROSETTA S. HALL, M.D.
DEAR FRIEND : We were very much grieved indeed to
learn of the death of your husband. Although person
ally not knowing him, yet we felt that we did know him
through his letters and through a warm interest in a
common cause. We are glad indeed that you know
where to seek comfort. We are sure that you have it,
and thank God that it is so.
We are also glad to learn that you are with friends at
home, and that you have children that will help to fill
and cheer your lonely heart. May God bless you and
them!
Sincerely yours,
D. L. DAVIS.
ANN ARBOR, MICH., December 13, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : We have just returned from
a trip south and on taking up the Adiwcate discovered
368
our great loss. It seems utterly useless to try and ex
press my feelings. It seems as if the one that could
least be spared from the field had been taken. Dr.
Hall had become widely known here at home as an
earnest and faithful leader and worker. The Church
was proud of him, and I am neither flattering nor ex
aggerating when 1 say that he was more frequently
quoted, especially this last year, than all the rest of us
taken together. The mission seemed to need his un
selfish, quiet, modest devotion to duty, Pyong Yang his
fearlessness, and the whole Church the inspiration of
his apostolic zeal. It may have been selfish, but I felt
personally the need of such a brother missionary. He
has entered upon enjoyments too great for finite reason
to grasp or for halting words to describe. There are a
number of them joined in a long praise service, and
they ll reach the grand doxology just as we approach
the gates. It must be that this dying is a slight matter,
"You re coining too." They leave us so quietly, al
most indifferently, that one is inclined to think they
see the past and future blended in one unbroken,
eternal present. By and by we ll know how it is.
There are many channels, though but one source of
comfort. Some of these channels have a swift current,
others bear a deep, slow flood. A kind and all-wise
Father directs their courses, and they will not fail to
reach the desert spot of your sorrow. " Wait on the
Lord; and again I say, Wait on the Lord."
I must close. Plant a flower or two when you go to
the cemetery ; they will blossom under the dew of far-
off tears. God bless you. Sincerely,
F. OHLINGER.
3^9
ST. Louis, Mo., 1895.
MY DEAR FRIEND : I received a letter from Mrs.
Scranton telling me that you bad gone to Chemulpo on
your way home, but that you had been compelled to
stop there, as Sherwood was taken ill. I do not know
what to write to you ; words cannot express our sym
pathy, nor could they help or comfort you in any way.
We both had a great respect and love for your husband.
He seemed one of God s own children, and he was so
full of his love to the Saviour that all kne\v and felt it.
God s ways are past finding out. As far as we could
see Dr. Hall was necessary to the work in Korea, but
it seems that God s eyes look differently. I know that
you will be comforted and blessed by God, and that
what is so hard and so very great a burden will be
cleared up then, and the love of your heavenly Father
will be shown to you. We sympathize with you from
full hearts.
My love and a kiss to Sherwood. I suppose that he
is a great, large boy by now. Mr. Bunker joins me in
love and best wishes to you. God bless and keep you
in all your ways ! With love,
ANNIE E. BUNKER.
MOUNT SILINDA, GAZALAND, February 24, 1895.
MRS. ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL, M.D.
DEAR DOCTOR : Your very interesting letter of No
vember 5, 1894, came about ten days ago. We were
very glad to hear from you both and were much inter
ested in the account of your work amid persecutions
and trials, to know of your faith and hope that all these
dark things but precede a brighter dawning. We felt
to rejoice with you in the blessing which you have re
ceived in the son that God has given you, and of
47
370
\vliich we heard for the first time through your letter.
How surprised we were to get a paper (The Christian
Hcrahi) by the next post giving an account of the death
of your dear husband ! How sad this seems to our
short-sighted vision ! How your heart must overflow
with sorrow! But through it all you can look up and
find comfort and hope can "rejoice in hope of the
glory of God."
We wish to express our deep sympathy with you in
this affliction, and we pray you may be sustained and
comforted by the God of all comfort.
Dr. Hall was one of my most esteemed and respected
friends, and I feel a personal loss in his death. The
example of his life is an inspiration to all who knew
him, I am sure.
I cannot write more now. We are all well and going
on with our slow, plodding work as it often seems to us
to be. I frequently travel from ten to forty miles on
fool over mountains and valleys to see a patient. Mrs.
Thompson joins me in sympathy and kind regard.
Very truly,
WM. L. THOMPSON.
NEW YORK, January 18, 1895.
MRS. SHERWOOD HALL, M.D.
MY DEAR FRIEND : The news that your beloved hus
band, and my dear friend, Dr. Hall, has died in Korea
of typhus has just reached me. It was of course a
great surprise to me, but since my dear wife has gone
to heaven just so lately a similar circumstance of this
kind does not cause such a shock to me now as it would
have done before.
1 mean what I say, that I sympathize with you most
sincerely, but how can I comfort you ? My comfort is
in the promises of God ; study them, trust them ! God
is faithful, who has promised. We were created to
glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Do you not think
that it is more than probable that your dear husband
and my dear wife are glorifying God more now than
ever before ? On the mission field, especially at Con
ferences and the like we put so much stress on our own
individual importance in His work ; we must have a
man here and must have a woman there, forgetting that
it is all God s work, and He is merely allowing us the
privilege of working with Him awhile. We may each
wonder why our beloved has been cut off so soon, but
does it not only prove that the work does not depend
on us, and God does not put stress so much on what
we do as on what we are, and when we become and
are like Him by reflecting his image, then we are fit to
go and be with Him, to be his bride. How beautiful
a thought, that they are weaned from earth and ivcdded
to Him !
I am taking post-graduate work here, but hope soon
to go back to China in a month or six weeks probably.
Dr. Dowkontt and all are well at 118 E. 45th. Love to
Dr. Busteed, Dr. Vinton, Mr. Noble, and their wives, if
you should see them. You need not trouble to answer,
as I know how hard a task it is to write. I trust your
son is well.
Very sincerely your friend in Christ,
WM. MALCOLM, M.D.
WEST XEWBURY. MASS., December 18, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : I was so shocked to hear of
the death of Dr. Hall. I have wanted to write you and
let you know how sorry I was for you, but have felt as
though no words of mine could bring to you any com-
372
fort. I have never met with such an affliction, and
only those who have can know what it means. Dr.
Hall was one of the best men that I ever knew, and I
have heard so many ungodly men bear testimony to his
Christian character that it seems as though he had
been able under God to do more for the world than
most have been. Words seem so cold on paper, I would
like to say them to you.
I learned so much of Dr. Hall through Dr. Scott ;
he always had so much to tell of his Christian life. You
know that Dr. Scott has come home ill with consump
tion and is living in Pasadena, Cal.
May the dear Father comfort you in every way !
Believe me yours with love,
LILLIAN G. HALE.
SANDY HILL, X. Y., January 27, 1805.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : I wrote to you a few
weeks ago and inclosed my photograph, but I have
just heard of your return to Liberty, and, knowing f
you had not received my letter, I wrote to you again
extending to you a cordial and friendly greeting
on your return. How I would like to greet you in
person !
I tried in my letter to you to say something comfort
ing to you about Dr. Hall s death, but I know nothing
I could say would be of any comfort. I assure you,
however, that I sympathize with you in your grief. He
has done such a noble work, and he surely was a martyr
to the cause. When I first heard of his death I could
not believe it. It seemed to me that God would not
let one who was doing such a noble work die. I have
felt this way about both of you. I knew that you both
were surrounded by dangers, but I felt sure that God
373
would protect you. I am so thankful that you and little
Sherwood are spared.
The people here are interested in you. I have told
them so much about you and Dr. Hall. I read the
article that you sent me written by Dr. Hall in relation
to his new building at Pyong Yang at a meeting at our
church two or three weeks ago.
Mr. Bond is our pastor, and he is a particular friend
of your brother Frank.
I am axious to know about your health, and all about
you and little Sherwood. I have been wondering if
you would not come here sometime and talk to us about
your work.
I hope to hear from you soon. It seems so good to
know that a letter will reach you so soon.
My love to all of your people, and kisses for Sher
wood. I am lovingly yours,
ELLEN S. ANDERSON.
BINGHAMTON, N. Y., February 13, 1895,
MY DKAR MRS. HALL: There have been sad days
for you since that postal I was so delighted to receive
was written. The news of the death of your husband
came just a few days after the arrival of the card, and
I wanted to write a little line of condolence, but feared
to send it to Korea lest you should not receive it. I
now learn of your return to " haunts of your child
hood," and I hasten to tell you how much I feel for you
in this day of your great bereavement. There are " ever
lasting arms" underneath which I know are sustaining
you, and what more can I do than pray that His grace
may be sufficient for you even in this dark hour. May
the dear Lord bless and sustain you! Your card was
an agreeable surprise to me. I remember you well,
374
though I had no idea when I sent those picture cards to
Dr. Hall that there was one in his family of whom I
had such pleasant remembrances. I ve always been a
delighted reader of the accounts of Dr. Hall s work in
The Christian Herald, and doubly so since I ve known
of your connection with that work. Alissions interest
me much. My connection with the Missionary Depart
ment of the State Young People s Society of Christian
Endeavor makes this even greater. I hope it may be my
privilege to speak face to face with you ere you return
again to Korea, if you intend so to do ; but I will be
more than glad to have a line from you whenever you
may find time to write to me anything about yourself,
your work, the field, whatever you are inclined to write
about will interest me greatly. You ask me to write
about myself. I know not what to say other than that
the dear Lord has blessed me wonderfully, led me out
into the light, set my feet on "the solid rock," willed
to work through me for His honor and glory, put me in
the midst of unlimited opportunities, advanced me, given
me a happy home, a loving little wife and all needed
blessings to enjoy, for which u to Him be thanksgiving
forever, Amen." With warm regards, believe me
Yours, very cordially,
Jxo. R. CLKMENTS.
BROOKLYN, February 3. 1895.
MY DEAR ROSA : I should have written you long
ago, but lost your last letter, and in it you told me of
your being en route for a new field ; and in losing the
letter I lost the new address. After reading of your
husband s death I wanted more than ever to write to
you. I have been anxious about you in the midst of the
wars, and was greatly pained to hear of your bitter loss.
375
I am very, very sorry for you, my dear. I have seen
scarcely any account beyond the mere mention of Dr.
Hall s death in the Tribune, Christian Advocate, and a
foreign missionary magazine. I had hoped for a more
detailed account in the Advocate. I do not take it, but
have friends here who do. It seems a pity that those
who are so much needed, and are doing so faithfully
work that is so sorely needed, should be taken away;
but God knows best, and we can only be glad that the
occasion of our grief is the beginning of the glorified
life of our loved ones.
I am glad that you came home. I could not bear to
think of you in that troubled land alone in your grief.
I hope you will remain at home long enough for me to
see you during the summer vacation.
Miss Clock and Hattie join me in warmest sympathy
and love. Give my love to your people.
Lovingly yours, TEMPERANCE GRAY.
NEW YORK, December 13, 1894.
DEAR MRS. HALL : The news of your husband s ill
ness and death is read by us with deep regret, and in this
note we, the members of the New York Deaconess Home
and Training School, desire to express to you our heart
felt sympathy and loving interest in your hour of sorrow.
Though many of us have come to the Home since
your leave-taking for work in Korea we ever hold in
memory your membership in our Home.
Our prayer is that the God of all comfort, who com-
forteth us in our affliction, may uphold and keep you
by His own great power, and may you and the little one
given you be precious in His sight.
Yours with loving sympathy,
ISABELLE A. REEVES.
376
WASHINGTON, D. C., January u, 1895.
MY DEAR FRIEND : What can I write you at such
a time as this? Words seem cold, and even the tenderest
expression of consolation may appear officious. I know
so well, so sadly, alas ! how to sympathize with you in
this great irreparable loss. A great pang went through
my heart when I knew that your good husband had
been called away and you were left a widow in a strange,
far-away land. My dear, I folded you to my heart you
and your little one, and held you to the great com
passionate heart of our Lord Christ. I recall so vividly
the morning you left the New York Home to start on
your long journey to Korea. Dr. Hall walked beside
you ; some of us wanted to accompany you to the train,
but we read his heart and knew that he wanted to be
alone with you at the last. So we denied ourselves the
pleasure.
I think of him as I then saw him the last time,
it proved to be. I knew you carried his heart with
you, and I watched with much interest your two lives
(as much as I could know of them) until Dr. Hall
followed you across the wide continent and wider
seas to make you his wife. It was a pretty, romantic
story.
The end came soon ; but, dear friend, you have the
fragrant memories, you have your darling little boy,
and I trust the little one to come so soon may be
the dearest treasure of your life. Please God, may
your motherhood be a crown of inexpressible wealth to
you, as mine was and is to me, for surely my darling
little girl must be forever mine.
Believe me your sympathetic, loving friend,
C. B. DICKINSON.
NEW YORK, Dec ember 12, 1894.
MY DEAR FRIEND : It seems as if there must be
some mistake that letters ytt to be received will deny
the message of the cablegram that struck such conster
nation to our hearts. It seems impossible that our be
loved Dr. Hall could so soon be called a\va\ and
called from a post where his services seemed so indis
pensable.
When Mrs. Bishop Thoburn lost her third and al
most idolized child the one she called Grace, because,
in a sense, a special grace bestowed she wrote on her
memorial cards, "Accepted for higher service." Surely
your husband has only been promoted. The earth
could illy spare him ; but heaven has some service for
which he was ripe.
I don t write empty words ; Dr. Hall was a beloved
brother and friend ; we truly loved him, and he knew
and loved us. Our hearts are tortured by the fact that
we allowed affairs to prevent our writing more fre
quently. Then I write from a heart mellowed by experi
ence of sorrow and bereavement.
On the very day that the cablegram reached New
York, and possibly the day your husband passed away
December i our precious little boy went into the
better country. We went home very unexpectedly, not
knowing an hour before that we would go. W T e went to
celebrate the tenth anniversary of our wedding with
joyous festivities, but our heavenly Father meant we
should have the support and comfort of home and home
friends while we watched over the terrible suffering of
our brave little boy. He was two years and three months
old, but very large, robust, and vigorous, and when we
left New York was apparently perfectly well. He was
sick when we reached Wheeling next day, and never
48
rallied, but died five days after of diphtheretic croup.
We miss him terribly; our hearts are sore; but God
has wonderfully sustained us, and we know He has not
failed you in your far sorer bereavement.
I fear you were denied even the sad solace of minis
tering to your husband in his illness.
I thank God that he gave me strength to minister to
my dying child, to comfort him by my voice; and
"like as a mother comforteth herVhildren, so the Lord
comforteth me."
Mrs. Crane has just come in to see us. Her home is
now up the Hudson, and I seldom see her. She had
not heard of your bereavement, and sincerely mourns
with you. I have been busy to-day and yesterday review
ing manuscript for Dr. Stone s paper, and have been
reading again Dr. Hall s last letters. How nobly he
fought his battles ! Surely it is a comfort to you that
he fell at his post. The Lord sustain and comfort- you!
I have tested and proved His ability. " God is able
to make all grace abound toward you ; that ye, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work."
Yours in sincerest sorrow and love,
KATE E. STONE.
SYDENHAM, December 13, 1894.
MY DEAR SISTER: The papers report the, to me,
very sad news of your dear husband s death. I can
scarcely believe it to be true. How glad I am that he
called to see me on his way to Korea, and though he
had only a little while to stay I cannot tell you how
highly I prized his visit. Ho\v hopeful he was for the
future ; how full of plans for his Master, Jesus! It can
scarcely seem possible that in about three years from the
379
time I bade him good-bye and wished him Godspeed on
his mission he has been taken from his work. Yet it is so.
"God moves in a mysterious way." I wish I could
see you and sympathize with you in your sore bereave
ment. I know that words, and especially written words,
have but little power to heal such wounds as yours must
be, yet I am sure you will permit me thus to express
my sympathy with and to assure you of my prayers for
you in this the heaviest trial, no doubt, of your life.
How often I think of the times your dear husband
and I have spent together. I recollect well when
he consecrated himself fully to the service of his God,
and how ever after he seemed to have only one aim.
And now, after so short a life, just when he was, as we
see things, being fitted for successful work in the foreign
field, to be taken away. However, we must think of
him not as dead. He lives as he never lived before.
He lives to die no more. He lives in the immediate
presence of the Master whom he loved and whom he de
lighted to serve. Let it be ours to follow him as he fol
lowed Christ. I shall regard my acquaintance with him
as among the brightest and dearest reminiscences of the
past, and shall look forward to a blessed and happy re
union in a better world. Heaven will be all the nearer
and dearer to me because my beloved friend, Dr. Hall,
is there. I will be greatly obliged if you will furnish
me with any particulars of his life and labors and death
in Korea that will be suitable for publication in the
columns of our Church paper, TJie Christian Guardian,
for I think that his name the name of one of our
Canadian boys who was so widely known and so
greatly honored, should have a place among the
names of our honored dead. And though it will be
to me a painful task, and I do not think myself
at all competent for the work, yet I believe no one will
do it with truer affection for the departed. And I know
had he been consulted in the matter there isn t one
among his Canadian friends whom he would rather have
pay such a tribute to his memory. Again assuring you
of my deep sympathy for you, and praying that God
may abundantly bless you and your dear little one, I
remain Yours in Jesus,
D. WINTER.
MRS. W. J. HALL, M.D., KOREA.
PORT SIMPSON, B. C., March 20, 1895.
MRS. ROSETTA SHERWOOD HALL, M.D.
DEAR SISTER IN CHRIST : AYhen the first shock of
hearing of the departure of my Christian friend, Dr.
Hall, had passed over my mind reverted to your grief,
and my next thought was to write you immediately, but
the mail steamer was off again before I could get at it.
And now we soon expect another. Bare words would
not express my sorrow in learning that Dr. Hall had
been so early and so suddenly taken from his work and
his home. Neither can I adequately express my sym
pathy with you in your sorrow. But as far as human
sympathy can go you may be assured that Mrs. Bolton
and I feel for you, and ask that He who can sympathize
and soothe and cheer may be very present to sustain
and help you. You will have known from Dr. Hall
something of our intimacy in school and college lite,
Young Men s Christian Association and city mission
work, and in preparing for our chosen field. To know
Dr. Hall was to love him, especially to anyone who
could appreciate a pure, devoted, self-sacrificing, phil
anthropic character such as he possessed.
Never since we mourned together in New York over
the death of our mutual friend, Will Crummy, has
such news affected me so much, and, as in that case, so
now, we feel like looking up and asking, Why is it ? The
answer comes, What I do thou knowest not now, but
thou shalt know hereafter." And we must say, " Even
so. Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight."
Last fall I had the privilege of a visit east, attending
General Conference. I spent two weeks in New York
and a few days in Kingston, and scenes and faces in
these cities brought to mind much of our association in
college days.
Your late husband and W. J. Crummy were intimate
friends and active Christians when I first met them.
My first week at High School I attended the weekly
prayer meeting in the Methodist church, and offered
my humble prayer and testimony which was enough
to attract Brothers Hall and Crummy, and at the close
of the meeting, with hearty hand grasp and sincere wel
come they received me into their hearts and circle.
The following Monday evening I attended my first
prayer meeting with other boy students, held as
usual in the rooms of one of the number. Hall was
there, and Hartwell(now Rev. S. Hartwell, B.A., B.D., of
the Chen-tu Mission) ; they were attending the model
school. Crummy and Hayes and others were there
from the High School ; Kilborn was then entering his
first year at Queen s, Kingston. It was a little surprise
to me to see those boys sit round and give their practi
cal experiences in everyday language. I wanted to
stand up and use set phrases, as I had always done in
the class meetings in the old county schoolhouse.
Many of us who were already Christians were greatly
helped in those days to a better experience and more
active service by the counsel and example of W. J. Hall.
3 82
While still at the High School I would laugh at him for
saying, " I expect to see you in the pulpit yet, Albert."
Like himself I looked forward to the life of a Christian
physician full of privilege to do good, but never thought
I would be called to preach. I preceded him one year
at Kingston; then we were two years there together.
During our last session there Mr. Form an visited the
college in the interest of the Students Volunteer move
ment. With many others Hall, Kilborn, and myself
offered. It came to us all gradually. I remember Kil
born saying that he hoped some day to support a foreign
missionary when he became established in practice.
Then he and I said what a grand thing it would be
if we two could send out and support our friend Hall,
whom we considered fully worthy of the work. But
we all had to lay ourselves on the altar, and in clue
time the Lord led us each to the place he had pre
pared for us.
I noticed lately in The Christian Guardian a memorial
notice of the late Dr. McPherson, of Prescott, Ont.
He came to Kingston at sixteen years of age, when Dr.
Hall was entering his second year at college, and
through his instrumentality was converted. He has
now gone to meet him another star in his crown. I
might think of others if I could take time. I knew
your late husband, and think of him as preeminently
a soul-winner in the true apostolic succession, whose
counterpart I have yet to see on this earth. He was
always about his Master s business. His very face spoke
his mind, his hand emphasized it, and anyone would
know his whole heart was occupied.
I have read from time to time with much interest of
the good work done by you and your husband among
the Koreans. We are doing a humble work here in the
same line, and not altogether without evidences of
divine approbation.
Again assuring you of our deepest sympathy, and
wishing you and the dear little boy all earthly blessings,
and in the end a happy reunion with the one gone be
fore, I am
Yours sincerely for Christ and humanity,
A. E. BOLTOX.
" Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt
in silence."
CHEX-TU, CHINA, February 12, 1895.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL : The sad, sad news has just ar
rived of your dear husband s death. The mission field
has lost an earnest worker, you have lost a loving hus
band, your little son has lost a noble father, and we,
his companions for so many years, have lost a most
invaluable friend and adviser. What earth has lost
heaven lias found. Heaven seems more real now than it
ever did before.
Your beloved husband was, perhaps, my best earthly
friend, and I am more indebted to him for my present
position than to any other person. My deepest sym
pathy goes out for you, and my prayer is that God \vill
give you daily grace and support you and your son in
His everlasting arms.
Mrs. Hartwell joins with me in sending our deepest
sympathy and love.
Believe us ever your very sincere friends,
GEORGE E. HARTWELL AND WIFE.
KIATIXG, SZ-CHUAX, CHINA, February 2, 1895.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL: My heart is full as I attempt
to write you a line. O, may the everlasting arms be
34
round and about you and clasp you tight at this time !
But who can say a word to soften your grief? And yet
I know, if anyone on earth does, what you are passing
through ; for I, too, have been through the fire. O,
may your faith be strong and your confidence in our
loving Saviour all unmoved. He knows it all. " He is
too wise to err, and too good to be unkind." Our dear
Jimmy (as I always called him) is in glory, and we all
know his crown is bright with many jewels. How many
he is greeting and will greet in the future who will say
to him, u By your help I was led from darkness into
light."
Last evening I wrote and sealed a letter to him in
answer to his circular letter of October 8 the one to
which you had added a note. An hour ago I received
the Celestial Empire, of Shanghai, bearing date Decem
ber 28, with the letter from Soul announcing Jimmy s
death. The mail does not go till to-night, so I send this
in place of the first.
When you can do so may I ask from you some ac
count of his last illness and of his death ?
I know his was & glorious and abundant entrance. O,
how often Jimmy s example comes up before me in my
daily routine of duties to stimulate and strengthen me
in the path! And I am sure there are scores yes, hun
dreds of others who ever came to know him well
who would say the same thing. Bright is his crown.
I don t know when I have received such a shock as
when I opened that paper an hour ago.
But I cannot write more. My heart goes out in the
very deepest sympathy for you and your little fatherless
one, and you have my earnest prayer.
Yours in common sorrow,
OMAR L. KILBORN.
NEW YORK, April 3, 1895.
MRS. R. S. HALL.
DEAR SISTER : I extend to you my deepest sympathy
in the terrible loss to which you have been subjected.
Your husband was a great worker and fell a martyr to
the cause.
When you come to New York, please come and see
me. Yours faithfully,
C. C. MCCABE.
DEAR ROSETTA : The cable has brought the sad news
of your great loss.
We have no particulars, only the fact, and that Dr.
Hall contracted typhus fever in working at Pyong
Yang. Unselfish work in the Spirit of the Master.
We cannot understand why one so useful should be
taken away ; but he was fully consecrated to God, and we
know that the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away,
and we will try to say, " Blessed be the name of the Lord."
I know there is little comfort in human words or sym
pathy in such an hour, and I only write to assure you
of my love, and to offer any service that you may need
from a friend. Is there any plan in which I can help
you or your little one ? If so, let me know, and I will
gladly do my utmost. God bless you and save you in
this hour of trial. Lovingly yours,
MRS. H. B. SKIDMORE.
NEW YORK, December 4, 1894.
MY DEAR MRS. HALL: Most sincerely do I sympa
thize with you in your great affliction, of which I have
just learned.
I pray that God s blessed comfort may be equal to
all your need, and that Ha will graciously open your
future before you.
49
386
I hope you will be able to stay in Korea and do
valiant work for the Master in the field consecrated by
your dear husband s life and death.
Sorrowing with you, sincerely yours,
S. L. BALDWIN.
BUFFALO, N. Y., December 8, 1894.
MY DEAR SISTER HALL : You cannot tell with what
surprise and sorrow I read the notice in the paper of the
death of your dear husband. He had a very warm place
in my heart. I admired him for his heroic spirit of self-
sacrifice and his dauntless courage, and I loved him for
his sweet Christian spirit. I shall ever hold his memory
precious. It is so strange he should be taken when he
was more needed and more able to serve humanity
than ever before. But we may not reason, we can only
trust.
I assure you of my profoundest sympathy and my con
stant prayers. Ever truly yours,
W. F. MALLALIEU.
NEW YORK, November 18, 1895.
DEAR BROTHER NOBLE : Dear Brother Hall was an
ideal missionary. Fitted, prepared, dedicated, and con
secrated, he was a man among men, and Tbeing asso
ciated very closely with him and very delightfully in
peculiar mission work in this city, and knowing his
great value, earnestly commended him to the Methodist
Episcopal Missionary Board, and he was by them ac
cepted and sent. He lived -long enough to delight my
heart in his wonderful and blessed work, and then was
not, for God took him.
He was so true, so sweet,- simple, and strong, so un
selfish that the zeal of God s work ate him up, and while
33;
it seems so mysterious that such a prepared worker so
needed and appreciated should be so suddenly and
sadly removed, yet it is the Lord, and we trust, though
we cannot trace and know, He doeth all things well. My
sympathy and condolence to his bereaved widow, to the
Mission Board, and to you his co worker, brother, and
friend. STEPHEN MERRITT.
W. A. NOBLE, Madison, N. /., "Drew."
EVANGELIST KIM S LETTER.
TRANSLATED BY ESTHER KIM PAK.
PVONG YANG, i-jt/i if ay of the $th Moon.
MY DEAR DOCTOR LADY HALL : Last year I sent
you a letter, and I waited to receive the answer, and it
came this year the fifteenth day of the fifth moon, and I
was very glad, and felt as if you were present. Although
we don t hear from each other often, I think about you
and the children and Mr. and Mrs. Pak, and I often
take you in prayer to our Father, and I know you will
pray for us Korean Christians. So, although our bodies
are in different countries, our hearts are in the Saviour s
kingdom.
Once Jesus took Peter, John, and James upon amoun-
itain, and they saw Moses and Elias there, and heard
them talk of the crucifixion. I think I feel as they did
every time I think about our loving Dr. Hall. I feel
that Jesus, Dr. Ha.ll, and myself are on the mountain.
It was four years ago that Dr. Hall, Mr. No, and my
self were on our way to bring the glad tidings of our
Saviour to the people of Pyong Yang. On the way, we
were talking about the Pyong Yang people being so
wicked, and he counseled us that with our whole heart
and with our whole mind we three must help and teach
tli is people who do not know how to serve the Lord,
388
and we must build the Church of God here upon the
Rock Christ Jesus; and he said after we have finished
our work we will go before our Father s throne, and
live with him in glory forever. And we arrived at
Pyong Yang and started to preach, and to treat the
sick body as well as the sin-sick soul. Many of the
wicked people there disliked this man of righteousness
and persecuted him, but he never paid any attention to
them ; he preached morning and night, and helped the
people suffering from sin and sickness. It was not long
before a fe\v earnest followers gathered about him, and
even to this day we all remember the faithful teaching
that came out from his mouth and his hands ; and al
though he has parted from this world, we will carry on
this work which he showed us, and taught us and pre
pared us for, and after we have finished we hope to be
together again with him in our everlasting home.
I remember every time Dr. Hall met anyone on the
street or in the house, he asked them one very impor
tant question ; that is, " Brother, do you know God ? "
and then he would explain who God is, and tell them
what God had done for them ; that He created, fed,
protected, and loved them, and had sent His only Son
Jesus to teach them the way to heaven. Then he would,
point out two ways of going one into life, the other to
death and asked them which way they would like to
go ? And all the people were surprised, and they would
return to their homes and talk about his beautiful teach
ing, and about how kind and loving he was. Even till
now they say, " Dr. Hall loved us on earth, therefore he
will love us more in heaven."
I will speak about our severe persecution in Pyong
Yang; how when O Syok-hyong and myself were in
prison the doctor would come and lay his kind, loving
39
hands upon us and comfort us with his warm, loving
heart, Yi Hang-syon bravely accompanied Dr. Hall,
and sometimes Kim Chai-syon. O what a comfort
they were to us! The doctor looked tired and weary
walking up and down from his home to the prison, and
from the prison to the telegraph office to try to get us
relief. We can never forget his tenderness and love
for us while we were in prison.
Kim Nak-syon and Cho Pyong-yo the doctor often
took with him on his walks, and sat down by them and
taught them. When Dr. Hall baptized Cho Tong-syon
and Chu Kyom Cho he taught them a beautiful verse
from the Bible, which they always think about when
they think of Dr. Hall. Whang Chyong-rno went up to
Soul while the war was in Pyong Yang, and Dr. Hall
comforted and encouraged him greatly ; and there is Cho
Han-kyn the doctor cured his eyes ; and Ku Eung-syo
and others I might mention whom the doctor taught
to believe in Jesus. These are all faithful Christians,
and they help to carry on Dr. Hall s work, and there
are very many new members, and they are increasing
every day. This is all the fruit of the church that
Dr. Hall established here in the midst of so much per
secution.
For two years after Dr. Hall left us we had no
American preacher to encourage and help us, but we re
membered our dear Dr. Hall s teachings, and we studied
the Bible and prayed every day with the people, and
the work grew faster and faster. Now Dr. Follwell is
here, and Mr. Noble is coming, and we hope also to
have Mrs. Hall with us again.
KIM CHANG SI-KEY.
390
Chu Kyom-Cho writes: "The church at Ah Yong
Tong, Pyong Yang, will never forget the faithful teach
ing of Dr. Hall. It remains in our hearts, although
we cannot see Dr. Hall, and we praise God for his
example."
Kim Chai Son adds : " Dr. Hall was a good gentle
man, therefore I wish to write a few lines of his work
in Pyong Yang. He had a remarkably unchangeable,
loving heart for old people and children. Dr. Follwell
tells us it was just the same when Dr. Hall was in his
own country.
" When our brothers, Kim Chang Si-key and O Syok-
hyong, were in prison, Dr. Hall sympathized with them
truly. It was very hard for him to see his loving friends
in pain and suffering. He was in great danger himself
and tired and weary, but he often visited them, and
finally secured their release; and, also, when Pak You-
san was beaten and ordered off to prison he rescued
him, and comforted him with loving words.
u Even people who do not belong to our church yet
speak of how loving he was, and the remembrance of his
deeds stimulates us church members to live better lives
on this earth. We avoid the works of the flesh spoken
of in Gal. v, 19-21, and we seek the fruit of the Spirit,
verses 22 and 23, and we hope when this life is ended to
inherit the kingdom of God."
DR. HALL S REMARKABLE WORK IN PVOXG YANG.
TRANSLATED FROM THE KOREAN- BY ESTHER KIM PAK.
Because Dr. Hall was born of the Holy Spirit, was
kind, pitiful, humble, and meek, and lived a faithful,
perfect life through his Saviour, God chose him to do
a remarkable work for our poor people in Pyong Yang.
He obeyed God s command, and left his parents and
39 1
brothers and sisters and friends and came to Korea,
and was appointed to this wicked city of Pyong Yang.
It is the nature of Pyong Yang people to throw stones.
They worship idols, and other unnecessary .things ; and
they don t know how to help one another.
When Dr. Hall first came to Pyong Yang the gov
ernor and the people hated him, and it was hard for him
to make a beginning ; but he prayed earnestly, and he
went around the city and healed sickness, and he taught
the children to love him, and by and by many stony
hearts began to melt down, and the people became
more friendly, and began to love the doctor ; and soon
the doctor started a school, in which I had the honor
to be teacher ; and he established a little chapel with a
few faithful members. Then severe persecution sud
denly arose, but the Lord s mighty hand saved us.
A few months after the persecution ceased the war-
arrived in Pyong Yang. Chinese and Japanese soldiers
came, and most of the people of the city ran away. But
four of our Methodist Episcopal Church members
stayed at the little chapel and prayed night and day, and
though the flying cartridges were like pouring rain we
were kept perfectly safe.
Two weeks after the battle Dr. Hall came down to
Pyong Yang from Soul to see if we were living, and
when he found us safe and happy his heart was full of
joy. He was much pleased with us, and loved us more
than ever ; and he taught us, and he went around the
city to heal the wounded. Amid all our trouble, we
had the peace of God in us. Even till to-day the four
of us think of Dr. Hall and how much he loved us when
he was on earth ; and all of our men and children want
to live more like him. Our church inside the west
gate is built on the Rock of Ages, and it will not receive
39 2
any falling. After Dr. Hall was separated from us
Mrs. Hall and their only son went to America ; but we
trust she will return, for the women of Pyong Yang need
her; and, also, we pray earnestly for the only son to
grow up like his dear father, and come to our country
and take up his father s work.
O SYOK-HYONG.
FROM MR. YOUSAX C. PAK.
TRANSLATED FROM THE KOREAN BY MRS. PAK.
While my father was living on this earth he was a
prominent man of education, and he tried faithfully to
teach me in our country home in Korea. But I often
ran away, and I let the devil lead me into all kinds of
sins, yet I did not realize it at the time.
Once I ran away to our capital, Soul, and a friend
of our family who keeps horses to hire out, seeing I was
so fond of travel, offered to let me go to take care of
the horses upon these trips into the country, as is our
custom in Korea. I liked this, but my father was so
grieved about my being a hostler instead of an educated
gentleman, he was ashamed of me, and he worried
about me and sent for me many times to return, but I
did not.
At last my father s loving, immortal soul departed
from his mortal body. After I had buried him I again
came up to Soul, and took up the same work.
In the fall of 1892 I made my first trip with a foreign
gentleman. It was Dr. Hall, and I went down with him
to Pyong Yang. When I first started out with him I had
a little fear, but he was so gentle and had such a lov
ing voice that my fear soon left, and it proved the most
delightful journey I had ever made.
It was upon this trip that I first learned about prayer.
393
At the close of each day we would stop at a Korean
inn. These are very uncomfortable as compared with
American inns, yet Dr. Hall enjoyed all for our Sa
viour s sake. Before he ate his supper, tired as he was,
Dr. Hall would always pray with us and read the Bible,
which is the bread of life. Sometimes the people would
laugh and mock, and the owner of the inn would ask,
"Why do you kneel down and pray before you eat?"
Dr. Hall would then explain to them. Once when Dr.
Hall asked one of the boys to pray he began to laugh
instead of to pray, and so he prayed himself; when he
had finished he asked the boy, "Why do you laugh?
Would you do so before the king and his officers?"
The boy answered, " No," and the doctor said, " Then
why do you laugh before our Lord, who is the King of
kings ?" And thus he taught us with gentle manners
and loving words. O, Ire was so sweet and pure and
filled with God s wondrous love.
Another important lesson I learned was not to travel
on Sunday. On Saturday evening we would put up at
an inn over the holy Sabbath. Everybody would ask
why he did not go on his journey such a fine day; then
he would tell them about how God made heaven and
the earth and everything, and rested on the seventh day
and blessed it, and asked us to keep it holy; therefore
we should rest from our work and worship God with
a thanksgiving heart this day. And then he would
tell how much God loved the world and gave His only
Son to die for us. Then he would ask us to pray with
him. Some thought there was no use of praying, yet
more than half would kneel down and pray.
And this is the way Dr. Hall scattered the precious
seed by the wayside, and I know some day that many
of the individuals that received his teaching will become
50
394
followers of our Christ. It was thus that I became in
terested in the Bible and desired to learn more about
my Saviour. O, how willing Dr. Hall was to help those
in need, either spiritually or temporally. I can t begin
to tell all he did for me.
One time after we came up to Soul he told me to come
and see him. This I did, and he asked me, " Do you
love God in your heart ? " I told him yes, I had learned
to do so while with him. And then he wanted to know
what he could do to help me, and I chose to stay with
him, and helped him in the house and went down with
him to Pyong Yang several times. Once he asked me
if I didn t want to marry, and I promptly answered I
did. He asked me what kind of a bride I preferred
one who worked faithfully to serve God, or one who
could only cook and sew well for me. I told him I pre
ferred the bride that could work for the Lord. I sup
pose readers of this will think it very strange that Dr.
Hall should ask me these questions, but in our country
the custom is that we cannot choose our bride our
selves, but if we have no parents some friend chooses
for us. I hope some day this will be changed in Korea.
But in this way I became engaged to a young lady in
the Methodist Episcopal mission school, who was a very
earnest Christian. The more I thought of this matter
the more determined I was to become an earnest Chris
tian man, and I repented of all my sins, and the Holy
Spirit witnessed in my heart that I was no more Satan s,
but I was the child of God.
May 24, 1893, I was married, and though I did not
choose my own bride and never saw her before, yet I
found I had a sweet, loving, faithful wife. She read the
Bible and prayed with me, and has taught me many les
sons of patience and self-denial.
395
As others have told so much about Dr. Hall I will not
add more, but I cannot close without thanking his good
wife for allowing me to write these few lines to put in his
book.
O how much I would like to live like him. I ask the
prayers of the readers of this book that I may live such
a life as Dr. Hall did.
LIBERTY, X. Y., August 18, 1897.
THE STORY OF SAINT HARAK.
TRANSLATED FROM THE KOREAN BY ESTHER KIM PAK.
In 1893 Mr. Ohlinger recommended me to teach the
native language to Dr. Hall. I asked, " How can I teach
a stranger from another country ? " But Mr. Ohlinger
told me to try, and at once introduced me to Dr. Hall.
My first impression of him was that he was tall, and did
not look much like a scholar, and I did not think much
of him at first ; but the more I became acquainted with
him and saw his kind ways, I liked him better, and we
became very good friends one heart and one mind.
That summer the weather was exceedingly hot, and
Dr. and Mrs. Hall decided to go for a couple of weeks
to Puk Han (North Fortress), and the doctor nsked me
to go with him. We spent a pleasant time, studying
most of the day, and toward evening we used to go
around and see the sick people and give them medicine,
and also teach the Gospel to the Buddhist priests that
live in that mountain. Then Mrs. Hall had to return
to her work in Soul, and we left Puk Han and went
back to the work we had before. In the morning the
doctor studied the native books with me, and in the af
ternoon he sa\v the sick people, and dressed the wounded
at the hospital ; in the evening he went to the South
Gate Dispensary with his friend, Dr. Busteed, and my-
396
self, and we took his little organ, and Dr. Busteed
played, and we sang a hymn. Many people from all
parts of the eight provinces go past this place, and
they heard the music and came in; sometimes from one
to two hundred came in, and we told them about
the Saviour that redeems us. Yet I never saw Dr.
Hall become tired doing such work. There is no one
in this world who does not love his own body; but this
doctor does not love his own body only, he loves every
body. He gives medicine and money to the poor, and
helps them to bury their dead. Pie did the hardest work
among all the preachers who came from America, and
he did it all with his whole heart. It is not only I that
speak well of him, but I write what I have heard our
native people say, as well as what I have seen with my
own eyes. He was always doing such kind work, there
fore we love him.
In September he asked me if I could go clown to
Pyong Yang with him, and I was very glad to go. When
we reached there many of his friends came to see him,
because he had been there before. We were there about
seven months altogether, and during that period we had
some pleasant times and some that were not so
pleasant. I cannot well write everything of his gener
ous work in Pyong Yang, as I have forgotten ; but I
remember one day very well, when about twenty of our
neighbors came in and said, "Our Pyong Yang custom
is, every year each house gives according to its wealth
to the offering for the spirit of Pyong Yang, so you who
are from Soul, and especially that gentleman from the
West [and they point to Dr. Hall], can give us a lot of
money to offer to our spirit, then he will keep you and
help you on your journey, and bless you all the year
round ;" and they asked me to explain this matter well
397
to Dr. Hall. I knew it was wrong to offer money to
evil spirits, and I told them, "People who serve God do
not give money to this spirit;" but they were angry with
me, and said, "You do not have to give the money; you
just simply tell that gentleman from the West, as we
told you." So I did so, and Dr. Hall said to tell them,
"We have nothing to do with your spirit, and we will
not give it money, for we worship the true, living God,
who made us and you, and wants your worship too."
Then they were very angry, and they all went out ; but
a few minutes after they rushed in, and they pulled me
down, and also a young boy that believed, and they tore
his clothes and hurt him ; and they beat me with their
fists and kicked me with their feet; and they said,
" This is not our work, but it is the spirit punishing
you." When they were through beating me and let me
go I went to Dr. Hall and told him what had happened,
and my heart was very angry. He tried to comfort me,
and asked me if I had not read how St. Paul was beaten,
but I said I did not care, that if I continued to do this
Jesus doctrine my body would not last long, and I did
not care about the good things I would get after I was
dead, and I told him I would return to Soul at once.
Then he put his dear, loving arms around me and said,
" Let us pray, brother," and we both knelt clown, and
he asked me to pray first, but I could not pray with my
angry heart, so he prayed for me. But I couldn t get
over it yet ; and he tried still to comfort me with such a
loving, patient heart. After a little the young boy that
also got hurt came in, and Dr. Hall bound up his
wounded leg and paid him for his torn clothes, and he
told us he was so sorry we were persecuted for doing
right. After all this I became ashamed of myself, and
got rid of my angry heart, and felt a good deal happier.
39*
After this many people continued to crowd around
Dr. Hall like flies around honey, yet at night the stones
would sometimes ny like rain pouring, and we felt we
were sitting out upon ice in the river. But God turned
the wicked hearts kinder every day, and we were pro
tected by His care.
The doctor was always a friend to children. Wher
ever he went many children followed him and bothered
him, yet he loved them. Many times the children used
to pull his whiskers, but he would only laugh and pet
them. One day I asked him why he let the children
bother him so much, and he turned to me and said:
l< Brother, what makes you so cold and hard ? The Lord
says in the Bible we are to have a child s faith and
heart, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." By this,
I perceived that his faith was like a child s.
Many of the town people used, sometimes, to cry out,
" Good Saint Harak ; he is one fit for the kingdom of
God ! " So when I went to write about him I called
the heading of my story " Saint Harak."
P. S. No.
XOTR. " Harak" was the Chinese name for Dr. Hall that appeared upon
his passport.
RESOLUTION.
Whereas, It has pleased Almighty God to call home
our brother and fellow-missionary, Dr. W. J. Hall ;
Resolved, That we express to Mrs. Hall our sincere
sympathy in her sore bereavement, and that we further
record our deep sense of loss to our work in the taking
away of our brother so intimately associated with us in
Soul, and especially in PyongYang.
It is also our desire to note individually and as a Mis
sion the spiritual benefit which we have derived from
our association with a man so consecrated to the Master.
399
Words cannot express our feelings, but in this feeble
way we would convey to you the sentiments of all our
Mission.
( H. G. UNDERWOOD,
Committee : < G. LEE,
( SUSAN A. DOTY.
PRESBYTERIAN MISSION, SOUL, KOREA, Dec: 29, 1894.
EXTRACTS FROM THE OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE TENTH
SESSION OF THE KOREA MISSION OF THE METHODIST
EPISCOPAL CHURCH :
Whereas, In the deep and mysterious providence of
God, Mrs. Rosetta Hall, M.D., has been called on to
mourn the loss of her husband, Rev. W. J. Hall, M.D.,
a brother beloved by us all, and in consequence has re
turned to the United States ;
Resolved, That we again assure her of our profound
sympathy with her in her bereavement, that we record
our high appreciation of the worth, zeal, and devotion
in her labors for the Koreans while among us, and that
we indulge the hope that she may soon, in the good
providence of God, be brought back again to Korea to
continue the work for the women she so faithfully and
successfully prosecuted.
MEMORIAL SERVICE.
It was moved and carried that a service in memory
of Dr. W. J. Hall be made the special order for Friday
at n A. M.,and that Bishop Ninde, with W. B. Scranton
and H. G. Appenzeller, be a committee to prepare a
program for the same.
Friday, January 18, 1895, ^ ie bishop made the devo
tional exercises of the morning one with a memorial
4OO
service to our sainted Brother Hall. After Scripture
reading, prayer, and singing, H. G. Appenzeller read a
memoir prepared by the committee for that purpose.
It was voted to spread it on the journal. The memoir
is as follows :
REV. WILLIAM JAMES HALL, M.D.
On Saturday, November 24, 1894, there passed away
from earth to his reward in heaven one who, faithful to
the last, mid changing scenes, mid trials and perse
cutions of a heathen land, remained unshaken in his
zeal for the promotion of God s glory among people
in whose hearts the Sun of righteousness had never
shone.
Dr. William James Hall was the first adult mission
ary of the Korea Mission of the Methodist Episcopal
Church to lay down his life for the work. God had
work for him elsewhere, and we cannot complain, but
say, The will of the Lord be done. Among the band
of his fellow-workers he was one of the most energetic
and consecrated, and his life, like that of the Saviour s
while on earth, was spent in doing good to others.
Among whomsoever he mingled his life was a rich fra
grance of consecration and devotion, and was an in
spiration, not only to the members of the Mission, but
to the native converts. To him was allotted one of the
most difficult fields, and in fact he was the pioneer
medical missionary to Pyong Yang. Notwithstanding
this fact his work bore early fruits of a rich harvest,
and although he is gone there has been established in
that wicked city of heathendom a work which will go
on increasing until the last day.
Dr. Hall was preeminently "a good man and full of
the Holy Ghost." His goodness was not of the effer-
401
vescent, but of the solid and normal kind. In Pyong
Yang some of the " baser sort " attempted to circum
vent or overreach him, but he in his straightforward and
yet simple way so presented the truth that his assailants
confessed that though they came to abuse his goodness
they could not even say a word against him.
At the eighth Annual Meeting of the Mission Dr.
Hall was appointed by Bishop Mallalieu to the province
of Pyong Yang.
He entered upon his work with great enthusiasm.
His visits during the first year gave him sufficient foot
hold, and property was purchased. For this purpose
over $1,500 was raised by his own individual effort.
On Christmas probably the last one he spent on earth
he said to his wife, who was in full and hearty sym
pathy with him in his work, " Let us make Pyong Yang
a Christmas offering," and one hundred yen was placed
on the altar. This was added so quietly to his Pyong
Yang fund that hardly anyone knew it save those most
intimate. This " fund " was administered with the great
est care, and at his death over six hundred and twenty
yen was handed to the Superintendent of the Mission
for Dr. Hall s successor in Pyong Yang.
His last year in the field was a stormy one. In the
spring of 1894 he took Mrs. Hall and child to Pyong
Vang. Then the petty persecution to which we are more
or less subjected burst forth in all its fury. But through
it all he had unfailing trust in God.
His last summer was spent in the Soul hospital here.
He loved the hospital with all the love of his great soul.
On October i he left for Pyong Yang to strengthen and
comfort the brethren there. The little company was
most glad to see him. On October 17 he wrote to
the superintendent: "I rejoice we came when we did.
51
402
The hymns of praise that less than a year ago, when
sung, brought cursing and stones upon us from the
surrounding neighborhood are now listened to with
delight. It makes my heart rejoice to know how faith
ful our Christians have been under such trying cir
cumstances. True heroes for Christ, praise the Lord!
. . . My patients are increasing daily. I have several
gunshot wounds. I use my bamboo cot for a stretcher
and our Christians as the ambulance staff." What a
true and beautiful picture of a missionary s life. He
baptized three men and a boy the last Sunday he was
there.
He came to Chemulpo in a Japanese transport.
Either on board or before he contracted typhus fever;
but he reached Chemulpo, where Dr. E. B. Landis, of
the English Church Mission, attended him, together with
Brother and Mrs. Jones. He longed to get to his home
in the capital to see his wife and child. Brothers Mof-
fett and Tate, of the Presbyterian Missions, North and
South, who were his companions from Pyong Yang,
accompanied him up the river on the little Japanese
steamer. The Mission is under a great obligation to
these dear brethren for their services to the departed
brother at this time. The steamer capsized a delay of
thirty-six hours on the river took away the only chance
of life the sick man had.
He reached his home Monday morning a very sick
man. Dr. Busteed was at once summoned ; other phy
sicians came in, and were faithful in their attentions.
Brother Noble, a devoted friend of the dying man, was
at the sickbed receiving final instructions about tem
poral things.
His devoted wife never left his side. Life ebbed out
slowly. Saturday morning the doctor gave up hope ;
403
speech had ceased before, and at six in the evening he
passed away.
" Jesus can make a flying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on His breast I lean my head,
And breathe my life out sweetly there."
( H. G. APPENZELLER,
Committee. : \ J. B. BUSTEED,
f \V. A. NOBLE.
AN ADDRESS OF WELCOME FROM THE MEMBERS OF THE
GLEN BUELL METHODIST CHURCH TO MRS. Ro-
SETTA SHERWOOD HALL, M.D., RETURNED MEDI
CAL MISSIONARY FROM KOREA, WIFE OF THE LATE
REV. W. J. HALL, M.D.
OUR ESTEEMED AND BELOVED SISTER: The occasion
which has brought together the members of this church
and residents of this and adjoining communities, of all
shades of religious opinion, we assure you to be one of
unusual interest to us. Some weeks ago we learned of
your purpose to pay these parts a visit. These have
been weeks of pleasurable anticipation to us, while we
have not forgotten that to yourself the deep waters of a
continued bereavement were being passed through. We
are glad and thankful that in the good providence of
our God your way has been opened up to come into
our midst.
We extend these words of greeting to you on your
first visit as one big family because we feel assured of
our united interest in all your movements.
We welcome you to our land and to the Methodist
Church in Canada because we feel that, while a twin
branch of beloved Methodism has committed to you
the honored legacy of pioneering her work beyond the
seas, and among peoples whose ears have never heard
404
nor hearts been warmed by the glad news of the story
of Jesus, her triumphs are our triumphs, for we are sis
ters nourished on the lap of a common mother.
We welcome you to our community as one about
whom we have oft conversed, and whose ways, for rea
sons well known, we have watched with keenest interest
since we first heard of you.
We welcome you to our homes. They are plain and
simple, but if you would accept of such hospitalities we
would be pleased to have you at our tables and in our
family midst yourself and family and the foreign
brother and sister, whom we are glad to greet as trophies
of the power of Jesus to save in other tongues and lands
than ours.
We welcome you as a returned missionary. The
word " missionary " stirs our hearts, but much more
does the presence of one whom God has called to fol
low Him, out over the broad sea into the midst of a
people of strange beliefs, strange customs, strange attire
there to preach His name and live the life of the
lowly Nazarene. With an experience obtained only
from looking upon those whitened fields, with laborers
far from abundant, and needs the home Church has long
disregarded we feel sure the Lord will bless you in
any and all of your efforts to teach us our duty and re
sponsibility as individuals to the great work of the evan
gelization of the world.
But we welcome you far from least of all for a reason
that steals a little farther into our hearts as the beloved
wife of one whose boyhood scenes and associations
were these streets and farms and neighborhoods, and
whose name is to-day far and near, " as ointment poured
forth." When lie had equipped himself at the seats of
learning for his life s work, the world called him doctor,
405
but the people of these communities, for some subtle
reason, could not keep pace with the times. He was
ours still, lent to the world and to the Church as doctor,
but known to us by a far more familiar name a link
that still binds, an association never to be broken, a
memory to be continued as a fountain of sweet waters.
We followed his steps from boyhood lessons in the
public school and the Sabbath school year by year, as
the innocence of his youth and the purity of his de
veloping manhood began to reflect themselves. Words
are too feeble to express his genial manner, his kind
ness, his sympathy for all, and above all his unreserved
consecration, anywhere and everywhere, to the work of
the Master he loved. In all our hearts he has planted
Korea, if for no other reason, because it was dear to
him. Our affections followed him as he embarked
hither at God s command ; and his letters breathed the
same ardent spirit in yonder land, and for yonder dis
tant people, as we had seen blossom into fragrance in
our midst, there as here led on, guided by the inspira
tion of that little beacon light :
" O the good we all may do,
While the days are going by."
But while he had a mission to a foreign people, he
still felt a mission to us that we never merited and feel
unworthy to receive. Being absent, lie would still
speak. We embrace this opportunity of making this
public acknowledgment of a gift to the homes of this
community made some time ago a library of one hun
dred and twenty volumes of the choicest soul-feeding
literature. This came unsolicited, the voice of a full
heart, a " library of love," an investment for God that
we pray may one day yield an abundant interest.
406
It pleases us to-night, that you have permitted us
this occasion to give expression to feelings far too deep
to be fully told. We are drawn to you, if for no other
reason, for his sake. We welcome you for his sake,
our interest will attend all your future steps for his sake.
To all the mysterious providences of the last year,
it behooves us as creatures who walk by faith to confide
in these certain words, " He doeth all things well."
Not an event, nor a disappointment, nor a disposal has
taken place that crosses, or in any way falls athwart
the promises of our God. They can all be harmonized.
The day is not done. The final reckoning is not yet
completed. Over it all is being written, with the same
fingers that wrote for Moses in Sinai, " For the glory of
God, for Time and Eternity." We feel assured that
the strongest consolations will be given to you by the
Holy Comforter, to keep you and bless you in your
efforts still to perform your humble part to bring the
salvation of the Gospel to the land of Korea. May the
Master bless the brother and sister whose hearts and
confidences you have won, and who have placed their
plans and lives to be directed as the way shall open
up. May you be a comfort and a blessing to the father
and mother and family who have been your compan
ions in passing through these deep waters.
Permit us in conclusion to express the hope that
your visit to our midst may be a blessing to u- all. We
hope you may not be here long before you shall fully
prove that you are among a people who have no mere
transient curiosity to gratify, but an interest that seems
to us as deep as if you had been reared among us.
Kindly accept these few words of welcome from this
congregation as an imperfect expression of the interest
we feel in vou.
407
Signed, on behalf the members of the Glen Buell
Methodist Church.
W. F. PERLEY, Pastor.
H. E. \YARREN, Assistant.
C. J. GILROY.
JOSEPH TOURISS.
LUCY GILROY.
CECELIA DACK.
JAMES A. LEE.
GLEN BUELL, ONTARIO, CANADA, July 31, 1895.
A PLEA FOR KOREA S EVANGELIZATION.
EXTRACT FROM The Christian Herald OF DECEMBER 4, 1895.
Those who were interested in Dr. Hall s work at
Pyong Yang, Korea, and those who helped him in raising
the money with which to buy property for a hospital,
may be glad to know that after securing a fine site,
building a wall, and making some necessary repairs,
there were left 620 yen ($310, gold). Dr. Hall intended
to make this the nucleus of a fund that should grow
until sufficient to construct good hospital buildings in
the placfi of the small native houses now in use. He
had hoped to be ready to begin building as soon as
peace should be established in Korea, and he looked
forward with much pleasure to having a hospital in
Pyong Yang complete in each department. The last
Christmas that he spent upon earth, he proposed that
we sacrifice the pleasure of making each other and our
friends the usual gifts, and instead make our Christmas
offering to Pyong Yang.
Already Korea has stepped out as an independent
kingdom among the nations, and she will soon be
making long strides toward modern civilization. Dr.
Strong says, in The New Era, the prospect is that in the
408
course of a few generations the heathen world will lie-
come either Christian or agnostic which it will be
come will depend upon the Church.
What can be done -to make heathen Korea Christian ?
No greater help toward this end can be given than to
build a Christian hospital in Pyong Yang. This city,
the ancient capital of Korea, contains one hundred
thousand people. It is situated upon a large and beau
tiful river in a fine agricultural district with coal fields
and great metallic wealth in its immediate vicinity, and
it is bound to become the metropolis of Korea. As be
fore stated, Dr. Hall had already set aside money toward
building this hospital in the city which he was the first to
open to Christian work. Might it not be the most fitting
tribute that could be paid to his memory if his plan be
yet carried out? Nothing of the kind would better
please him than such a building for Pyong Yang, whose
people he loved, and for whose highest interest he
labored and died.
Let the children help Dr. Hall wrote, you remem
ber, how in the first place the fund for buying the
property in Pyong Yang was started by three little chil
dren of the missionaries. " It was only one dollar and
sixty cents and the prayers of God s little ones," but it
soon grew to over $1,500. Perhaps Korea may become
a Christian nation in the lifetime of the children who
read this, and if they have helped to make her so how
happy they will feel! Phillips Brooks once wrote, If
I can only place one little brick in the pavement of the
Lord s pathway, I will place it there, that coming gen
erations may walk thereon to the heavenly city."
ROSETTA S. HALL.
LIBERTY, N. Y. ,
409
The Roentgen Rays have been turned to the benefit
of religion and philanthropy. Dr. F. E. Caldwell, of
Brooklyn, gave an exhibition of them a few days ago
for the benefit of the fund for the erection of the mis
sionary hospital at Pyong Yang, Korea. The work there
commenced by the late Dr. W. J. Hall is being carried
on by Dr. Follwell, who finds his dispensary so crowded
that a hospital is urgently needed. It is proposed to
make the hospital a memorial to Dr. Hall, who gave his
life to his service in Korea. Christian Herald.
MEMORIAL TO DR. W. J. HALL.
Dr. W. J. Hall was the pioneer medical missionary
to Pyong Yang, the ancient capital of Korea. In The
Korean Repository for May Rev. H. G. Appenzeller thus
writes of him : " From the time of his appointment to
this northern city, in 1892, until his early and lamented
death in November, 1894, Dr. Hall devoted his time
and energies to the furtherance of the work intrusted to
him. For it he thought, planned, labored. To it he
contributed liberally himself, and at the same time pre
sented the claims of Pyong Yang to his friends in Korea
and the home land as well. The response was prompt,
and money began to come in. The Pyong Yang Fund,
as he called it, grew, and he was enabled by it to pur
chase the valuable property now occupied by his suc
cessor without drawing upon the regular appropriation.
The utmost care was exercised in disbursing this fund,
so that it was surprising only to those not acquainted
with the details that about six hundred and fifty yen
were on hand at the time of his death. This amount
was paid to the Superintendent of the Mission, and
Mrs. Hall at the same time expressed the wish that this
money might, if possible, be used toward the erection of
52
4io
a hospital to the memory of her husband. The Annual
Meeting heartily approved of the object, and promptly
set aside the fund toward this purpose.
Douglas Folhvell, M.D., is the successor of Dr. Hall,
and to him is committed the pleasant, and we may say
sacred, work of erecting this memorial. It was our
privilege to visit Pyong Yang, and with Dr. Folhvell, on
May 6, to begin this building by giving out the contract
for the erection of a dispensary to a Korean carpenter,
who agreed to finish it in five months.
" This dispensary is located inside of and adjoining
the west gate, on high ground, and but seven minutes
walk from the commercial center of the city, which in
Pyong Yang, as in Soul, is marked by the big bell. This
building will be 40x16 feet and in Korean style, con
taining a waiting room, clinic, drug room, and the doc
tor s office."
Dr. Folhvell, in writing of this dispensary building
recently to Mrs. Hall, stated that it was going to cost
seven hundred yen exclusive of doors, windows, paper
ing, or painting, and that there would be a deficit
of about two hundred and fifty yen, and that he felt
sure that different friends of Dr. Hall would gladly
make good this deficit that he himself and other friends
in Korea would help.
Mrs. Hall has since forwarded to Dr. Folhvell, as a
"special gift," through the Methodist Episcopal Mis
sion, fifty dollars gold (about one hundred yen) to help
finish this dispensary ; and she hopes in the near future
to raise one thousand dollars to build suitable operating
rftom and medical and surgical wards, so as to make
the memorial a well-equipped general hospital, such as
Dr. Hall himself had planned to build.
Mrs. Hall feels that the true monument is not a cold,
expensive shaft of marble or granite, but the foundation
of some work for the uplifting of the race or the ameli
oration of suffering. Such a monument is alive, warm,
and ever reproductive. World- Wide Missions, Septem
ber, 1896.
Those desiring to add to this Memorial Fund may
do so by sending to Mrs. Hall herself, or to Dr. F. D.
Folhvell, Pyong Yang, Korea; or to Dr. W. T. Smith,
150 Fifth Avenue, Missionary Secretary for Korea. All
such gifts will be gratefully acknowledged.
Mrs. Hall has been reappointed by the Woman s
Foreign Missionary Society as Medical Missionary to
Korea. She will shortly sail with her two children for
that field, and looks forward to taking up her work
again in Pyong Yang.
HALL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, PVOXG YANG, KOREA.
DOUGLAS FOLLWELL, M.D., in charge.
BISHOP JOYCE AND MEMBERS OF THE KOREA MIS
SION : My medical work since last Annual Meeting
covers a period of a little over four months. During
six weeks of this time I treated only surgical patients
in a small room of my house. Since February i, 1897,
the Hall Memorial Hospital has been opened to all
comers. The building, without any expense whatever
to the Missionary Society, has been erected through the
self-denial of our late beloved Doctor Hall, his wife,
also a physician, and their kind friends in Korea and
the home land. We now have a fine building, 44x16 feet,
consisting of four rooms. Our hospital is situated just
outside the large west gate, and is, in my opinion, an
ideal spot. It is on high ground, and faces one of the
prominent streets of the city. We are ready for all the
work that comes to us if we only have the room to put
412
the patients and sufficient funds to buy necessary in
struments. I have repeatedly sent patients away either
because I had no instruments suitable for operation or
because of lack of ward room. A surgeon cannot work
without proper instruments any more than a carpenter
can build a house without saw, hammer, or nails. It is
a great mistake for anyone to think that the medical
missionary can get along with few instruments, and poor
ones at best. We cannot afford to have poor results
from our surgical work, that gives us the best success.
I am hoping that the coming year will see these neces
sities to the carrying on of the medical work in Pyong
Yang supplied. The results thus far have been most
encouraging, and I have already been privileged to see
some ripened grain gathered from the fields that are
white already to harvest. Our medical and evangelistic
possibilities in Pyong Yang are enormous. Mrs. Bishop,
the well-known traveler and writer, says of this city and
the surrounding country, in pleading for more mission
aries : " I consider the spiritual condition of Pyong
Yang more remarkable than in any other mission field
I have ever visited." There are but two physicians in
all northern Korea, Dr. Wells, of the American Presby
terian Mission, and myself. Patients come to our hos
pital every day all the way from ten to five hundred li.
I often ask a patient why he came to see the foreign
doctor, and he replies that he met a friend who was
cured or relieved of some disease, and so he thought he
would come and see what could be done for him. We
see many whom we cannot cure of their bodily ailments,
but we do tell them, often for the first time, of One
who can cleanse from all sin and give pardon, peace, and
purity through Jesus s blood. No patient comes to our
hospital for treatment but goes away with some Gospel
413
message. Everyone knows who we are, what we are in
Pyong Yang for, and that our Saviour is Jesus Christ
the Lord. My helper Yi is a splendid man, and has
great tact in dealing with men and women. A patient
comes for treatment, and while I am dressing the wound
or preparing the medicine, often occupying several
minutes, my helper makes his introduction in very
polite terms, and then tells the patient he is a "Jesus
man," followed by the question, " Are you ? " Thus the
way is opened for telling him or her of Jesus, and the
advantage is taken at every opportunity. Many become
interested and come to our church through hearing for
the first time of Jesus in the hospital.
There came a poor woman one day to the dispensary
suffering from cancer of the breast. She was in great
pain, and begged me to please make her well and take
away her pain. The odor was such that I could hardly
stay in the room, but in a few minutes this was all re
moved by washing the wound with bichloride of mercury
solution. I told the poor soul I could not heal her and
that an operation was too late, but I would try to make
her pain less and herself more comfortable. One after
noon she began to cry as if her heart would break, all
the while beseeching me to please give her life.
Then my helper Yi told her of One who could give her
peace and joy in her heart and take her to heaven. He
told this poor woman that only Jesus could help her,
and with the tears rolling down her cheeks she listened
to every word spoken. The day she returned home I
gave her Matthew s gospel, telling her to read it, and
my Christian helper again told her of Jesus, and the
tears flowed as she asked if He would help her. It was
a scene I shall never forget, and my own eyes were
not dry. The seed was sown in her heart, but I have
414
not heard of the poor woman since and cannot tell
what the result will be until we shall all appear before
the Judge of all the earth. But I am glad that this poor
sin-sick, body-sick soul could come to a Christian hospi
tal, where she could at least obtain some help from her
disease and without price, for she was so destitute, and
where she heard for the first time in her life of a Sa
viour who can heal all her diseases. We have many
cases that we cannot cure, but we can help them, per
haps, to die more easily and make their last moments
more comfortable.
The dispensary gives mighty indirect results. It is
in the hospital that we obtain the best direct results.
Let me give you one or two instances :
One afternoon a man came to the hospital from a
distance of one hundred and twenty li (forty miles).
He was too weak to walk, and could only breathe with
great difficulty. I saw at once this patient was a very
sick man and needed immediate relief. He told me he
had spent twenty yen for sorceresses to heal his disease,
who said his trouble had come because his father and
mother were buried in poor ground, and not until the
remains were removed to a better location would the
disease get well. (I should say the man was suffering
with empyema.) He did as the sorceresses had told him
and spent a large sum of money, but alas ! the disease
grew worse instead of better. At last, after all his re
sources were exhausted, some friend told him if he came
to Pyong Yang the foreign doctor, perhaps, might
heal him. A day or two after this patient came into the
hospital I aspirated and removed fifty-five ounces of
bloody fluid. Relief from the severe pain and distressed
breathing followed this operation, though he was still
very weak, but with good nourishment and careful
4*5
nursing he gained strength daily. A few clays before he
left for home he told us he had such joy in his heart
because he could eat and sleep well now and had no
pain, and that he entered the hospital thinking he
was going to die, but instead of that he came to life
again. During this patient s stay he received Christian
instruction every day. Two Sundays before he left for
home he came forward in church when the invitation
was given to those who wanted to become Christians,
and made public confession of faith in Jesus Christ.
This meant much to a Korean. It meant that his devil
and ancestral worship, his old customs and supersti
tions, his gambling, drinking, and immorality were all
to be put away, and that henceforth he would worship
only the true God. This patient said there must be
something in our religion which was not in any other to
make a man heal his disease and treat him kindly, and
when he returned home he said he should tell everyone
he knew about Jesus, who had sent the good physician
to heal him of his disease.
Another case was that of a boy with "harelip," who
came one hundred and twenty li, asking to be cured. I
took him into the hospital and operated with good re
sults. The brother of the patient, who came to look
after him, became most interested in the truths of the
Gospel, and before leaving the hospital promised to serve
the only true God, and joined our Church on probation.
One more case let me relate. A young man came
one afternoon to the dispensary with consumption, and
asked if he could stay in the hospital. I told him I
couldn t allow him to do that, because I had not enough
money for his support, but that he could take some
medicine which I would give him and return home.
This patient kept begging me to please let him stay,
416
and he would be no expense to me. I consented, and
during his several weeks tarrying improved very much,
though I told him I could not cure his disease. Before
he left for home he was rejoicing in Jesus as his Saviour.
A few weeks ago a poor, ignorant, destitute woman
came to the dispensary suffering from a very common
trouble, toothache. She was in great pain, and in a
moment or two the tooth was extracted. No sooner
was it out than she dropped down on her knees before
me and bowed herself to the ground over and over
again out of sheer gratitude and thankfulness. If you
could see the joy that shines upon the faces of the many
patients whom we help you would be willing to spend
and be spent in the service of Jesus in Korea.
Our hospital in Pyong Yang has made it possible for
Brother Noble and myself to enter many homes that
otherwise would have been impossible. One evening I
was called to see a young man who had fallen from his
pony and received some injury. On my arrival I found
the patient suffering from severe laceration of the
knee. A native quack who had been called in the pre
vious evening said he could do nothing, because it would
cause the boy so much pain (I thought so too), and, be
sides, some pus would have to be drawn, after which the
wound would heal. Brother Noble kindly helped me
by administering the anaesthetic, and I then sewed up the
wound with thirteen sutures. When we had finished
Brother Noble, myself, and the household all sat down
on the floor, and after the mother had thanked us for
our kindness Brother Noble preached Jesus to them,
thus following in the footsteps of our divine Master
and obeying his commands when our Lord sent His dis
ciples to heal the sick and say unto them, " The kingdom
of God is come nigh unto you."
417
Every morning, after breakfast, prayers are held in the
hospital ward for the in-patients. This service is in
charge of my Christian helper Yi, and has been the re
sult of much spiritual good.
Every patient who comes to the dispensary is given
some Gospel message together with a card upon which
is written the name and address of the hospital, and
John iii, 16, and is also used as a guide to the physician
to know what treatment is being given daily.
Does medical missionary work pay in Pyong Yang?
No ; not in dollars and cents. This does not count
where the destiny of immortal souls is concerned. Come
to the Hall Memorial Hospital with me some afternoon,
and you will not doubt that medical work among the
suffering and helpless does pay. It is philanthropic, it
is humane, it follows in the steps of the Great Physician
when He was here on earth. When every sick one is
told of Him who saves from sin, and who can turn
them from the darkness of superstition and doubt to
the glorious liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then
medical missionary work pays a thousandfold.
STATISTICS.
October I to November 14, 1896, Surgical 317
Medical 55
February i to April 27, 1897, Surgical 1,334
Medical 1,011
Number of cases treated 2,717
Number of new cases only !, I2 9
Average attendance at hospital 32
Largest attendance 84
Receipts, $37.17, United States currency.
Respectfully submitted,
DOUGLAS FOLLWELL, M.D.
May 5, 1897.
53
4.18
A STORY FOR CHILDREN.
WRITTEN BY DR. HALL, BUT NOT BEFORE FULLY PUBLISHED.
There are thousands of children who love to read,
and I desire to write this story especially for them.
Last fall, after traveling nearly one hundred and eighty
miles on foot and on top of boxes loaded on a pony s
back, I came to Pyong Yang and stopped in a little
room eight feet square. Here I saw the many patients
that came to me day after day to be cured of their dis
eases, here I ate my rice, and, tired after the day s toil,
spread my blanket on the mud and stone floor, and
when the vermin were not too numerous I slept.
Many weary nights I have been kept awake in the
filthy inns, and I have prayed that God would give us
the needed building to carry on our work for Him.
One day t was called to see a little boy whose life
was gradually ebbing away. He was the son of one of the
governor s assistants. God blessed the medicine, and
the little boy speedily recovered. The gratitude of the
parents knew no bounds. They sent me presents, and
invited me to their comfortable home. They moved
out of the best room they had in the house and gave it
to me. The father said, "You have saved the life of
our boy; use anything we have just the same as if it
were your own." What a contrast to the filthy inn !
Later, when I told him I wished we had such a place
for our work, he offered to sell it to me. It was nicely
situated, and I did so desire it that we might do better
work for Jesus !
After I came back to Soul at our next children s
meeting I told the whole story, and how, though we
had not a single cent toward getting a building, yet this
was God s work, and the silver and the gold were His,
and He would give us just what was needed if we asked
419
Him. The children became much interested, and they
said, " Well, Dr. Hall, we will ask God to give you a
house." I shall never forget those prayers; they went
straight to the throne of God, and soon the answer came,
and these little children helped to bring it.
Shortly after the meeting was dismissed Bertie
Ohlinger came running to me with a bright silver dollar
and said, <l Dr. Hall, here is a dollar to help buy a house
in Pyong Yang; I wish I could give more, but it is all
I have." At Christmas time he had been presented with
two dollars. With one he had bought a present for his
mother, the other he now gave to God. Next came
Willa, his sister, a dear little girl of nine years, with ten
cents that she had earned herself picking moths from
the fruit trees. Following her came Augusta Scranton
with fifty cents, saying, "I was saving it to help buy a
piano, but I would rather help with God s work." Dear,
precious children ! they had given their hearts to Jesus,
and now they had brought Him their all.
It was only one dollar and sixty cents and the prayers
of God s little ones ; but He who fed the five thousand
with five loaves of bread and two fishes multiplied the
children s gift until in six months the one dollar and sixty
cents increased to one thousand four hundred and thirty-
five dollars and eighteen cents, and to-day we have a
good property well situated for work in Pyong Yang.
A few weeks ago Jesus took Bertie and Willa home
to Himself, where they will be happy for evermore.
Bertie was twelve years old, and had early learned to
love Jesus. One night before he died he told me that
Jesus made him very happy. The morning before Willa
went home she called all the family to her bedside and
asked her papa and mamma to pray, and then prayed
herself. She said, " I would so like to go and be with
42O
Jesus ! but I think Jesus is not quite ready for me yet."
But that evening Jesus was ready, and came for His
precious little lamb. Though Bertie and Willa have left
us their work is going on.
Dear children, how much you can all do for Jesus,
first by giving Him your hearts, and then by living and
working for Him ! W. J. HALL.
SOUL, KOREA, August 10, 1893.
WHO WILL GO ?
HYMN WRITTEN BY FANNY CROSBY ON THE DEPARTURE OF UR.
HALL FOR THE MISSION FIELD.
O er the ruthless rolling ocean,
Where the prince of darkness reigns,
Holding fast his countless victims,
Crushed beneath his cruel chains ;
O, the wail of bitter anguish,
O, the deep despairing cry,
Send us light or we must perish,
Send it quickly or we die.
To these wretched, starving millions,
Who the bread of life will bear ?
At a throne of grace and mercy,
Who will plead with them in prayer ?
Who will undertake the journey
O er the stormy billow s foam,
Leaving all without a murmur,
Parents, friends, a native home ?
Firmly, bravely comes the answer,
From a loyal mission band,
That our blessed Lord is keeping,
In the hollow of His hand ;
Firmly, bravely comes the answer
Even now I hear him say,
" Gracious Master, Thou hast called me,
And Thy message I obey."
4 2I
Dearest brother, you are going,
Where you oft may sow in tears,
And the fruit of earnest labor,
Be withheld perhaps for years,
Though you toil amid their changes-
Burning sun and chilling frost,
Not a seed will be forgotten,
Not a single blade be lost.
God be with you on the billows,
God protect you o er the main,
In his tender, loving kindness,
Bring you back to us again ;
But if otherwise determined,
And on earth we meet no more,
May we all sing hallelujah,
On the bright eternal shore,
