416 Incidents in Indian Missions in Kansas and Nebraska. [November, to come. But the children were kept at home, and no compulsory inducement by the government agent or the department at Washington was applied to overcome native indifference, or rather native prejudice, fostered by unprincipled white men. Another administration had succeeded the one that proposed and executed the contracts, and at the end of five years, in 1860, notice was given the Board that these would not be renewed, except in the case of the Omahas, and that, as requested by the Indians, their educational funds would be applied to day-schools under government control. This changed policy of the government resulted in the Iowa and Sac building being converted for a time into an Indian orphan school for children of any of the tribes, and supported exclusively from funds of the Board, and in the abandonment of the Ottoe and Kickapoo buildings, which, being erected on the reservations, were lost to the Board, though not without long and fruitless efforts to secure its equities in them. During the existence of the contracts with the government, it was my duty and privilege to visit these Indian missions in company with the late Walter Lowrie, secretary of the Board. We were both members of the General Assembly which met in New Orleans on the first Thursday in May, 1858. On the last day of the session, Monday, 17th, we left that city by steamer, and arrived in Cairo Saturday morning and in St. Louis by rail the same evening. On Monday we took the cars for Jefferson City, and that evening a boat for Doniphan, Kan. The next morning, while dressing, Mr. Lowrie discovered that he had lost from his stateroom a valuable gold watch, which had served him faithfully during his senatorial and official career at Washington. The unloading war materials at Fort Leavenworth for the army then on its march to subdue the Mormon rebellion detained us one day. We landed at Doniphan Saturday morning, and in the afternoon by private conveyance twenty miles further came to the Iowa and Sac mission. Here we found Rev. S. M. Irvin and wife in charge, as they had been since they began their work among these Indians in connection with Rev. William Hamilton and wife in 1837. There were but thirty-seven scholars of both sexes in attendance, though the building could accommodate from eighty to one hundred, and there were other children of these tribes of proper age sufficient to make up the larger number. Those in attendance were nearly all brought into the school before the exist ing contracts, and when as yet there were no public land sales to attract white settlers. Mr. Lowrie had visited the school two years before (in 1856), and his account of it then would describe it now-"Here one would see young men and young women rescued from the deep degradation of their tribes, civilized in the full sense of the word, numbers of them converted Christians, sitting down with their teachers at the table of the Lord. On week-days he would see them in their school or engaged in their work, cheerful and contented, just as he would see any industrious and well-regulated white family in any part of our wide and happy country." Of one of these school-girls an interesting account was published three years later. Sophia Roubete, of the Sac tribe, was the eldest of three orphans, whom Mr. Irvin took, on the death of their mother, from a heathen lodge to the mission house, carrying the youngest in his arms. Sophia died at the age of eighteen, in the full assurance of that rest of which Baxter wrote, and with whose writings her mind was stored. It was a great disappointment to find that children were not now brought into the school; but the parents were told that their annuities were all needed for corn and blankets and ponies, and that education could do them no good. Then too the whisky trader was at hand, and the tribes were becoming more demoralized than before the country was open to white settlements. It was bad enough in those earlier days, when, as a government interpreter told Mr. Hamilton, five hundred dollars' worth of whisky could be bought on credit, and, after paying for it, the trader would clear one thousand dollars. Now combined with this destructive traffic the land speculator covets 1889.] Missionary Methods in Colombia. the reservations, drives the occupants to the wild and hostile tribes further west, and ridicules any attempt to improve their condition or educate their children. We left our kind friends Mr. and Mrs. Irvin, both of whom have since gone to their reward, on 1st of June, and a half day's drive in their two-horse curtained wagon brought us to the Kickapoo reservation and mission house. The same adverse influences existed here as among the Iowas and Sacs. There were teachers and provisions and clothing in abundant supply, but only twelve boys and no girls. We remained here three days, comforting as well as we could the superintendent and teachers, negotiating with an interpreter to aid in preaching services for the Indians, and endeavoring to sound the policy and intentions of the government agent in respect to the school, a most difficult thing to do. An intelligent Indian boy, Henry, who had come with us from the Iowa school, then drove us seventy miles further to the Ottoe reservation. On the way we passed in the evening troops encamped on the prairie, the tents stretching in long and regular lines, and horses and oxen feeding in the distance. They are on the march to Salt Lake. Our arrival at the mission house was welcomed by the superintendent and his associate teachers, but not a boy or girl was in the school. The next day we visited the Indian encampment, six miles distant, having previously sent notice of our coming, and taking with us Henry to act as interpreter, and also Kirwan Murray and Rebecca, his wife, former pupils of the Iowa school, and now employed as assistants here. They were to be used as object lessons to the Indians of 417 what their children might become. Only one of the chiefs was at home, the others being on a friendly visit to another tribe. An account of the interview between Mr. Lowrie and this chief would form an appropriate supplement to this narrative. Our object was to hold a council with a view of getting the children into the school. Nothing was accomplished, however, for the same adverse influences were at work here as in the case of the other tribes. After a visit of three days at the mission, Henry drove us seventy-four miles to the Missouri river, most of the way in a drenching rain, in which bridges were swept away and fording was dangerous. We ar rived, however, safely at Nebraska City and caught a passing up-river steamer for Bellevue, leaving Henry to cross into the state of Iowa with our conveyance, and so return to the Iowa and Sac mission. At Bellevue we tarried ten days as the guests of Rev. William Hamilton, then acting pastor of the Presbyterian church, and also agent of the Board in its property interests there. The swollen streams made a land journey to Blackbirds Hills, the seat of the Omaha mission, impracticable, and, after long waiting for a boat to take us up, that contemplated visit was abandoned, and Mr. Hamilton requested to perform this service later in the season, which he did, and subsequently resumed mission work among the Omahas, in which he is still engaged. Mr. Lowrie and myself took a descending steamer for Jefferson City, where we spent a Sabbath, and thence on the second Monday thereafter, June 28, travelling all the way by rail (but not in a Pullman), we safely reached our homes. WILLIAM RANKIN. MISSIONARY METHODS IN COLOMBIA. Until last year Bogota was the only mission station in all Colombia, and even that was seldom manned by more than one ordained missionary; but now there is a station on the coast and another about to be located in the interior. In Bogota there is a church, said to occupy the site of the Inquisition building. Here divine service is held twice every Sunday and on Wednesday evenings. The form of worship is much like that of the home churches, only the people frequently come in and stand in the aisles to listen a little while and then go out. Numbers enter to gratify curiosity. Some have heard in distant parts that bad people, called Protestants, are in league with the devil to destroy the true Catholic faith. After the morning preaching service comes the Sabbath-school. Here a native teaches the women, another the men, others have classes of girls or boys, and two young girls teach the infants. Sometimes we have as many as nine classes, but often the teachers are absent and we have to double up. Missionaries sometimes make the mistake of doing everything instead of trying to enlist native help, which at first may be more troublesome but at last is better for both missionary and people. At present these people are developing self-help. A young man preparing for the ministry takes the minister's place when absent. A society called the Evangelical Society of Bogota has been organized by the men of the church. They meet weekly and do much to draw others into the church. An important part of the work is educational. In Bogota a girls' boarding-school has been in operation for many years, but unfortunately is not graded. In Roman Catholic countries schools must be superior to those of the country or they fail of their end. Religious prejudice is powerful in keeping away pupils, especially now that the government is unfriendly. There is in the same building a day-school for boys and girls; the latter often graduate into the girls' college, as it is called here, but we have to let the boys go. We hope to see in operation next year a boys' school into which the big fellows can go when they are too large to be [November, with the girls. The Bible and Catechism are obligatory studies for all who enter the schools. This keeps away many and causes the taking out of a number. The work in Barranquilla is like that in Bogota, comprising regular preaching services and a girls' school. [It was here that Miss Addie C. Ramsey, whose distressing death from yellow fever was announced in our October number, expected to labor in connection with her sister, Mrs. T. H. Candor, who has charge of the girls' school.-ED.] A drawback to the work is the indisposition of the people to contribute to the expenses incurred in missionary labors. With Roman Catholics the whip is used in many ways to force contributions. Many think that becoming Protestants frees them from all that. Many, perhaps all, think that interested persons in the United States provide all necessary funds, and perhaps missionaries have unwittingly fostered this idea. Still a persistent effort to instruct in the duty of giving has its effect, though a slow We have been agreeably surprised by finding ourselves able in two weeks to raise over $200 (Colombian currency) for putting the gas into the church. Foreigners gave about one half of this. Romanism has sapped the foundations of morality in this as in all countries where it rules. There is much discouragement in finding all deceit ful and dishonest, with few exceptions; yet the Lord can change the worst. one. PROGRESS IN CHINA. During the recent great scarcity of food in China, a steamer commenced running from Chefoo to Lai Chowfoo. But the muleteers and innkeepers think their business will be destroyed if steamers run, and on the last trip from Chefoo not a particle of freight could be obtained, though the rates were lower than those asked by muleteers, and so the steamer has to be taken off. There was plenty of grain on the wharf in Chefoo, particularly rice from the south, and if the steamer could have carried it freely to Lai Chowfoo the price would soon have fallen. Well, the struggle between progress and the old conservatism has been disastrous in this instance. But it will not be so always. The pack-saddle has been preferred to the steamer this time. But the age of steam will come here as elsewhere, and the mule and donkey will have to get out of the way. A Prussian gentleman in the service of the Chinese govern ment has lately been here prospecting for coal and iron. He believes fully in the progressiveness of the government. He He says in particular that the government will unquestionably put through the great trunk railway from Pekin to Honkow. Honkow is far up the Yong Izi, about a thousand miles from Shanghai. If the government puts this railroad through, it is fully committed to progress. But what a howl the professors of "Fung suei" will raise! I suppose many of the readers of THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD have read the memoirs of Dr. S. Wells Williams. We are just reading it with great interest. The progress since Dr. Williams went to Canton has been amazing. The Chinese teacher who started the great Chinese lexicographer in his study of the 419 language did not dare to have it known that he was instructing a barbarian in the language of the celestials, and always took with him a lady's shoe to fall back on the more reputable trade of a shoemaker in case his real employment should lead him into trouble with the mandarins. This jealousy has all passed away. Christian books could not be printed in Canton, and the young printer was obliged to go to Mocao to run his press under the Portuguese flag. Now there are millions of pages of Christian books in China printed annually at our press in Shanghai alone, and no hindrance. Then there was one convert, Leang a Fa; now there are thirty-five thousand Chinese communicants in Protestant churches. There is great and glorious progress. CHARLES R. MILLS. KOREA AND BIBLE TIMES. It is a subject of common remark that while the western world is like a kaleidoscope, ever taking on new shapes and combinations, the Orient has been to a large extent permanent in its mode of life. And what is true of all the East must be especially true of a country like Korea, whose placid surface has been noticeably disturbed by the restless foreign influences for a period of less than a decade. It is therefore not so strange that the Bible student finds much in Korea to remind him of the manner of life that prevailed in the land of Bible story, even though thousands of miles and thousands of years have come between. Let us look at some of these Korean reminders of Bible times. I may remark in passing that the surface of the country here is much like that of Palestine. Mountains and hills rise everywhere, whose sides are practically useless for purposes of agriculture. Only the valleys are good for the farmers. And with the exception of rice and tobacco, the grains raised here are very much like those mentioned in the Bible: wheat, barley, millet and pulse. Round about the Jewish cities were walls and gates. Encircling Seoul, the capital of Korea, is a parapeted wall, which turns aside for no obstacle; for it festoons the summits of three mountain peaks. The gates are large buildings and among the finest architectural structures in the city. The gates themselves are of boiler-plate, and are twice the height of a man. I cannot tell whether muzzled oxen tread out the corn, but certainly oxen are used in the fields of Korea. In the spring-time it is a common sight to see oxen struggling through the mire of the rice-fields dragging after them one-handled plows, not unlike the plow of Palestine. Men of honorable position among the Jews used the donkey to ride about the streets of the Judean towns and villages; and it was upon one of these that the Master entered Jerusalem followed by the crowds which cried Hosanna. Upon Korean highways donkeys are not unfrequently seen. They are used by neither the highest nor the lowest in the social scale, but mainly by the petty officials. The dogs of eastern cities have always been numerous and currish. They licked up the slaughtered Ahab's blood. They are spoken of in Revelation as a term of contempt for those excluded from the heavenly city: "dogs, sorcerers," etc. In Korean towns they abound, and snarl at passing strangers out of the square holes cut for them in the outside doors of the houses. To a certain extent they are volunteer scavengers of the city. We are told of the bondmen who yielded themselves to the power of their richer neighbors in ancient Israel. Slaves attached to the soil, they say, are not uncommon in Korea. A gentleman in Seoul tells how a tall, fine-looking Korean prostrated himself before his cook in his kitchen. The cook at his home in the country occupied a position higher up in the social scale; and his slave, being in the city, had come to do his master obeisance. In the regions of Canaan water was drawn and carried from wells. Jacob first met the shepherdess Rachel by the side of a well, and one of the most interesting of our Lord's conversations was held with a woman who came out with her pitcher to draw water from a Samarian well. The water supply of the households of Seoul comes from public wells. Notice a water-carrier as he swings along the street under his burden. Across his back just below the shoulders is a rod, fastened to his person by shoulder-straps. From each end hangs a cord with a hook. Two pails have been filled to the brim at the well, and with one dangling on either side the man swings down the street with none to dispute his way. Women of the poorer classes carry not only water-jars but bowls, dishes and bundles of every description on their heads. The Jews wore long robes and sandals. Korean streets are full of white-robed men, and women and men alike wear canoe-shaped slippers, which they shake off at every house door as they enter. "Two women shall be grinding at a mill," we read. The handmill of Scripture, with its two small circular stones, is not an uncommon sight in Korea. Jewish burial was without the city gates. Our Saviour at the entrance to the city stopped the funeral cortege, that he might give back her son alive to the widow of Nain. The hillsides near Korean towns are full of the semi-globular mounds of the dead. Hired mourners also are found in Korean funeral processions, wailing out their [November, "Igo-o-o, I-go-o-o," akin in its meaning to our "Alas," "Woe is me." Sackcloth and ashes are vividly brought to mind as one looks upon the garb of a Korean mourner. The dress is made of a brown and very coarse cloth looking much like gunny sacking. Upon his head is a plaited semi-circular hat about the size of a wash-tub. The previous acquaintance of the young people was not at all necessary in a Jewish marriage. Abraham's servant arranged the preliminaries for Isaac just as well as the young man could have done. There are old ladies who are professional match-makers in Korea; and so far do they take matters into their hands that it is the rule, rather than the exception, that young men on their wedding morning have little idea to whom before nightfall they will be joined in wedlock. Under the patriarchal system Israelites were allowed to take many wives. Here, where their means will allow it, men take in addition to their first wife one or more concubines. Their heathen neighbors brought in among the Israelites some customs of great depravity. Many Koreans are depraved beyond description. Some beautiful customs of hospitality prevailed in Israel. The belated stranger on a journey was cordially taken in and entertained. Koreans are in the highest degree hospitable; and the supporting of so many friends and relatives is one of the things which tend to keep the people poor. A familiar salutation is heard here. A friend is taking his leave. His host says, "Peace go with you," and hears in reply, "Peace abide with you." As in ancient Israel, the government is in a high degree patriarchal. Genealogies are preserved; and the honoring of parents is carried to the extent of worshipping their fathers who are dead. Here, again, punishment is visited on whole families, as was the case with some of those engaged in the riots of 1884. Marks of heathenism also are to be seen. Sacrifices are made under different circumstances; not of beasts that are slain, but offerings of rice and other foods. Buddha worship as conducted among Koreans is a species of idol worship. Diviners walk the |