To the Boys and Girls of Scotland.
YOU are all proud of belonging to the Scottish Nation. Your blood is stirred when you read of the gallant deeds of our Scottish forefathers—of Wallace and Bruce, and others who had a share in making Scotland a free people. You admire the splendid courage of Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart, who died as martyrs for Christ; of John Knox and Andrew Melville and George Buchanan, who did so much for the Reformation; of Livingstone and Mackay and Mary Slessor, who brought the Gospel to various parts of Africa, of Chalmers in New Guinea, of Morrison in China, of Paton in the New Hebrides, and many another famous Scottish missionary.
But have you ever heard of the brave missionary who gave his life that Korea might have the Bible? Where is Korea? Get your atlas: look up the map of Asia: notice that long peninsula that juts out from Northern China towards Japan. That is Korea, formerly an independent kingdom, now a province of Japan, with a population of nearly 20 million. Sixty years ago Korea was a “hermit” nation, having no intercourse or commerce with the outside world, and foreigners were forbidden to trade, or even to enter the country. Into this “closed” land one devoted missionary, named Mr Thomas, carried the Scriptures, yet he did so at the cost of his life.
This interesting story of a noble missionary’s dying effort is written for the boys and girls of Scotland, and is from the pen of Dr Knight, General Secretary of the National Bible Society of Scotland. In a letter giving permission to reprint this touching story, Dr Knight says that Mr Thomas’s death and the remarkable results flowing from his sowing the seed of the Word has so impressed the Christians of Korea that they have decided, under the guidance of their pastors, to raise £5000 for commemorating the great work created through his death.—Editor.
It is only recently that the facts of the martyrdom have come to light. At Seoul, the capital of Korea, a remarkable meeting was recently held, one of the largest gatherings that ever took place. All the leaders of society were present, members of the Government, Korean nobility, Consular representatives, College Professors, Pastors, Teachers, Students—in fact, every degree and rank in the country. The weather was intensely cold, the thermometer down below zero, yet there the vast crowd sat or stood for hours, with interest that never flagged. What had they assembled for? They came to give thanks to God for the blessings that had come to Korea through the Bible, and especially to remember with gratitude the heroic death of the man who had first introduced the Scriptures. A venerable old Korean Pastor, with white hair and beard, dressed in a long, flowing coat of spotless white silk, told the moving story with such dramatic power and pathos, that many could not refrain from tears.
He described how Rev. Mr Williamson, the Agent in China of the National Bible Society of Scotland in 1866, had in vain tried to get the Bible into Korea. While waiting one day at Che-fu for the arrival of a steamer for Pekin, there came into the harbour a Korean junk, which had on board two Koreans, who at the risk of their lives had ventured across the sea for purposes of trade. Getting into touch with them, Mr Williamson discovered that they were Christians, but had no Bibles of their own. Rev. Mr Thomas, a missionary then in Che-fu, offered to act as a pioneer for the Society, and to venture across to Korea with Scriptures. He sailed on the junk with a stock of Bibles, and in constant peril of his life, he mixed with Korean traders, distributed many Scriptures all along the West coast, and rapidly learned the Korean language. There took place, however, a terrible massacre of some 50,000 Christians in Korea, and Thomas had to flee. Next year he ventured back on a steamer called the “General Sherman.” The vessel sailed up the river leading to Pyeng-Yang, but stuck fast on the mud in mid-stream. The Koreans made fire-rafts, sent them down against the steamer, and set her on fire. Then great mobs, armed with stones, clubs, and all sorts of weapons, lined both banks of the river, to murder anyone who attempted to swim ashore from the doomed ship. Seeing that there was no hope of rescue, Mr Thomas determined to make his death a way of opening up Korea to the Gospel. On the deck of the burning steamer, surrounded by a wild scene of carnage and horror, he calmly opened the cases containing the Bibles, and then with all his might he threw copies of the Book to the excited crowds on the right and the left of the ship. As the flames grew hotter, and the roaring of the furnace increased, he mounted the bridge, and there, holding aloft a Bible, he prayed in his dying agonies that the Bible might, through his death, yet find access to Korea. Then he sank down amid the flames, a martyr for Jesus Christ.
Has God answered the dying prayer of this hero? That great meeting is a reply to the question. Korea is to-day an open land: the Bible has spread in it amazingly, and now in that city of Pyeng-Yang alone, where Thomas died, about 9000 persons attend Church every Sabbath, and 5000 meet during the week for prayer, the largest churches being often too small to hold the crowds that gather. In all the Far East to-day there is no city so moral or so Christian as Pyeng-Yang.
This story is but a sample of what is being accomplished over all the world by means of God’s Word. Everywhere the Bible goes it brings salvation, light, news of God’s love, tidings of a Saviour’s grace: and all over the globe, men and women, and boys and girls, begin to live a new life full of joy, strength, and purity. The National Bible Society of Scotland has, since it started in 1861, circulated almost ninety million Scriptures. To-day we are working in practically every country of Europe, from Iceland in the North to Spain and Italy in the South: in Palestine, Arabia, Baluchistan, India, Tibet, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan, Formosa, Java, Malaya, Egypt, Central and South Africa, Liberia, Congo and Calabar, Madeira, the West India Islands, in nearly all the Republics of South America, and in the New Hebrides. From all these lands come tidings of blessing, resulting from the fact that Scotland, which has had the Bible for many centuries, now is seeking, through the Word, to let all mankind know of the love of a Saviour and what He can do for all.
All boys and girls can help. Your little gifts, when added together, amount to a large sum, and you will have the joy of feeling that you are assisting some other boy or girl to share in your own gladness in the possession of a knowledge of Jesus Christ and all that that means.