which suggested that they should gain relief by frank confession. The
missionaries having failed to bring the meeting to a close, submitted
to what they felt was the will of a higher Being, and the meeting went
on till fatigue produced a temporary and a partial rest. Though the
meeting was closed, the missionaries learnt afterwards that many {238}
Koreans went on all through the night in agonised prayer.
The next day they hoped the thing was over, and that the incident might
be reckoned among those strange experiences which workers in the
mission field must occasionally expect to encounter; but not so--the
meeting next night was the same as its predecessor. They noticed
several interesting facts. One, for instance, was, that the women were
far less affected than the men. The movement did not reach them till
later, and never so fully. Another remarkable thing about this
movement was that though the Methodists are by tradition a revivalist
body, and though they have a vigorous mission working in that town, yet
the revival only spread to their converts after many days, and then
neither with the spontaneity nor the fire with which it had been
manifested in the Presbyterian Mission.
Of the reality of the confession of sin there could be no doubt. One
man, for instance, confessed to having stolen gold from a local
gold-mining company, and produced the wedge of gold which he had
stolen, and asked them to treat him as he deserved. The manager of the
company luckily was a European, who wisely refused to punish a man who
had so spontaneously confessed his theft. Many of the sins that were
confessed would not bear repetition. Some confessed even to such awful
sins as that of murder of parents. One man in particular, a trusted
servant of the mission, resisted confession, and day by day {239}
became more and more racked with mental agony, till the missionaries
feared that his health would not endure the terrible strain of such
mental anguish, and they advised him to make a free confession of his
sins. At last he came to them with a sum of money in his hand; he had
raised it by selling some houses which he had bought as a provision for
his old age, and he confessed to the sin that was torturing him. He
had done what is constantly done in the East--he had peculated. His
position had been that of an agent whom the missionaries employ to make
many of their small payments, and out of each of these payments he had
taken "a squeeze." With these he had bought the houses which now he
had sold. He left the missionaries happy in heart though empty in
pocket.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account