Page:Korea (1904).djvu/313

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A BRIDGE SCENE IN SEOUL

CHAPTER XXII

The missionary question—Ethics of Christianity—Cant and commerce—The necessity for restraint

The history of missionary enterprise in Korea abounds in illustrations of the remarkable manner in which French missionaries may be relied upon to offer up their lives for their country. It may be cynical to say so, yet there is much reason to believe that the Roman Catholic priests in the Far East of to-day are the agents provocateurs of their Government. They promote anarchy and outrage, even encompassing their own deaths, whenever the interests of their country demand it. From the beginnings of Christianity in China they have wooed the glory of martyrdom, and they have repeated the process in Korea.

Christianity made its way into Korea about 1777, by the