Blinded  by  the  ardor  of  maternal  love,  she  thought  she  might
be  permitted  to  pronounce  an  outward  formula  of  apostasy,
whilst  in  her  heart  she  protested  against  the  words."  But  the
weakness  of  a  moment,  under  the  most  cruel  trial  which  can
befall  human  nature,  was  to  be  speedily  repaired.  "  God  from
II is  throne  in  heaven,"  writes  her  son,  "witnessing  the  strug-
gles of  this  poor  mother,  stretched  out  His  hand  to  His  ser-
vant." Retracting  with  bitter  tears  her  unwilling  fault,  she
once  more  proclaimed  before  the  judges  the  faith  which  had
supported  her  in  all  her  agony,  and  on  the  30th  of  January,
1840,  the  last  of  her  house  and  race,  with  the  exception  of  one
who  was  to  recount  her  fall  and  her  triumph,  she  received  the
crown  of  martyrdom  which  so  many  torments  had  earned.
Such  are  the  Christians  of  Corea,  and  such  the  fruits  of  an
apostolate  which  has  already  won  more  than  fifteen  thousand
converts  to  the  faith  which  demands  from  its  professors  such  sac-
rifices, and  does  not  demand  them  in  vain.  Once  more  let  the
reader  ask  himself,  whether  this  is  the  work  of  God,  or  of  man.
CHINA    AND    ANN  AM.
And  now  we  must  return,  in  order  that  we  may  bring  it  to  an
end,  to  the  history  of  missions  in  China  Proper  and  Tong-King.
Our  last  date  was  1833.  Of  the  twenty-seven  years  which  have
subsequently  elapsed,  each  deserves  its  own  record,  for  each  has
contributed  its  due  proportion  of  apostolic  labors  and  triumphs.
