AN APPEAL FOR ADVANCED CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN JAPAN.
Old Japan is defeated. New Japan has won its victory. The old Asiatic system is silently passing away, and the new European ideas so recently transplanted there are growing vigorously and luxuriantly. Within the past twenty years Japan has undergone a vast change, and is now so advanced that it will be impos- sible for her to fall back to her former position. She has shaken off her old robe. She is ready to adopt something better. The daily press so copiously scattered throughout the empire is constantly creating among readers some fresh desire and appetite for the new change. Her leading minds will no longer bear with the old form of despotic feudalism, neither be contented with the worn-out doctrines of Asiatic morals and religions. They cried out for a constitution a few years ago, and have already obtained a promise from the emperor to have it given them in the year 1890. The pagan religions seem to their inquiring minds mere relics of the old superstition.
The compulsory education lately carried out in the common schools, amounting in number to almost thirty thousand, is proved to be a mighty factor to quicken and elevate the intelligence of the masses. The Imperial University at Tokyo is sending out men of high culture by the hundred every year to take some re-sponsible positions either in the governmental service or private capacities. Another university will soon be founded by the government at Osaka, the second important commercial city of the empire, to accommodate the youths so anxiously craving the higher education. It will be out of the way for me to dwell here upon the material progress Japan has so recently made. But let it suffice to state that the waters of her coasts are busily plowed by her own steamers. Public roads are constantly improved. Tunnels are being cut here and there, and railways are being laid to connect important commercial points. Telegraph wires are stretched throughout the whole length and breadth of the empire. Surveying what she has accomplished within so short a period, we cannot help thinking that she is bound to adopt the form of European civilization, and will never cease until she be crowned with success in accomplishing her national aim.
In order to bring about the recent change and progress she has painfully sacrificed her precious blood as well as her vast treasure. Indeed, her victory has been dearly purchased. It was a quick work, and was well done. It was a sudden movement, but to our great wonder, very few mistakes have been made in her past course. She has tried her best as far as her capacity would allow. The most serious period of our political revolution is nearly passed, and society as well as the government will soon precipitate into some new shape. But what shape? To the writer of this article our immediate future seems a more serious problem than the past. The question is necessarily rising among us, what will be our future? True, she is destined to have a free constitutional government; she is bound to have her people thoroughly educated. It will be a grand achievement if a free constitution and higher education be secured to her people. But these two factors may be proved to be the very elements apt to bring out freedom of opinions, and hence the terrible battles of free opinions. A fearful national chaos might be her fate if nothing intervene to prevent it. If the nation be allowed to take her own course as she does now, hope for her re-generation might forever be gone. But in the time of need, Providence, which rules the nations with infinite wisdom, has stepped in to save us from this national calamity and despair. It was neither too soon nor too late when the missionaries of the cross from America landed on our shore to proclaim the soul-saving gospel to the people. Through their earnest labor and constant prayers the foundation of the Christian church was soon laid.
After some years' experience all the missions engaging in the field unanimously adopted one general policy as the best possible method for prosecuting the evangelical work there; that is, to train the native Christians for the Christian ministry. There now are more than half a dozen schools of that nature in the country. Men thus raised on our own soil have gone out here and there to found new churches, and what they have already achieved in converting many souls to the new faith within a short period seems to us a fact greater than mere human agency could have accounted for. "God is fighting for us," might be our cry. The mission, started in the central part of Japan under the auspices of the American Board only sixteen years ago, has been much blessed and has lately reached the joy of a great harvest. The last report informs us that there were 33 churches with 3,000 communicants, 14 ordained pastors, and 9 acting pastors. A missionary in the field wrote to the Board last July, stating thus: " Six churches have been organized in connection with our mission since January, an average of one a month." Through the wise guidance of the brethren, the missionary spirit has been much fostered among these churches. They have already organized a Home Mission Society, and also an Educational Society, to cooperate with the mission of the said Board for carrying out the gospel work. It is a small start. But a desire for self-support is already manifested in their attempt. I am glad to mention here that most of our churches are self-supporting, and some of them have never received any pecuniary aid from the Mission from their very begin- ning. This is a brief summary of what the mission of the Board has accomplished since it gained its foothold in the country. But causes of its very success must not be neglected to be mentioned here.
Of course the fact cannot be denied that the field has been much traversed by the feet of those brethren who bore the glad tidings of peace to those anxious souls. But a good share might be attributed to the educational institution of the Board, established at Kyoto some years ago, for furnishing to the churches the most ardent and self-denying native brethren. This institution gives instruction five years in English and three years more in theology. It is quite young, and is not yet fully equipped, yet it seems destined to be the salt of the nation. It was founded thoroughly on the Christian basis, and is now publicly recognized by the people as a school of Jesus. It became a centre to attract many youths from all quarters of the country. Most of them come to the school unbelieving. Before they leave it, all, with few exceptions, become Christians.
As there is a constant demand for enlarging and improving the school, the Mission Board has recently taken an extraordinary measure to reinforce it with more men and more means. More edifices have been built. More apparatus has been purchased. More volumes have been added to the library. The pre-paratory course in English has lately been much improved. The theological course has also taken a bold step to enlarge its curriculum. Still there is much to be done. The present provision might do very well, if there were not any institutions of learning in the country much higher than our mission school. But the government's university has made a great advance in the latter years in sending out a large number of its graduates. The time will soon come with us when the poorly educated will be obliged to retire from the public service as leaders of society. In order to occupy a very front rank as Christian preachers in such a society, our young men must receive the first-class education. The ten years' experience in Japan has given us a strong conviction that the best possible method to evangelize her people is to raise up the native agency, and such an agency can be only secured by imparting the highest Christian culture to the best youths to be found there. It may be a costly work. But it will surely pay well at the end. Of course the mission work ought to be a faith work. But with us the intellectual culture cannot possibly be ignored. The better educated can do a larger work. Better qualified preachers can organize self-sustaining and self-propagating churches much faster than the ill-qualified. So imparting a broad culture to our best youths will be a most indispensable means to win and pre-pare them for the Master's work. Besides this great demand to carry out the evangelical work, there is another thing to be considered for higher education.
We have some youths with us whose circumstances do not allow them to become preachers, or who are not fit to be preachers. They come to us and take five years' academical course with us. But finding no provision in our school for higher courses other than theology, they are obliged to go somewhere else to pursue further studies. They are led to Christ while in the mission school, but there is danger of their forsaking Him as they go elsewhere, They are yet young in years. Their faith is not strongly confirmed. They still require further care. They are like treasures — too precious to be lost in the depths of unbelief. The institution to which they would be likely to go would be the Imperial University at Tokyo, where Christianity is entirely excluded, on account of its connection with the state. There their faith might be chilled. They might wander away from the path they once found. What shall we do with such? It is a serious problem to be solved. The only way we have found is to provide chairs for a few studies, by which they would be likely to be benefited for future usefulness. It would help and push our evangelical work if a medical school could be established, and Christian medical men raised in it to be sent out with Christian preachers, hand in hand, to carry out the Master's mission. For this cause a lately returned missionary, who spent in Japan more than twelve years, has made an urgent appeal to the American public. But as it required a large sum of money to start it, there has been no adequate response to his request.
There is another movement, started at Kyoto last year, to found chairs of Political Science, History, Literature, and Philosophy in connection with this school. Those who are connected with it were compelled to take this decisive step, because in the first place they felt they could keep those youths within the sacred walls of a Christian school for completing their special studies, and in the second place they thought they could attract those who would gladly come to the school if such instruction be given besides theology. It may seem to some friends here that we are getting out of the track, and starting something alien to the original plan of the school. We did not intend it at first, ourselves. But present circumstances have necessarily led us to take this step. It might also be charged by some that we are too ambitious to push the work. To such we would reply that we fear we are left behind the times. If we are destined to be the salt of the earth, we should not allow ourselves to be left behind. Why should not we attempt to win and foster the rising youths who may lead the nation in the future? What the people in the North have done for elevating the blacks in the South, and what the people in the East have done in rearing up the new people in the West, by planting strong colleges and seminaries, besides sending them missionaries, may point out the true way for lifting up the coming race in Japan. If we confine ourselves simply to theological instruction, the sphere of our influence in society may be limited only to Christian churches. But if we give them some studies other than theology, under thorough Christian instructors, there will be a grand chance for us to grasp a certain class of the youths, and evangelize them within the school walls, whilst there might be no other ways to reach them.
We believe Christianity is intended to benefit mankind at large. Why should we not undertake to extend our influence toward the higher sphere as well as toward the lower, that we might win all men to Christ? Why should we seriously object to raise up Christian statesmen, Christian lawyers, Christian editors, and Christian merchants, as well as Christian preachers and teachers, within the walls of our Christian institutions? It is our humble purpose to save Japan through Christianity. The souls and bodies of our Orientals ought to be thoroughly purged, and consecrated to Christ for establishing his glorious kingdom in the earth as in heaven. If we do not raise up men after God's own heart in the different spheres of our society to leaven the whole lump, we fear the seed of destruction will be soon sown by other agents while we make this delay. Remember what our Saviour said in Luke xvi. 8: "For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."
There might be some undue fear that such a provision of those higher studies would naturally draw away ambitious students from the theological course. It may be, but we trust we shall receive a larger supply of students in the academical course, so that some could be spared for other studies without much loss to the theological department. On the contrary we may possibly attract some students to it from the other courses. Some evil may arise in such an undertaking, but it may be overbalanced by the good accomplished by it. Now allow us to state a few reasons for this undertaking: —
1. Such a provision will detain the youths for further studies in the school after finishing the academical course. It will help them to develop and strengthen their Christian character.
2. Such a provision will accommodate some thoughtful parents, who may naturally desire to send their boys to a school where their moral character is carefully fostered and will be likely to be developed so strong as to be a safeguard against youthful vices and corruption.
3. The youths who have thus received a broad culture will certainly have a grand opportunity to influence society for good. Words and deeds of well-educated, earnest Christians in different spheres of society will help the cause very much either directly or indirectly. Sometimes indirect efforts produce more speedy results than direct.
4. This provision will surely benefit and tone up the theological course, instead of causing any serious harm to it.
5. We desire to lay down a broad basis for Christian education by encouraging post-graduate studies.
The time is just ripening for us to take this step, so as to attract thereto the best and most talented youths in the country and foster and fit them for the highest good and noblest purpose. We are thus compelled to attempt this broad sweep to reach and win thirtyseven million precious souls to Christ. Seeds of truth must be sown now. Undue delay will give a grand chance to unbelieving hands to make thorough mischief and render that beautiful island empire hopelessly barren and fruitless. O Japan, thou the fairest of Asia! " If I forget thee, let my right hand forget her cunning and let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth."
As I mentioned above, a movement was started at Kyoto last year to raise some money to found chairs for those special studies. But our friends are very few yet. The people are now pressed hard on account of the business stagnation, and a most destructive flood lately visited the country. So we cannot expect to receive from them any large donation. When we met a number of the eminent citizens of Kyoto last year for this specific purpose, we urged them to give us a fund before the year 1890, so that when the emperor gives us a constitution in the same year, we might found a university to commemorate the most extraordinary period of our political history. This appeal created among them a great enthusiasm.
Some of them gave us their hearty pledge to do their share. So we may possibly realize some gift just sufficient to support a few native professors. But it is beyond our expectation to receive a fund large enough to sustain even a few American professors. So if a few professorships should be given by some American friends to found chairs of Political Science, History, Literature, Philosophy, etc., it will help the cause grandly. Some people in this country may hardly realize how dangerously our shores are visited and washed by the strong tide of modern European unbelief. But to a native of the country, who has been seriously watching and observing the course recently taken by the people, the present time seems grave. The future battle in Japan may not be with any foreign invaders. But it will certainly be between Christianity and unbelief.
Shall we remain at peace and unequipped because God would fight for us for his kingdom's sake? We fear He will not help us unless we do our part. It is the time for us to make an extraordinary effort to push evangelical work as well as Christian education in Japan in order to save her from corruption and unbelief. The American Board has done for us in the educational line as much as it can wisely do. Yet there remains much to be done in order to carry out our work more efficiently. The Lord's army must not be hampered there while the battle is fairly commencing. Strong means must be provided there in order to furnish to the field strong men from time to time.
Now who will step forth in this grand republic of America to render us timely help to save us from this impending national calamity? Here may be some friends seriously considering how their property might be best disposed of for benefiting poor humanity. With such we would earnestly plead and loudly cry, "Remember us." Would that God might touch the hearts of some individuals to give us a portion of their blessings, and establish chairs for advanced Christian education there as a perpetual monument of peace between the United States of America and Japan, through which the millions of our people and their posterity might be blessed.
"Our young men are too zealous for the cause, and are apt to be impetuous sometimes. They see the machinery absolutely necessary for the present stage of the work. If there be the slightest friction I know they will rise up instantly to lubricate, and move on again. If anything stands in the way they will attempt somehow to clear the obstacle. In this respect they possess a revolutionary character. For the common cause they are perfectly independent and frank to criticise. What I wish for them is more patience and grace. They are splendid fellows and will grow wiser by and by. I have been through such a hot fire these past two years that I am not afraid of them at all. I love them, can bear with them, and forgive them. But what I feel anxious about is that they may assume an unpleasant attitude towards your Board, not because they are ungrateful to you, but are so zealous for the grand cause of our common Master."
"It is the most insulting letter I ever received in my life. I am sorry to say it is thrown into the waste basket. When I read it I said within myself, ' What! have I lost a sense of honor? ' But I knelt right down for God's grace to preserve me in his hand. I am all right now. Please do not mention it to any one."
"My aim was to reconcile two parties. However, I believe my attempt was terribly misunderstood in Kyoto. Then I said calmly and sorrowfully, I supposed our good brethren had more confidence in me. Have I acted as their traitor? God forbid that I should ever betray our dear brethren. How sad and discouraged I was then I cannot describe. My only comfort was that the matter could be explained afterwards. I believe I am blamable for my writing too impetuous letters to you. I was too anxious to reconcile two parties too soon. It is a humiliation to me that I have made numerous mistakes. It is better for a sick man to hold his tongue. Allow me to assure you I shall ever abide faithful to your mission."
"A broken cup! Though thou regainest thy shape by being put together, thou art no more fit for thy Master's use. Thou art now merely a vessel existing in thy Master's house. However, thou mayest be a warning example to others, that they may never follow thy footsteps. So being, thou canst still do thy duty. Be thou dutiful still."
"Will they be tired of this poor begging Japanese? I may die as an unceasing beggar for Japan. It is the whole burden of my soul."
"The air is sweet and refreshing, particularly in the morning. The calm water of the bay, the sweet and melodious songs of some wild birds, seem to me most wonderfully soothing and fascinating. Everything tells me here, as Mr. Hardy says, ' peace! peace! ' I watch the white sails of the Ianthe as she moves slowly out from the harbor. She lingers within my sight as if Gouldsborough could not spare her, and when she returns, first a speck in the distance, she does not fly fast enough to receive my welcome.
"I went to church here last Sunday. After the service I asked for the Sunday-school. To my surprise the reply was negative. I thought it too strange and too bad that these young folks should grow up here without it. A thought came to me at once, why cannot we start a Sunday-school here? I proposed to a lady here that we should offer ourselves as teachers. I thought I would not show forth myself as the originator of the idea, and tried to put the preacher forward to execute it. He was most too glad to do so. I took the responsibility of getting the Sabbath-school papers for them, because I have no least doubt you will take a share in the work and get others interested in it."