tian dormitories for students. A magazine is published and summer conferences are held.

15. Visits of Occidental Workers.- Fresh impetus has from time to time been given to different departments of Christian effort by the visits of such men as Mr. J. R. Mott and Drs. F. E. Clark, R. A. Torrey, G. F. Pentecost, and C. C. Hall. Speeches delivered by Hon. William J. Bryan in Tokyo and other cities exerted a strong influence as they were heard, and afterwards as translations of them were read. Many of the delegates to the Students' Conference in 1907 gave addresses in different parts of the land; and it was immediately after this that Gen. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army spent a month in Japan. His name was already so well known by the reading public that the Japanese, who are by nature hero-worshipers, were eager to see him. He was granted an audience by the Emperor and official receptions were tendered to him in several cities. As one newspaper said: "No other person in private life ever visited this country who was so enthusiastically received by the Japanese people as was Gen. Booth. His public meetings everywhere were crowded to overflowing, and both the high and the lowly, the old and the young, seemed to vie with each other in doing him homage. The Students' Conference and the visit of General Booth received much attention from the public press, and for some time Christianity was the most prominent subject in the newspapers. One journal said that people were now more interested to hear about this religion than they were in anything else, and in order to meet this popular demand it gave considerable space in its columns to quotations from the Bible.

16. Union of Methodist Churches.- Previous chapters have made mention of the "Church of Christ in Japan," which includes what were once separate Presbyterian churches, and of the Nippon Sei Kokwai (Holy Catholic Church of Japan) composed of those that grew up under the English and American Episcopal Missions. In May, 1907, there was held the First General Conference of the Methodist Church of Japan, which was formed by the union of those hitherto connected with the Methodist

Church of Canada, the Methodist Episcopal Church (American), and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Rev. Honda Yuitsu was chosen as its bishop, he being the first Japanese to receive in any church this title and office.

17. Movements towards fuller Independence.-It was but natural that the great progress made by the nation and its victory over Russia should intensify the desire of Japanese Christians to manage their own ecclesiastical affairs and to take the lead in efforts for the spread of their religion. Many members of the Sei Kokwai (Episcopal Church) were not happy in the thought that all their bishops were foreigners, and a new impulse was given to efforts for raising money to endow an episcopate, it being understood that one of their own clergy will be made a bishop whenever a fund sufficiently large to ensure his support has been secured. The Kumi-ai (Congregational) Churches made an arrangement with the mission of the American Board by which their Japanese Missionary Society took over the financial responsibility for all those fully organized churches that were receiving aid from the mission. As a result, the Kumi-ai body in 1907 consisted of eighty-nine churches and was henceforth wholly independent of mission funds with the exception for the last of three annual installments on a "parting gift." The mission still has "preachingplaces" in which may be gathered companies of believers that are allied with the Kumi-ai body but do not become integral parts thereof until they attain self-support. The Church of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian) has adopted a program by which to bring more completely under the control of that church such evangelistic work as is aided by mission funds.

With the fuller assumption of responsibility by the Japanese Christians, with their growing financial ability, and with the larger number of able pastors and evangelists, the question whether the missionary force should be increased or gradually diminished has assumed new importance. The varied opinions are chiefly based upon the considerations noted in the first section of Chapter XI.

18. Until recently the interests of the Roman Catholic

Church in Japan have been entrusted to French missionaries connected with the Société des Missions-Étrangères of Paris; but the island of Shikoku has now been given into the care of some of the Spanish Dominicans who removed from the Philippines after those islands came under American control. Franciscan Fathers have begun work in Sapporo. It is reported that the Jesuits, who have heretofore felt aggrieved at not being given the privilege of conducting missions in the land of their former triumphs and sufferings, have now received permission to open a college. Many of the Roman Catholic missionaries seem to hold pessimistic views concerning the present prospects of their work, finding it difficult to contend with Protestantism in gaining new adherents.

19. The Russo-Greek Church naturally suffered from popular prejudice at the beginning of the war with Russia. Its followers, and especially its evangelists, were accused of being traitors and spies. Some of the preaching-places were stoned. Bishop Nicolai decided, in accordance with the request of the Japanese leaders in the church to remain in the country, but to refrain from public exercise of his office, a decision that met with the approval of the Japanese people.

When Russian prisoners in large numbers were brought to Japan, those native priests who had a knowledge of their language were permitted to conduct among them the services of the church and to work in the hospitals. Some of these captives showed their appreciation of this by contributing to the funds of the mission. In 1906, Bishop Nicolai was raised to the rank of Archbishop; but the person that was sent to be a bishop under him was obliged on account of ill health to withdraw from Japan almost as soon as he had entered on his office. After the war, Russians took less interest in the mission, and the consequent diminution of funds made it necessary to dismiss a number of evangelists. This church had made but little advance in the line of self-support; and it may be that, as has been the case with some others, the lessening of foreign aid will prove a blessing by stimulating its members to new zeal and a greater feeling of responsibility.

20. The importance of the present moment should be realized by all who are interested in the progress of the Kingdom of God. The way in which improved methods of communication have made all parts of Japan easily accessible to missionaries and evangelists; the readiness of the people to listen to the preaching of the Gospel; the general favor with which Christianity is regarded, even by those who are not its followers; the position that Japan has gained among the great nations of the earth; the increased influence that it is exerting in the Far East; the part that it is likely to take in deciding the future destinies of Asia, nay, of the whole world; and the fact that the nation, long in a plastic state, is now near the point where the permanent characteristics of the new Japan will become fixed; all these things unite with many similar considerations to emphasize the necessity that Japan should at once be won to Christ. For this let the Christian Church pray and labor.

APPENDIX A

Formosa. Although it has not seemed advisable to treat of Formosa in the body of the text-book, a few words about this recent addition to the Empire of Japan may here find a place.

The name Formosa is a Portuguese word meaning "Beautiful." By the Chinese and Japanese it is called Taiwan ("Terraced Harbor "). The island itself is separated from China by the Formosa Channel, which, in its narrowest place, has a breadth of eighty miles. It is 250 miles long and has an average breadth of fifty miles. The Tropic of Cancer passes through it near the centre. The interior of the island is occupied by high mountain ranges extending north and south. On the western side there are plains between the sea and the mountains; the eastern side is more precipitous. The climate is very damp and trying to foreigners. Malarial fever abounds. As in Japan, there are frequent earthquakes and typhoons. The Portuguese settled there in 1590. They were followed by the Dutch and Spaniards, who quarrelled for its possession. The Dutch, who drove out the Spaniards, were in their turn expelled by Chinese pirates. In 1683 Formosa was made a part of the Chinese Empire. The aborigines were of Malay origin. Though many of them submitted to the Chinese and adopted their civilization, the mountain tribes have never yielded, but retain their savage habits. They are head-hunters, desiring to gain the heads of their enemies as ornaments for their huts. They lie in wait for the Chinese and also for members of those tribes that have yielded to the Chinese.

When some of these savages attacked sailors from Japan, that country demanded that they be punished by the Chinese Government; and, since the latter did nothing, Japan, in 1874, sent an expedition which invaded