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burden, to which their sex is doomed in Japan and many other Oriental and even some Occidental countries.

"The best dwellings are built around a court upon which all the rooms open. This court is sometimes ornamented with shrubs and flowers, and some of them are said to be very pretty. The average house is composed of small rooms, four in number, and destitute of anything that we would call furniture, while the poorest, which far outnumber all the others, are hovels of the worst class.

"As to public buildings, as the term is usually employed, there are none. The palace of the king, enclosed within a stone wall that separates it from the city, though built at public expense, is the most private and exclusive of all, as only those who are connected with the reigning dynasty in an official capacity, or such as are favoured with a special permit, can enter its portals.

"Though a heathen city, Seoul has no temple of idolatrous worship. The State religion, if any exists, is Confucian, and there is a shrine to which the king resorts at stated times to make offerings to his ancestors. Though Buddhism is more prevalent than any other form of religion, there is not a Buddhist temple in the city. They have temples just outside the city walls, and in many places all through the country, but none in the capital. For some offence committed long ago the Buddhist temples were destroyed and the priests were driven out of the city, since which time they have not been permitted to enter its gates unless in disguise.

"But in the midst of this desert of human habitations there are a few oases. The several nations that have entered into treaty relations with Corea have established legations and erected suitable buildings, and the Methodist Episcopal,

Presbyterian, Anglican, and Roman Catholic Churches have established compounds and erected residences for missionaries, houses of worship, school buildings, chapels and hospitals. These are all bright spots in the midst of surrounding gloom and a prophecy of what this mountain-environed city will be when Christianity has accomplished its beneficent mission to the Corean people." Dr. Avison and his wife, from Toronto, are conducting a successful mission in Seoul.

Bishop Ninde, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who has just returned from an extensive visit in China and Japan, writes thus:

"People in middle life can remember when foreigners were totally excluded from the islands of the Japanese Archipelago. By a strange series of events, to the Christian view strikingly providential, the traditional exclusiveness was relaxed at last, and half a dozen of the principal ports were thrown open for foreign trade and residence.

"It was not long before the whole policy of this sequestered Empire regarding things foreign underwent a remarkable transformation. The Japanese were ready to throw overboard almost everything national and adopt Western ideas and institutions with rash impetuosity. Foreigners were welcomed, praised and imitated. In the course of the years, however, the nation's selfrespect has grown. Western ideas are still dominant, but the Japanese have proved quick learners and feel now quite able to cut loose from dependence on the foreigner. Perhaps the highest ambition of the nation to-day is 'to beat the foreigner on his own ground.' The various branches of the public service have almost entirely dispensed with their foreign helpers. The chairs in the Imperial University are now chiefly occupied by natives. The Japanese manage their own postal service, operate their railways and tele

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the contemptuous dislike so often found in China. There is just now a great amount of national vanity in the Mikado's empire. The public feeling is extremely sensitive. The Japanese regard their pupilage as past and will not allow themselves to be loftily patronized. They demand to be considered the equals of the most favoured nations, and certainly with a show of reason.

"No doubt there are scores of unfriendly critics who will brand. the new civilization of Japan as a mere varnish which scraped with a pen-knife will reveal unmollified rawness and aboriginal barbarism. But this is an altogether cynical view which will not harmonize with a wise induction of facts. The Japanese have no doubt many and grave faults. They are very far from political or social perfection. In some important regards they are as yet far behind what we call the Christian common wealths. If this were not so we should have little warrant for sending hither hundreds of missionaries at great expense and other costly sacrifices; nevertheless the sympathetic observer will not fail to regard the new civilization of this island empire as a vigorous and substantial growth which deserves hearty recognition and generous confidence. Seriously faulty as Japanese morality in many of its phases undoubtedly is, the best minds of the nation are alive to the value of character. The Jap anese are not only the politest of people but are humane as well. They are seeking to remodel their jurisprudence and bring it into harmony with the best modern standards. They have proved their bravery in the field, yet shown themselves merciful to a fallen foe. They have not only been faithful to their treaty obligations, but capable of generous interpretations and gratuitous favours."

Bishop Galloway, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, thus de

scribes his visit to the Mikado's capital:

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Tokyo, the Mikado's capital, a city of many conflagrations and destructive earthquakes, the centre of the Empire, where old and new Japan meet together, and which every patriotic Japanese hopes to see before he dies, is the commercial, industrial, and political metropolis of the country. It has a population of nearly 1,500,000, unusually wide streets, electric lights, tramways and stone bridges, and some very handsome public buildings. Long the headquarters of the Shoguns, Tokyo is intimately associated with the most brilliant military history of this island kingdom.

"Our first day in the capital was the holy Sabbath. We went out, not for to see' old Buddhist and Shinto temples, but to attend service in Christian churches. First we stopped at the Greek cathedral, one of the most imposing buildings in all Japan. Built by Bishop Nicolai -who has been the most successful missionary in the country-it occupies a commanding position, and is really a gem of architecture. The service, attended by about 150 persons, was elaborate and very ritualistic, but to me rather impressive. The venerable bishop and his ten or twelve native priests were clad in gorgeous vestments. They swung incense until the clouds were dense and the odours intense, while intoning prayers and chanting psalms to the congregation which stood or sat or bowed on the floor.

"I learned much of Bishop Nicolai's work-unique and in some respects unequalled. He has about twenty thousand members, and all these have been gathered with the aid of but one other foreign missionary. With a genius for leadership of the highest order, he has organized an army from among the people for the conquest of their own country. While not accepting his doctrines, and having no toleration for his

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ritualistic practices, no one properly study the religious forces of Japan without taking this remarkable man and his great cathedral into account.

Leaving the cathedral we visited the Methodist Tabernacle, a large modern brick structure, built by Dr. Eby, of the Canadian Methodist Mission. The doctor is now absent in Canada, and the congregation is not so large as formerly. Instead of a sermon that morning, some good, orthodox brother was conducting a class-meeting. Both the building and the service gave me a genuine Methodist home feeling, although I understood not the testimonies given, and only the tunes that were sung. Thank God, we are a witnessing people, whether in America or in the isles of the sea-whether in the Queen's dominions or the Mikado's Empire.

"We visited the Imperial University-the Daigaku, founded in 1856, and already the educational pride of Japan. Some of the buildings are modelled after those at Oxford University, England, including those beautiful quadrangles. There are twenty schools in the university, embracing everything from law to veterinary medicine. The calendar, a stout volume in English of 214 pages, reads very much as do the annuals of American universities, except as to degrees conferred. If this university, with its 1,500 students, were brought under Christian influence, the day of Japan's redemption would be near at hand. Though not positively Christian, it is the product of Western thought. Such an organization, and such a national spirit to sustain it, were not possible before Commodore Perry anchored his flagship in Yokohama bay.

"Near the university is the large Tokyo Library, with over three hundred thousand volumes. I noticed that the large and well-regulated reading-rooms were crowded with quiet, eager students. Many young

men, in their native dress and undress, looked very much like the coolies pulling our jinrikshas; but they had English, German, and Japanese books on science, engineering, political economy, etc., in their hands, and were diligently making notes. May be some of these blowzyheaded fellows will yet be counsellors of the Mikado, or historic names in the world's literature. These young Japanese are diligent and critical readers.

"The National Museum-the Smithsonian Institute of Japan-contains a large and creditable collection, illustrating very strikingly the natural, national, and industrial history of the Empire. Hours could be spent there to profit.

"At Aoyama (Green Mountain), a beautiful suburb of Tokyo, is located the Anglo-Japanese College of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The grounds comprise twenty-five acres, and are quite elevated-overlooking the city and the sea for a great distance. I very much regretted to see the large brick dormitory and Goucher Hall so badly wrecked by the recent earthquake. Over twenty thousand dollars will be necessary to repair the damage. Our brethren have here a fine plant, and are doing good work.

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Returning to the city, we called at the Canadian Methodist schools, and found that the earthquake had shaken the foundations there also. To Mr. Crummy, the president, whom I afterward met, and from whom I received much valuable information, a debt of gratitude is hereby acknowledged. All these and other buildings and institutions are the representatives of new Japan. Their architecture, together with the dress of the better classes, the width of the streets, and the construction of the business houses, indicate an evolution from the old Japan which lived a hermit, went naked, and beheaded foreigners. The average

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